Any study of what it means to be a servant should end and begin with the person of Jesus Christ.  Hebrews 12:2 says, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”  No greater person can be found to display servanthood than Jesus Christ.

Any brief reading of scripture we realize very quickly that the 12 disciples who spent huge amounts of time with Jesus during his earthly ministry were not perfect.  Nowhere near it.  Time and time again the disciples individually and as a collective group do stupid things.  They always seem to be saying the wrong things, doing things the wrong way and in constant need of correction.  I’m going to retell one of those incidences found in scripture.

Found in Matthew 20:20-28

I’m not sure where the idea originally came from, but someone wanted to be important.  Whether James and John wanted a special place of honor or it was their mom who leading the charge, scripture doesn’t tell us for sure.  What we do know is that the James, John and their mom approach Jesus with this question, “Command that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine may sit one on Your right and one on Your left.”

This is a very bold and very straightforward question from the mom.  She basically asking, “Make my sons the vice-president and secretary of state.”  She is asking something of Jesus that is huge!  Not only that, she’s doing it on behalf of her sons rather than letting them personally ask the question of Jesus.  This type of action from James and John would be what you would call being momma’s boys.  They were grown men still being dependent on their mother.  They were dependent on their mother to ask the question of Jesus they didn’t have the guts to ask on their own.

After a series of questioning back and forth Jesus lets the mom and her two sons know that it’s ultimately not his place to assign who sits on his right or left.  He submits to the Father and his preparations for the future kingdom.  This whole conversation between Jesus, the mother, James and John annoys the fire out the other 10 disciples.  Wouldn’t it annoy you?  That your peers, those who you work with, travel with, and have been friends with decide to bring their mother in and ask for a special promotion.   Jesus senses this tension and addresses them with the following:

But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them.  It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall 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.”

Matthew 20:24-28 (NASB)

Jesus teaches the disciples a beautiful lesson about how we should interact with others.  We don’t get our way by bringing in our mother; we don’t get what we want by power, position, title or authority.  The Kingdom of God is fueled by service and servant hood.  We must serve each other in humility and kindness.  We must put aside our position on the totem pole and say, “I am here for YOU”.  As Christians we should be symbiotically dependent on one other through our acts of service to one another.  When we demand things through power and position we fail to follow the model of Jesus Christ and we fail to serve our brothers and sisters.

To show how serious Jesus is about this, he even throws in the phrase, “whoever wished to be first among you shall be your slave”. Slavery is not a desirable position.  Slavery is the completely opposite of sitting at the right hand of the king in power (which is the very thing James and John’s mom was requesting).  But the slavery that Jesus asks of the disciples is voluntary slavery unlike slavery we know from our country’s history.  We are called to voluntarily consider ourselves slaves to those around us.  This echoes Philippians 2:3-4, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”  Others first and us last… REGARDLESS of our position, title, or where we sit in the authority structure of life.  This is the message for the disciples then and the message for us today.

Jesus’ final line says, “…the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”  Jesus above anyone else has the right to be served.  Philippians says, “every knee will bow”.  1 Peter says Jesus “committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in his mouth.”  John says, “All things came into being though Him”.  Revelations says Christ is the “King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.  If anyone throughout all of creation from the beginning of time should be served, HE IS JESUS CHRIST.  But to show the example of how we should interact for each other and more importantly our salvation from our captivity in sin, HE willfully chose to SERVE us!!!

So how will you SERVE today?  How will you embrace a position of a slave rather than a position and authority?  What are some ways that you can embrace the life the Jesus modeled here on earth?

Related Articles

Being a Servant: From Toilets to Servants

Being a Servant: It Starts From the Top

Being a Servant: It’s Not About YOU!