We can turn in your Bibles to Matthew's Gospel, Matthew chapter 20. Matthew chapter 20. This morning in Acts 6, we saw that seven men were chosen to serve the church. Christ is a servant, and this particular passage highlights that.
So I want to read Matthew chapter 20, beginning in verse 17. We'll read to verse 28. Matthew 20, beginning in verse 17. Now Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them, Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes.
And they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again. Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from him. And he said to her, What do you wish?
She said to him, Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on your right hand and the other on the left, in your kingdom. But Jesus answered and said, you do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They said to him, we are able.
So he said to them, you will indeed drink my cup and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with. But to sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by my father. And when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers. But Jesus called them to himself and said, You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them.
Yet it shall not be so among you. But whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave. just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many. Amen.
Well, let us pray. Father, we thank You for the written Word of the living and true God. We thank You that it's profitable to us, and we pray that it would have profit tonight, that You would set before us this blessed Christ who didn't come to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many. Certainly that's why we gather together tonight.
It's not because we're good men and women, but because we have a good and a gracious Savior, the one who gave His life on our behalf. How we thank you that Christianity is a redemptive religion. How we thank you it's not a message of self-help or add a few morals to your life, but rather it's the truth that God is in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself. Blessed this time we pray, and may the Spirit be at work in our hearts, and we pray in Jesus' holy name.
Amen. Well,
Introduction and Context
I want to look at primarily verses 24 to 28, but it's important to kind of get the flow of what's happening in the context. If you'll notice that Jesus announces yet again, this is the third time in Matthew's gospel up to this point, that he must go to Jerusalem, he must be tried, he must be condemned, he must be delivered over to the Gentiles, and they will scourge him and crucify him. That's precisely what he says there in verses 17 to 19. And then on the heels of this, he gets this ambitious request from the sons of Zebedee. on the heels of his having announced that he must go to Jerusalem and be treated in the manner he just described, these two men come to him jockeying for position.
These two men come to him seeking a position of superiority at the right and at the left hand of the father. Notice in verse 20, It says, then the mother of Zebedee's sons. The parallel tells us it's Zebedee's sons. There's no contradiction.
The idea is that James and John wanted to be on either side of Jesus. So the mother comes. Jesus says, what do you wish? And she said to him, grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on your right hand and the other on the left, in your kingdom.
Again, the timing here is absolutely incredible. He has just said he's going to be crucified, and they come along and say, we want to sit on your right and on your left. I think that's somewhat typical of us. We have sort of a pride.
We have sort of a desire. We have sort of a longing for position. or for prestige. In fact, John Calvin, commenting on this section, says, this narrative contains a bright mirror of human vanity, for it shows that proper and holy zeal is often accompanied by ambition or some other vice of the flesh, so that they who follow Christ have a different object in view from what they ought to have. So everybody get that?
He's going to be crucified, and they say, we want to be on your right and left when you come into your kingdom. They sort of just bypass every thought of cross whatsoever, and they are only looking for the crown. And again, as I say, I think that is common. I think that is somewhat typical.
I think that is symptomatic of God's people. We want the crown, but we don't want the cross. We want the goodies, but we don't want the hardship. We want heaven, but we don't want to persevere through earth.
We want the gifts, but we don't necessarily want the one who gives the gifts, giving us afflictions and trials to conform us unto the image of his son. So they have this ambitious request. Now notice, Jesus gives them this ominous response. He gives them this statement concerning a baptism and a cup.
Notice in verses 22 and 23, Jesus answered and said, you do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? This is a reference to Christ's suffering. This is a reference to Christ's death.
Remember, in the garden of Gethsemane, He prayed that the cup might pass from Him. That cup represents the wrath and fury and judgment of God. Jesus knew what was laying on the other side of Gethsemane, and that's why He sweat drops of blood, and that's why He prayed thus with the Father. He was going to drink the cup of God's wrath.
In Luke 1250, he uses this terminology of baptism. The word baptism does not mean to sprinkle. The word baptism means to immerse. The word baptism means to overwhelm.
Baptism was used of ships that had been sunk in the sea. Well, in 1250 in Luke's gospel, Jesus refers to his death as a baptism. He will be overwhelmed with suffering. He will be immersed under the wrath of God.
And so that's why Jesus says what he says to these particular apostles. You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? Now, I'm not sure how much they understood, but it is intriguing that they say in the affirmative, we are able.
Well, the Lord Jesus in Gethsemane prays that if it might be possible, let this not pass from me. These men are probably absolutely ignorant in terms of what he is talking about. And that's why Jesus now clarifies and tells them something that will in fact be true in their future. Notice in verse 23, so he said to them, you will indeed drink my cup and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with, but to sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by my Father.
So Jesus does say that these two men, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, will undergo a baptism. They will undergo this drinking of the cup. Again, not literally, but metaphorically. It's a reference to their future wherein they would suffer for the kingdom. wherein they would know what it is to be baptized with an overwhelming sort of a hardship, and where they would drink the cup not of God's wrath, but of some sort of human suffering.
In the book of Acts, it's called the Gospel of Acts, in Acts chapter 12, James, this particular fellow, is beheaded. In Revelation chapter 1, we learn that John, this particular John, was on the island of Patmos. He wasn't there because it was a great vacation spot, it wasn't filled with golf courses, it wasn't a place where persons wanted to go, it was a little rock in the Aegean Sea, and he was there for the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ our Lord. So they did undergo, in their future, suffering connected to their participation in the kingdom.
So that's the backdrop. That's the setting. That's what's happening. Christ announces that he's going to Jerusalem.
He must be delivered up to the Gentiles to be crucified. And on the heels of that, they said, we want to sit on the right and on the left. He tells them, I'm going to suffer. You're not able to suffer the way I am, but you are going to suffer in your own earthly course.
But in terms of sitting on my right and my left, that's not mine to give, it's the Father's to give. So that's now where we find ourselves in verse 24 to 28. This is his instruction concerning kingdom greatness. Because that's what they're after, isn't it?
We want to sit on the right. We want to sit on the left. We want to be great in the kingdom. We have ambition.
We have desires. Mama's little boys ought to be closest to Jesus. We were to hear Zebedee's wife when she comes and presents this request to the Savior. So Christ wants to teach them now about kingdom greatness.
So
Two Considerations in the Text
let's look at 24 to 28 under two considerations. First, the response by the ten in verse 24, and then secondly, the instruction given by Christ in verses 25 to 28. Notice,
The Response of the Ten
in verse 24, and when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers. So the 10, the other apostles, had heard that John and James were requesting these positions of prestige. Why do you think they were displeased? Were they displeased because they cared for their brother's souls and they didn't like to see that kind of ambition and that kind of pride evidenced among the confessors of Christ?
No, they were displeased because they themselves wanted to be on the right and on the left of our Lord Jesus Christ in his kingdom. They wanted that position too. The fact that Jesus addresses all of them with this lesson on kingdom greatness indicates the nature of their anger, the nature of their indignation. They weren't indignant because their brothers had faltered.
They were indignant because if the brothers got what they wanted, then they wouldn't be right next to Jesus on his right and on his left. That's the point. R.T. Frantz says, the anger of the remaining disciples is not to be attributed to a high-minded rejection of the brothers' worldly ambition.
The fact that Jesus' next words will be addressed to them all, not just to James and John, suggests that all of them still suffer, as they do in 18.1, from the same concern for status. Brethren, we ought to pray to God that our concern for status would die. I'm not suggesting we want everybody to think we're the biggest monsters on the face of the earth. There's nothing wrong with a godly ambition that's tempered with holiness and righteousness and the Spirit, but this desire to be over our fellows, this desire to be a leg up over others, That's ungodly, and Jesus is going to highlight that.
Jesus says that's indicative of Gentile kingdoms. It's not indicative of the kingdom of God. C.H. Spurgeon makes a similar comment on the indignancy of these ten.
He says that they were moved with indignation was a proof that they were ambitious themselves, or at least that they were not willing to take the lowest place. Now, the New Testament contains admonitions to the people of God to guard against this particular sin. The New Testament wants us, as the people of God, yes, to have an ambition in the sense that I want to persevere, I want to be faithful, I want to make it to the end. That's ambition.
That's godly ambition. But this ambitiousness that wants to be above others is absolutely condemned by the New Testament. I just want to look at a few of the passages. There's nothing precluding us from doing a bit of turning the pages here.
Look over at Romans chapter 12. Romans chapter 12. Romans 12, 16, be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble.
Do not be wise in your own opinion. I don't know how you read these passages, but do you say, wow, I'm so glad Paul's writing for my fellows. I'm so glad that Paul is writing for the elders in the church. I'm so glad because I know people that really need a good dose of this.
The fact that this is such a repetitive theme in the New Testament seems to indicate to me that it's a nagging problem among the people of God. We are not supposed to be that way. We are not supposed to exalt ourselves. We are not supposed to jockey for position.
I'd rather be a doorkeeper in the house of God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. That is godly ambition. That is gloriously stated. He doesn't say, I want to sit on the right or on the left.
I want to be there. I want to be a doorkeeper for the house of God. Notice in Philippians 2. Philippians 2, that blessed hymn to Christ.
In Philippians chapter 2, it's in a section where it's what's called hortatory. That means there's exhortation to the people of God on conduct. And the sublimity of who Jesus Christ is is the very backdrop for this exhortation. But notice in Philippians 2 at verse 1, therefore, if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, Fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.
Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Have you ever asked yourself, am I living this way? Am I esteeming others as better than myself? Because essentially, that's where Christ takes his argument.
The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. In other words, Christ's whole mission can be characterized with that motto employed by the U.S. Air Force pararescue, that others may live. Christ didn't come so that everybody would serve Him.
Christ came, rather, so that He may serve by becoming a ransom sacrifice for wretches like you and me. And then verse 5, or rather verse 4, verse 5, rather, is that hymn to Christ. This is the backdrop. This is what we are supposed, by the grace of God, to pursue.
Turn over to 1 Peter chapter 5. 1 Peter chapter 5. Again, we need to see and appreciate this whole idea of a proud ambition, this jockeying for position, and its condemnation universally in the Scriptures. 1 Peter chapter 5, 5. Likewise, you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another and be clothed with humility.
Be clothed with humility. I think I've told you before, the backdrop here is probably in Peter's mind. Remember that highest expression of humility in the life of the Savior? Well, I don't know if it was the highest.
I mean, the life of Jesus was one of service. But remember when Jesus in the upper room takes off his outer garment, and he grabs a towel, and he gets down at the feet of these particular men, and he cleanses their feet? He clothed himself in such a way as to demonstrate his service unto them by actually washing their feet. Some suppose that might be in Peter's mind as he uses that metaphor, be clothed with humility, the way the Savior was.
Be clothed with humility, the way the Lord Jesus was. Be clothed with humility and don't insist on everybody serving you, but rather be like the Master and serve others. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another and be clothed with humility, for God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
So back to our text in Matthew chapter 20. In verse 24, the indignation of the ten probably points to the similar ambitiousness that resided in their own hearts.
Christ's Instruction on Kingdom Greatness
Now let's look at the instruction given by Christ in verses 25 to 28. He first gives a negative example, and then he gives positive exhortation, and then he sets before them the very model of kingdom greatness.
The Negative Example: Gentile Authority
First, note the negative, the negative example. Verse 25, Jesus called them to himself and said, You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Now, Christ is not condemning leadership. Christ is not condemning authority.
Christ is not sanctioning anarchy. Christ is simply highlighting a fundamental difference in the way that the Gentiles exercise authority versus those in the kingdom of Christ. It isn't supposed to be this top-down imposition. It isn't supposed to be about proud ambition.
It isn't supposed to be try to get everybody under you so that they may serve you. The Gentile model is sort of like a pyramid. The model has the man at the top and everybody else is down below serving that man at the top. That is contrary to kingdom greatness.
That is not consistent with our Lord. That is not what he calls us unto. It's not an oligarchy. It's not a totalitarian system.
It is rather a service of God by serving one another, and that's what our Lord highlights. So he condemns that model employed by the Gentiles. You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lorded over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Paul uses a similar convention in 2 Corinthians.
He tells the Corinthians, we are not those who lord things over you, but rather we are workers with you for your joy. The apostles didn't occupy that position where they were at the top and all of the persons below served them. That wasn't it at all. Paul saw himself as a fellow worker with you for your joy.
That's the model that is employed in the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Spurgeon again says, they were confounding his kingdom with the ordinary government of men, and therefore they dreamed of being great. You see, that's what they were operating according to. They had seen the Gentile model.
They had known that Gentile model. And so in their heads, hey, let's go up and ask if we can sit on his right and sit on his left. Well, Christ's teaching here is destroying that model in terms of the kingdom, in terms of what he calls us to in our service to one another. Now notice, secondly, the conduct among the disciples in verses 26 to 27.
In the first place, they need to reject that Gentile model. In essence, Jesus is saying, everything you've learned about leadership up to this point, you need to throw it out. You need to get rid of it. You need to understand the model in the kingdom is completely inverted.
The model in the kingdom is to take that pyramid, I'm borrowing from Pastor Albert and Martin, and to turn it over so that the one on the bottom is serving everybody on the top. That's kingdom greatness according to our Lord Jesus Christ. The model of kingdom greatness is our Lord Jesus Christ, who didn't come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. So he tells them, reject it.
Everything you know about leadership up to this point, cast it off. Again, he's not calling for the overthrow of the Roman Empire. He is not suggesting that we march on, you know, a march on Pilate and we condemn them and all that sort of thing. He is saying that with reference to the kingdom of Jesus Christ, the government of that kingdom is different.
It is structured different. It functions different. It is not the same that is utilized in these Gentile kingdoms. Notice as well,
The Positive Path: Servant Greatness
he speaks to their desire for kingdom greatness. So in essence, he's not saying it's wrong that you want to be great. He doesn't say, you terrible monsters, how dare you want to be great? You horrible specimens of human beings, how dare you want to be?
He doesn't say that. He wants to channel them. He wants to redirect them. He wants to show them.
If you actually want greatness in the kingdom, it's not the way the Gentiles get at it. And it's certainly not by jockeying for position. It's not driven by ambitious pride, but rather greatness in the kingdom is described here by our Lord. Verse 26, yet it shall not be so among you, but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.
So you get that, right? It's not wrong that you want to be great. It's not wrong that you want to be first. It's wrong how you pursue it.
It's wrong how you're trying to get at it. It's wrong how you're going about it. You're more like the Gentile kings rather than disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you want to be great in the kingdom, Now everybody's backing off.
Well, you know, I guess I don't really want to be great. I can be average. I can be normal. You see, when you hear the demand as to what kingdom greatness looks like, it probably does pierce that balloon of ambition a little bit.
Yeah, I'm content with being normal. Because if greatness in the kingdom means I've got to serve everybody, then you can keep greatness in the kingdom. Don't do that. You should still want to be great in the kingdom.
You should still want to obey Jesus with reference to the ethics of the kingdom. You should still want to pursue greatness in the kingdom, not jockeying for position, not driven by ambitious pride, but by serving the people of God. serving your families, serving your spouses, serving your children. You see, true leadership that is Christian is not the kind of tyranny that is exemplified by the Gentiles. The kind of leadership that the Word of God calls us to is servant leadership.
It's the kind of leadership exercised by our Lord Jesus. A true leader in the home, men, aren't the kinds of guys that sit in their easy chair and tell their wives to keep bringing them stuff. That's not servant leadership. Within the context of the church, it ain't to be the case where there's the pyramid and everybody serves those at the top.
No, it's to be service. It's what I love about the very word itself, and it's intriguing how we have sort of exchanged the true meaning of the word minister. Minister is a title of prestige, not only in the church, but in civil service as well. Minister means serve.
Minister means do. Minister means to put others before yourself. You see, that's the kingdom greatness envisaged by our Lord Jesus Christ. He doesn't say it's bad that you want to be great.
He says it's bad that you want to be great the way that Gentile kings do it. It's good that you want to be great, and here's the path to greatness. Serve people. Serve your wives.
Serve your children. Serve your parents. Serve your friends. Serve your fellows in the church.
Serve people. Don't be the kind of person that only wants to be served, but rather serve. And if necessary, give your life for them.
Kingdom Priority Through Slavery
Notice as well the desire for kingdom priority. Verse 27, whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave. He doesn't say it's bad to want to be first. Maybe a few moments ago, you were thinking, yeah, I want to be first in the kingdom.
Well, here's your chance. Here's your opportunity. Here's the means. Here's the path.
Here's the instruction. Whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave. This connects us to the context as a whole. Notice in 1930, many who are first will be last, and the last first.
Notice in 2016, so the last will be first and the first last. These things have been stated by our Lord, and now in this particular context, responding to this ambition on the part of the disciples, Jesus is highlighting the way to kingdom priority. Whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave. Go back to Matthew 16.
Matthew 16. A lesson on discipleship we probably need to refresh ourselves with over and over again. Matthew 16, 24, Jesus said to his disciples, if anyone desires to come after him, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
You see, there's this sort of inversion with reference to the kingdom of Christ. The kingdoms of man, those who want to be first, take these steps. And the kingdoms of man, those who want to be counted, or those who try to save their life, they ultimately will lose them. Jesus inverts that.
Whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life, for my sake, will find it. In other words, it's not your self-fulfillment, it's not your ambitious climb, it's not your achievement of prestige, but rather it's losing all of that for the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what Christ says with reference to discipleship. Going back to Matthew chapter 20.
Spurgeon makes this observation, to be, or rather to rise in Christ's kingdom, we must descend. To rise in Christ's kingdom, we must descend. And now that brings us finally to consider this model of kingdom greatness. So he said, you know how the Gentiles operate, don't be like them.
You want to be great in the kingdom? Serve. You want to be first in the kingdom? Serve.
And then he gives as the model himself. Verse 28. Just as. In other words, this is sort of the standard for your service to others.
Just as the Son of Man. You know that bit in Ephesians 5 where husbands are told to love their wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her? That's a big marching order, isn't it? That's a huge standard.
We've got some large shoes to try and fill when we try and be the kinds of husbands that God calls us to be. Love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her. Well, if you want to be great in the kingdom, you want to be first in the kingdom, and you are resolved to serve with reference to the kingdom, you can't serve on your terms. You can't serve only insofar as you're willing to put yourself out.
It's the kind of service described in verse 28. That's what the just as means. Just as means, I want you to do what I'm telling you to do, just as the way I do it. Now again, brethren, we don't do that.
We are always standing in need of what this bread and wine represents. These calls to holiness, these calls to pursue kingdom greatness, these calls to the service of others, ought to constantly throw us back on the lap of sovereign grace and mercy. Again, we don't say, well, I just can't ever do it, so I'm not even going to try. No, Jesus wants us, by the Spirit, to try, to pursue these things.
But when we do fail, we have an advocate with the Father, even Jesus Christ the righteous.
Christ as the Model of Service
Now note his statement, just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many. I would suggest the background here is Isaiah 53. We don't have a lot of time to sort of develop this, but in Isaiah, well, not just Isaiah 53, but in Isaiah 42, 49, 50, and 53, we have those servant songs of the Lord. So when Jesus is describing service, he calls his disciples to serve one another, and then he uses himself as the model or the standard of service.
And when he thinks service, he thinks servant song. And several times in Matthew's gospel, we find those songs applied to our Lord Jesus Christ. And I would argue here that Jesus knew perfectly what His marching orders were according to Isaiah 42, 49, 50, and 53. In other words, there is a messianic consciousness with reference to our Savior.
And when He tells them that He is the servant, he is only explaining what the prophecy had foretold concerning him. So, I think that is the background with reference to the emphasis on service. Now, notice he says, just as the Son of Man did not come to be served. That's really not like us, is it?
Do we go places and say, well, I'm here to serve. I'm here to do. Typically, we like to get ours, don't we? A little quid pro quo, a little you scratch my back and I'll scratch your back.
That's not what happened in the life of the son of man. And if anyone ever deserved to be served, it was Christ. You want to get a bit of a view of what happened with reference to the pre-incarnate Christ, I would direct you to Isaiah's prophecy, Isaiah chapter 6. In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord exalted.
And I heard the angel say, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is filled with his glory. John 12 tells us that Isaiah beheld his Christ's glory. So that's what Jesus had prior to coming in the incarnation.
Jesus had angels attending him. Jesus had the intra-trinitarian communion with Father and Son. Jesus had everything at his disposal. Jesus was served by those angelic beings, and yet when he comes into this world, it's not to be served.
This is what John 1 mentions or refers to when it says he came to his own and his own received him not. This is what the prophet refers to in Isaiah 53. He had no former comeliness that we should be drawn to him. His visage was marred.
He was not a handsome fellow, especially connected to the passion. He was brutalized. He looked like a common criminal. There's nothing in him that would endear us to him.
There was nothing in him that would draw us to him. He didn't come to be served. You see, here's the point. He deserved to be served.
We don't. We're miserable, sinful, vile, guilty. We have offended God at every point. We have transgressed his law.
We have lacked conformity unto it. We have sinned by omission. We have sinned by commission. We deserve nothing.
And yet we live like we're entitled to everything. We live like everybody owes us. Everybody should serve us. Everybody should fawn all over us.
Give me, give me, give me. were the leech of the Proverbs. Give! Give! That's our fundamental default position.
Not so with Christ. The Son of Man did not come to be served, though He was deserving, though we should have, though everybody should have bowed and confessed His glory and His majesty. He Himself said, if these don't cry out, the very rocks will cry out. because he's God of God, light from light, true God from true God. This is the glory of the Savior, and yet when he comes into this world, it's not to be served.
Brethren, we need to check our hearts with the entitlement attitude that I think lodged itself in our hearts at our conception. We really think everybody owes us. We really think everybody should serve us. We really think that we should never have any hardship because others should make sure that I don't.
Well, the Son of Man did not come to be served, but notice he doesn't stop there, but rather he comes to serve. He did not come to be served, but to serve. We'll get on with it in just a moment, but you see why it's such a an affront when we don't want to serve others, when we're selfish, or when we're proud, or when we have vain ambition, or proud ambition, and we just can't see getting our hands dirty, or doing this, that, or the other. It is so contrary to Christ.
He didn't come to be served, but to serve. In other words, if you ask Jesus, you happen to meet him at the bus stop, and you said, why are you here? He said, well, I've come to serve. I mean, who actually says that?
You ever meet people that, yeah, I just, I love to serve. That's my spiritual gift. It's service. I just want to serve.
Serve, serve, serve, serve. Seems to me people's spiritual gifts are preaching, teaching, reading, that sort of stuff. Not a lot of people get the spiritual gift of serve. Not a lot of people get that gift where, yeah, my life's calling, I just want to serve.
I just want to put everybody else first. I want to make sure that everybody else has theirs and I don't have mine. That's just not typically the gift. I think I mentioned on a Wednesday night or a Saturday morning, it's probably a Saturday morning theology class, in some churches, the broader evangelical churches, they have these little workshops and, you know, how to find your spiritual gift.
You know, this is 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12, And Ephesians 4, right? Yeah, 12-12-4. I was reminded by Isaac, that's the way we do it. But you have these little seminars and you try to discern your spiritual gift.
They're not coming out of there saying, my gift is to plunge toilets. My gift is to pick up and sweep the grounds. There's some nasty stuff that ends up on these grounds. Just ask our deacons and me.
As I said, Tuesday morning, I come around that corner and I cringe. I wince. What do I get to pick up this time? You see, that's not typically where we gravitate.
We think we should teach. We think we should be missionaries. We think we should, you know, do this. We think we should do the equivalent of splitting the atom, but in the kingdom, of course.
That's our default mode. And yet Christ says He didn't come to be served, but to serve. And the greatest example, the greatest model, and it's not just exemplary, we want to make sure that we see that, but in terms of our context,
The Ransom for Many
the greatest example is, and to give His life a ransom for many. That act of service characterized the entirety of his life and comes to full expression at Calvary. When you eat this bread and you drink this cup, remember the Lord's service. We often refer to our services at the church.
You know what this ultimately is? God's service more to us. God's the householder here and he has called us tonight to feast. Now I know it's not a feast when it's a little bit of a peace.
We ought to have big loaves and pass them around and actually feast with reference to belonging in the kingdom. But that's the point. It's not our service to God. The householder continues to serve us.
That is so characteristic and descriptive of who our God is with reference to us miserable lot. So the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. We have already seen his announcement on three occasions up to this point that he's going to die. We also know that the purpose of his death, or note rather, the purpose of his death, Why is he giving that life?
Not because he's a criminal, not because he's an insurrectionist, not because he's a revolutionary or a terrorist. He is giving his life as a ransom for many. Now the word ransom here is a great word. It's one of those theologically loaded words like propitiation or reconciliation.
There's this gospel glossary of terms that every believer really ought to get in their minds and in their heart. The idea of ransom, it implies a payment of a price. In other words, when Jesus offers himself up on the cross, when Jesus goes to the cross, when Jesus dies, he is paying a debt. He is paying a price.
Redemption isn't simply... ransom isn't simply just a powerful maneuver by God to free us from sin, but rather it is with reference to the payment of a debt. Christ's sacrifice is theologically explained here. And I would suggest the disciples would have hopefully clued in. He said he's going to be crucified just back there in 2017 to 19.
If the question would arise, well, why would he be crucified? Why would he go to this death? He's giving the theology behind it to give his life a ransom, not for everybody, but for many. There is this group called the many in the New Testament.
They are the people of God. They are the elect of God. They are those for whom Jesus gave his life as a ransom. Because you can rest assured that if Jesus shed his blood for any, they will be saved.
He doesn't shed his blood in vain. Rather, he sheds his blood to secure the salvation of his people, those whom the Father had given. With reference to the particular word used here, Leon Morris, in his book, The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross, says it is important to realize that it is this idea of payment as the basis of release, which is the reason for the existence of the whole word group. And this word, or this word group, rather, is used in many places.
Here in Matthew, we see it in Romans 3, 1 Corinthians 6, Galatians 3, Ephesians 1, Colossians 1, 1 Timothy 2, Hebrews 9, 1 Peter 1, Revelation 5. Again, it's one of those glorious gospel terms that highlights one of the significances about the death of Jesus. The one final thing I'd like to suggest is that this is the last statement Jesus makes before he goes into Jerusalem. And I think that's very significant.
I think that is very key. I think that this verse functions much like Matthew 121 to provide the rationale for chapters 21 to 27. In other words, why does Jesus do what he does when he gets to Jerusalem? Why does Jesus suffer this shame?
Why does Jesus get cast off by the multitude? Why does Jesus go through Gethsemane? Why does Jesus carry his own cross? Why is Jesus exalted, not upon an earthly throne or a heavenly throne, but he's exalted upon a cross?
Why does he do that? I think you need to interpret Matthew 21 to 27, the passion narrative primarily, in light of Jesus' statement here. There's no accident. The Holy Spirit has us read Christ's purpose for Him going into Jerusalem.
And it is not to serve, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many. Well,
Application: Pride and Service
brethren, I hope that we will see in this particular passage the wretched problem and the persistent problem of pride. It obtained among the sons of Zebedee. Lord, we want something from you. We don't want to, you know, serve.
We don't want to have this cross. We want the crown. We want to be on the right and on the left when you come into your kingdom. There is that in us.
In fact, Ryle makes the observation, from pride, the saints of God receive their greatest injuries after their conversion. Do you hear that? He's not talking about unconverted people. You may be uncomfortable.
You say, Pastor Butler, you don't know me. I'm not really proud. Good. The rest of us probably need to hear this.
You can tune out. From pride, the saints of God received their greatest injuries after their conversion. Well, says Hooker, Richard Hooker. Pride is a vice which cleaveth so fast unto the hearts of men, that if we were to strip ourselves of all faults, one by one, we should undoubtedly find it the very last and hardest to put off." Now, if that resonates in your soul, then I would suggest to you, continue to be in this passage, continue to go to Philippians 2, continue to go to 1 Peter 5, continue to keep it in check.
Again, greatness, the desire for greatness isn't wrong, brethren. Jesus does not say, don't want to be great. But the path to greatness in the kingdom is service, serving others, caring for others, putting others first, esteeming others as better than yourself, Paul says in Philippians chapter 2. You know,
Casting Care on God While Serving
let's just go back to 1 Peter for a moment, because I think we should look at this again. There's probably a lot of reasons for verse 7 in 1 Peter chapter 5, but one I don't think jumps out at us as that obvious is something I want to share here. Going back to 1 Peter 5.5, Now, again, what I'm about to suggest here, I don't think it's the most evident of applications, but I think it's legit. Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due time.
He is telling us to put others first. He is telling us to be submissive to others. He is telling us to be clothed with humility. He is telling us to get on our knees and wash the feet of our fellows.
He is telling us that. Everybody agrees. So what's the rationale with reference to verse 7? Casting all your care upon him, for he cares for you.
That's a general truth. I mean, that's a maxim. That's a principle. That's right out of the book of Psalms.
You cast your care upon God. Why? Because God cares for you. The idea really is roll your burden onto him because he is sufficient to carry it.
But I think the connection might be If you really want to adopt kingdom greatness, you really want to serve, you really want to do what Peter says, you want to clothe yourself with humility, you want to put others before yourself, it might rise up in your heart because we are who we are, then who's going to look out for me? In other words, if I am busy at the bottom of this pyramid serving all of my fellows, then what of me? Verse seven, casting all your care upon him for he cares for you. In other words, you may be serving all of those people, but it's not the case that God is abandoning you.
It's not the case that your needs are not gonna be met. It's not the case that you're gonna die and suffer and be, you know, trounced or trashed. No, cast your care upon him. Why?
Because he cares for you. In other words, Peter says, clothe yourself with humility, put others before yourself, and don't fret or worry that you're going to go unattended. God is going to attend you. God is going to care for you.
God is going to watch over you. See, kingdom greatness is something the people of God should be pursuing, and it comes through And then finally,
The Redemptive Heart of Verse 28
we ought to appreciate the function of verse 28 in the specific context. The redemptive work of Jesus Christ secures the salvation of his people. That's what we need to take away from verse 28 in the first place. Yes, it functions as the model for kingdom greatness.
Yes, it is the impetus for the people of God to follow a life of service toward the people of God. All that is true, but we must not neglect the primary emphasis of verse 28 to highlight the redemptive nature of Christianity. He came to give his life as a ransom for many. We need a ransom.
We need to be bought back. We need to be delivered from the slave market of sin, and it's Christ's death that has secured that. and then read that and understand that and let that cast its shadow over chapters 21 to 27 so that when you see Jesus on the cross, when you see him suffering, when you see him mocked, when you hear those priests say, he saved others, why doesn't he save himself? You know what he's doing. He is doing what he is doing so that he can ransom his people.
Well, let us close in a word of prayer.
Closing Prayer
Our father, we thank you for Matthew 20, 28. We thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ that does what he says in this passage, and we know it to be the case. And tonight, God, as we eat this bread, as we drink this cup, help us to do so in light of Matthew 20, 28. That our Savior didn't come to be served, but he came to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.
And we bless you, and we thank you, and we praise you that you've included us in that many. And we pray that all over the earth, more would be called, more would come, more would taste and see that the Lord is good. And we ask this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.