The Best Seat in the House

The Best Seat in the House

Matthew 20: 20 – 28.

Introduction

In honor of Mothers’ Day, I found a couple of stories to help us think of our mothers.

On Mothers’ Day, two children presented their mother with a houseplant as her present.  The mother noticed that her children seemed disappointed to give her a houseplant.  The mother told the children how much she loved the plant.  Finally, the older child confessed, “There was a beautiful flower arrangement we wanted to get you, but it was too expensive.  It had a ribbon that said, ‘Rest in Peace.’  We knew you would love it, since you are always asking for peace so you can rest.”

A school teacher was trying to teach her class about fractions.  She illustrated her lesson by asking one of the boys to apply fractions to a common situation.  “There are five people in your family.  Your mom bakes a pie for your family.  What fraction of the pie will your mother give you?”  The boy answered, “one-fourth.”  The teacher said, “You don’t understand fractions.”  The boy said, “No.  You don’t understand my mother.  She would say that she didn’t want any pie.”

Mothers’ Day is a hard day for me to preach.  It’s hard because there are so many different people and families represented in our church.

 There are families who choose to worship together on Mothers’ Day—with adult children coming home to honor their mothers.  Mothers’ Day is a happy occasion and a time for making life-long memories.  But, these are not the only families here. 

There are also families in our church who are dealing with the grief of losing their mothers in the past year.  This may be the first Mothers’ Day they spend without a mother to call or send a card.  Mothers’ Day can be a sad day.

There might also be people present today who do not have good relationships with their mothers.  Perhaps they were abandoned by their mothers, or they are dealing with a complicated or strained relationship.  Mothers’ Day is just a reminder of heartache and disappointment.

And, then there are some who struggle every Mothers’ Day with their unfulfilled desire to be a mother.  This may be the result of divorce, death of a spouse, or infertility. 

We are different people with different experiences and expectations.  But there is something we can agree on.  We know what makes mothers great.  The greatest mothers are mothers who put the needs and desires of others ahead of their own.  Great mothers are not self-centered.

This is a characteristic Jesus taught his disciples about.  He taught us that whoever wants to be great must first become a servant to others.

Matthew 20: 20 – 28.

There are three moments in the Gospel of Matthew where Jesus’ disciples don’t seem to be the sharpest tools in the shed.  Ironically, all three of these moments come immediately after Jesus makes a prediction about his crucifixion and resurrection.  This is one of those moments.

In Matthew 20: 17 – 19, Jesus told his disciples that he was going up to Jerusalem.  Once they got to Jerusalem, Jesus would be betrayed by one of his disciples and handed over to the Jewish authorities.  The Jewish authorities would condemn Jesus and hand him over to the Romans.  The Romans would beat Jesus and crucify him.  But, on the third day, Jesus would rise again.

To you and me, this seems like a clear description of what would happen next to fulfill God’s plan.  But, the disciples did not understand.  Perhaps, they thought Jesus was merely describing the risks he MIGHT face.  Perhaps, they thought it was still possible for Jesus to avoid humiliation and suffering.  Perhaps, they were still thinking Jesus would fulfill their Jewish expectations for what a Messiah was supposed to look like.

The mother of James and John understood that Jesus was the Messiah.  She acknowledged that Jesus would have a prominent position in the Kingdom of God.  She accepted that Jesus would one day be recognized as Lord and King.  However, she didn’t believe Jesus had to face suffering and death before he entered into his glory.

Requesting Greatness

We can’t really blame Mrs. Zebedee.  She was only doing what any mother would do for her sons.  She wanted them to hold the positions of highest honor in the Kingdom of God.  She was asking Jesus to give James and John the best seats in the house.

Her request shows that she believed Jesus would be seated at the head of the table—the position of highest honor.  She wanted her sons to be honored with the number one and two best seats next to the guest of honor.

This was a normal and acceptable request for a mother to make.  There are only two problems.  First, these positions are not Jesus’ positions to give out.  Jesus had not yet been given all authority in heaven and on earth.  And, ultimately, we might just be surprised to see who receives honor in the coming Kingdom of God.  Second, in the context of Jesus’ predictions about his humiliation and death, this was an inappropriate request.

It is interesting to me that Jesus never answers the mother’s request.  Instead, Jesus addresses the two brothers.  We see this in the plural pronouns in verse 22.  Literally, Jesus said, “Ya’ll don’t know what ya’ll are asking.”

It seems the disciples have allowed their worldly ambitions to creep into their Christian discipleship.  In Matthew 19: 28, Jesus told his disciples that they would one day occupy twelve thrones and sit in judgment over the nation of Israel.  And, now they are seeking the very best thrones for themselves.

It is also interesting how the other ten disciples reacted to this inappropriate request.  They did not criticize James’ and John’s mother.  They didn’t try to correct their inappropriate ambition.  Instead, they got mad at James and John for being the first ones to ask Jesus for status positions.  They wanted these positions for themselves and didn’t want James and John to have better access because they asked first.

This led Jesus to speak to all twelve disciples about true greatness.

True Greatness

Jesus describes two opposing views of greatness.  There is the world’s view of greatness.  And there is greatness in the Kingdom of God.

Matthew 20: 25, “Jesus called the together and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.’”

More than likely, Jesus makes his point about worldly greatness by appealing to the Roman Empire as his example.  The Romans took away Israel’s independence and claimed them as a part of the Empire.  They ruled by power and demonstrated their power over the Jewish people through the presence of occupying soldiers. 

The Romans achieved greatness by dominating other people.  They could make anyone in the world do exactly what the Romans wanted them to do.

Matthew 20: 26 – 27, “Not so with you.  Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave…”

The Kingdom of God does not have the same values as the rest of the world.  In fact, we can say that in the Kingdom of God there is a reversal of values.  Kingdom values are paradoxical values.

The Kingdom of God is a new kind of community with a new standard for greatness.  Greatness in the Kingdom is measured by service to others.  The greatest of all will be the servant of all.

Of course, this is something that can be abused.  Someone might hear Jesus’ words and adopt a kind of false humility in an attempt to make others think they are super spiritual.  But, that is not what Jesus is teaching us.  Instead, Jesus wants us to live differently from the rest of the world.  As the world wants to dominate other people, Christians are to aspire to serve other people.

The only valid aspiration for Christians is to humble ourselves and meet the needs of others.  We are not to think of ourselves as too good to serve.  No job is too small, and no task too dirty or menial.

Jesus Modeled Greatness

Jesus does not tell us to do something he is not willing to do himself.  We see this in the story of the Last Supper in John 13.  When Jesus and the disciples arrived in the upper room to observe the Passover meal together, there was no one to wash their feet.  This was a job for a slave.  Even the slaves didn’t want to wash someone’s dirty feet.  But, Jesus washed his disciples’ feet.  No job was too small, and no task was too dirty or menial.  Jesus became a slave and washed his disciples’ feet.

In the eyes of the world, what Jesus did was ridiculous.  In the eyes of the Kingdom of God, what Jesus did was a demonstration of greatness.  He was willing to serve the smallest and dirtiest need.

In fact, the very central focus of Jesus’ life and ministry was all about service.  He tells us this and sets himself up as the example of greatness through service in verse 28.

Matthew 20: 28, “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.”

Does it trouble you that Jesus said he did not come to be served?  If Jesus is the Lord and the King, then we are supposed to serve him.  We should devote our lives to Jesus.

I think there are a couple of ideas at work in what Jesus said.  For example, at the time Jesus said this, it was not yet time for us to serve him.  He had not yet been through the crucifixion and resurrection.  After the resurrection, Jesus is the glorified Lord who is worthy of all worship and honor.  But, for the time being, Jesus was here to serve others.

Another way to interpret Jesus’ words is to look at the specific word that is translated “serve.”  The word for “serve” here is actually the word used other places in the Bible to describe the work of deacons and ministers of the Gospel.  It literally means “to serve food and drink.”  It is the equivalent of our American concept of waiting on tables.

We could interpret Jesus’ words to mean something like…  “I didn’t come to be waited on.  I came to wait on others.”  …  “I didn’t come to have my needs met.  I came to meet the needs of others.”  …  “I didn’t come to be ministered to.  I came to minister to other people.”

If we go back and look at the life of Jesus, we can see this as the way Jesus lived his life.  He never asked others to meet his needs.  Jesus met the needs of others by feeding the hungry, healing the sick and raising the dead.  Jesus even reached beyond the religious and national boundaries of Israel by meeting the needs of Gentiles and people who were not considered “good Jews.” 

Jesus modeled service in his life…and in his death.

Verse 28 is Jesus’ clearest expression that he understood his death as a part of God’s plan.  Jesus predicted the way he would die three times.  But, this is the only time he predicted the reason he would die.  Jesus was a willing participant in God’s plan to make salvation available to many.

When Jesus told us his death was a ransom, he is telling us something very important.  First, Jesus’ death was no meaningless accident.  It had a purpose.  Second, the word “ransom” was normally associated with First Century slave trade.  A ransom was the amount of money paid to purchase freedom for a slave.  Sometimes, a slave would pay his or her own ransom to purchase their own freedom.  Other times, a benefactor would pay the price so the slave could have his or her freedom.

 I think we can press the image of ransom too far by trying to figure out who received the ransom payment.  Did Jesus give his life as a ransom payable to God?  Or did Jesus give his life as a ransom payable to Satan?  This is just an image Jesus used to show us that he gave his life to provide for our freedom…freedom from sin; freedom from the consequences of sin; freedom from death; and freedom from eternal Hell.

Conclusion

If we look back at the life of Jesus, we can see that Jesus looked for people in need.  Then, Jesus met those needs.  Feeding the hungry, healing the sick, raising the dead…even washing the disciples’ feet.

If we look back at the death of Jesus, we can see the same principle at work.  Jesus was sent from his Father to meet the world’s greatest need.  We were separated from God by our sin nature and the individual sins we commit.  We were slaves to our sin nature and the consequences of our sins.  Jesus paid the price to set us free.

This is what true greatness looks like.  Searching for the greatest needs and meeting those needs.  That is what makes a great Messiah…a great mother…a great disciple.