Become like the youngest

 And there arose also a dispute among them as to which one of them was regarded to be greatest. And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who have authority over them are called ‘Benefactors.’ But not so with you; rather the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant. For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines? But I am among you as the one who serves.

Luke 22:24-27

Introduction

It almost seems comical how often the disciples fought over which of them was greatest. They did so first on the road to Capernaum immediately after Jesus first told them of His coming death (Luke 9:46 ) when Jesus rebuked them and commanded them to receive children into their midst. Then again as they went into Jerusalem (Mark 10:35), again immediately after Jesus told them of His coming death, James and John demanded He give them higher status in His Kingdom. The lesson there was that in order to follow after Him, a true disciple must pass through persecution.

And now finally we have this vying for status again immediately after the Passover meal and before His betrayal. It is clear, then, that the disciples still do not quite understand the nature of the Kingdom or what their role in it would be.

Jacob and Esau (and the rest)

In this passage, Jesus gives His disciples the answer that, “the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant.” There are a few things we can observe about this: first, the greatest disciple does not become the greatest, but already is. Jesus does not say, for instance, “if you wish to be the greatest, you must…” Instead, He asserted that the one who is already greatest must do certain things.

Throughout redemption history, God has reversed or undermined expectations. For instance, the Battle of Jericho was won with trumpets (Joshua 5-6). Or maybe consider Jonah’s mission to preach repentance to the capital of Assyria, their worst enemies, so that they might be saved.

But then there are other reversals of expectation, particularly when it comes to the younger and older among siblings. The oldest of the sons of Jacob was Reuben (Genesis 29:32), but the most favored was the second youngest, Joseph (Genesis 37:4). And later when Joseph asked his father to bless his own sons, Jacob reversed the blessing and gave the firstborn blessing to the younger brother (Genesis 48:14). But perhaps the most interesting of these reversals was the one God Himself performed between Jacob and his brother Esau.

Now certainly Genesis 27 presents Jacob’s receiving Esau’s blessing as a bit of trickery he and his mother performed, but Malachi 1:2-3 explicitly tells us that God is the One who made this decision, punctuating it with the famous statement, “I have loved Jacob; but I have hated Esau.” This hate is one of choosing: God chose Esau for destruction and chose Jacob for blessing. And He did this as a direct and blatant affront to the standards of the day when the firstborn was entitled to a greater blessing and inheritance.

The life of a servant

Matthew 20 and Mark 10 both testify that Jesus Christ did not come to be served (that is, to be an earthly ruler and command servants), but to serve. And they are punctuated with the statement, “and to give His life as a ransom for many.” Because that is what the life of a servant is, fundamentally.

The only asset we have that cannot be replaced or replenished is time on this earth. Every moment we spend is one that we can never reclaim or redeem. It has been used, cashed in, and expended. Each of us is allotted a fixed amount of time known only to God for how long we will be here. We do not own that time, cannot bargain with it, and cannot gain more of it. It is what it is, and the only possible response we might have to the time God has given is to steward it well.

When Jesus came in the flesh, He came to be a servant (Philippians 2:5-8), and that meant taking the time He was allotted and using it for the benefit of others. In this case, He used it to ransom the many. And if you are great in the Kingdom, you will also use it for the benefit of others. You will partake in the great reversal God has enacted and live the life of a servant. You will not covet your time or resources, but instead invest them into others. You will use what God has given you to make disciples and store up that which He treasures in heaven: redeemed men and women. So be great, be like our Lord, and be like the youngest, serving others with the most limited and precious resource you have.

May the Lord bless you and conform you into the image of His Son.