Read Matthew 17-20
In Matthew 17-20 we have read about the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus healing the demon possessed boy, how to deal with sin in the church, Jesus’ position on divorce, little children, a camel through the eye of a needle and some great parables. Today, I wanted to share a little bit about an overbearing mother and some power hungry disciples.
One of the reasons the Bible is so relevant today, is because we, like our parents, haven’t changed much in the last 2000 years. In Matthew 18 the disciples approached Jesus and asked Him “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Matthew 18:1b NIV.
The disciples are really asking not “who is the greatest” but, “which one of us is the greatest”. Isn’t that just like us? Don’t we love chasing after being the greatest, being the most well liked, and having the most stuff? You know the saying: “He who has the most toys wins!” In Bible times, they didn’t have all the fancy cars, high tech gadgets, big screen televisions and man caves. Well, maybe they had man caves…. These 12 men really had nothing accept what to look forward to, the kingdom of heaven and what position they would have there. Jesus answered them by saying; “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” vs. 3
I remember when I was younger (my mind and body try to tell me that was yesterday, but in reality it was like 25 years ago). I was on the high school basketball team and one of our player’s dad was always hanging out around the team; talking to the coach in the locker room, sitting behind the bench during games, whispering in the coaches ear. It was quite obvious to all of us what he was trying to do!!! Get his son more playing time. And it worked.
As we look at the story of James and John’s mom, I love how Jesus handled her motherly ambition. It’s crazy that Jesus knew what she was going to ask but he still threw down the question, (Matthew 20:20-28) “What is it you want?” THAT WAS AWESOME!!! Knowing this is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, don’t you think mom should have just said, “never mind.” But, no, she swung for the fences, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.” No, she didn’t… But, Jesus did what Jesus does, lovingly put her and her boys in their place.
Jesus goes on to tell them, and us, how to live everyday to be the greatest: “whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, whoever wants to be first must be your slave-just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matt. 20: 26-28, NIV) Let’s live everyday being great.
P.S. Still wondering about that that ambitious dad who was always whispering in my coaches ear? Well, I get it now, the son was one of the best players on our team and the coach wasn’t Jesus.
- David Sauer is the Jr. High Pastor at Adventure Church
