Brothers James and John had asked Jesus to gift them with special seats of honor in His kingdom. For them, these seats gave them preeminence, proximity and power.
Clearly, they had failed to understand Jesus’ kingdom, but they were not alone. Mark reports that, when the others heard of what these brothers had requested, it sparked a heated disagreement among them about who would be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Thus, to calm any unrest and end this subject for good, Jesus calls them together to explain.
Jesus first tells us what His Kingdom would not be like. The great ones in the non-spiritual world ruled over and dominated. This was the value system the disciples were claiming for themselves. But Jesus says that disciples should reject this.
“Instead, anyone wants to be important among you must be your servant. Whoever wants to be first must be your slave.”
True authority arises out of service, out of meeting somebody else’s need. Jesus says that when we are willing to give ourselves to meet another’s need, something remarkable happens. We establish a strange authority in people’s lives. Their attitudes toward us change.
Those who have authority are those whom people have learned to respect and honor because they have been served by them, their needs met by them, in one way or another. This teaching, to the world, is a paradox, but it is the way of God’s kingdom.
Jesus ultimately turns to conversation to Himself, His purpose in coming and what He has provided for us: “That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not to be served—and then to give away his life in exchange for many who are held hostage.” Jesus is the ultimate Servant—the One who gave up everything to meet our needs. This is how we are to function in the kingdom of God.
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