Do You Want to be Great?

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Luke 22:14–27 ESV

14 And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. 15 And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. 18 For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” 19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. 21 But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. 22 For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!” 23 And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this. 24 A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. 25 And he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. 26 But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. 27 For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves.

Who is the greatest among you? Or among us?

Last week, I was studying and praying about what the LORD wanted me to share

And I was reading the various account about the last supper, and my attention was caught by this one in Luke

Because of the change in tone that we see in this story.

It’s almost as if you have two different stories going on at the same time, but they are taking place at the exact same time, in the exact same place

It was the time of the Feast of the Passover

Jesus had come to Jerusalem for the feast and had sent His disciples on ahead to find a room and prepare the meal.

Jesus knew that this was His final Passover meal with His followers.

In a matter of hours, He would be betrayed, arrested, drug before the court for a mock trial, and ultimately dying one of the most painful and horrifying deaths ever invented

But Jesus was not dragging His feet.

He was not reluctant

In fact, as He reclined at the table with His friends, He said, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer”.

When Jesus uses those words, “eagerly desired”, he using a “double positive”

We sometimes talk about how in English it’s improper to try to use a double negative

But in Greek, it’s very proper to use a double positive

I have eagerly desired to eat with you

Both of those words are different forms of the same Greek word

Lexham Theological Wordbook ἐπιθυμία

ἐπιθυμία (epithymia).

This deep longing and desire.

Jesus had this deep longing and desire to meet together in peace one last time wit His closest friends, knowing that there was aweful pain and suffering to follow.

I don’t know if our English language has a word or an expression that conveys the feeling that Jesus is expressing here.

The Portuguese have an expression, “Tenho saudades de ti”

We would translate that expression, “I miss you”

But our tutor told us, that isn’t a good translation, because English doesn’t have a way of expressing the deep longing that a Portuguese person feels when they use this term

Maybe it’s kind of like the feeling we get when we see a picture or remember something from our childhood that was significant and it brings back these intense feelings and longings that you can’t really put into words

A number of weeks ago, I was watching that show “Ice Road Truckers”

And a convoy of trucks was moving some buildings up through Pickle Lake and up the north road that I grew up traveling

And it filled my heart with such intense longing because those years of my life were so significant to me and so full of memories

But because Jesus uses these words, I imagine His heart is full of emotion and overflowing with love for His followers as He eats with them.

Yes, I imagine even for Judas

And He takes a loaf of bread and breaks it and gives it to them

And as they eat, He reveals to them the deeper meaning behind the eating of the unleavened bread

He tells them that when they eat this bread in the future, they are to remember what He is about to do for them

This is my body which is given for you

And then He takes the cup and tells them to divide it among themselves

And as they drink He tells them of the deeper meaning behind the Passover cup.

That in the future, as they drink it, they are to remember what He is about to do for them

This is the cup that is poured out for you

What love is being shown to them! What sacrifice!

And the disciples are overcome with emotion, and they gather together to embrace their Lord and Master

Right?

No!

What happens instead?

They start arguing about who is the greatest among them!

“A dispute arose among them as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest.”

Here is Jesus expressing His love for them and the sacrifice that He is about to make for them

And they break out into this silly argument

“Hey guys, you all are nice and all, but you’v seen the way Jesus invites me along to special things. You gotta admit that I’m probably the top disciple here.”

“What are you talking about? Haven’t you seen how much time Jesus has spent with me, just one on one? If there is a top disciple, clearly it’s me.”

“You guys are both wacko. Where would this ministry have been the past few years if you didn’t have someone to organize fishing trips so we had something to eat. I’ve literally carried you guys on my back! Jesus couldn’t have done it without me! Clearly, I’m the greatest.”

Silly? Yes!

Childish? YES!

Especially when you consider that they should have known better after something that had just happened days earlier as they were making their way to Jerusalem

It says in Matt. 20 that the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee came to Jesus and said,

“Jesus, when you come into your kingdom, could you make sure that my two boys, of whom I am just so proud (I mean, just look at them). Anyway, can you make sure that they get a throne on either side of yours and they can help you rule?”

And of course the other disciples are indignant.

They are like, “Rats. I wish I’d thought of that!”

And Jesus very patiently asks her some questions and instructs His disicples about what kind of Kingdom is coming

And their argument here is very headscratching, when you consider that Jesus had just told them that one of them

one of these guys thinking that he was the greatest

Was about to betray Him.

Had they not heard Him?

And there they are

I’m the greatest

No, I’m the greatest

You guys are full of it. I’m the greatest!

I can imagine Jesus stifling this deep sigh as he listens to them going back and forth at each other

I can imagine Him thinking, “What? I just had this conversation with them. Have they learned nothing?

I’ve been with them 3 years, and we’re still having these conversations

And finally he breaks into their argument

Hold on there, boys! Don’t you remember what I told you last week?

This is NOT what my Kingdom is like at all!

It’s completely different than the kingdoms that the Gentiles set up

When they set up their kingdoms, they are concerned about exactly what you are fighting about

They are concerned about who is the greatest.

And they lord it over each other

And they have people in positions of power that are called benefactors (vs. 25)

They are the guys who get to say, “You know what, without me, you guys would be nothing.

I mean, look at you. you guys are ignorant and backwards and poor. I could just let you rot in the gutter where I found you

but, hey, out of my benevolence and my great generosity and my good will, I’m gonna do something to help you.

But don’t ever forget where you came from. Because, you could just as quickly go back there

And, yeah, in case you are wondering, I AM the greatest.

Jesus reminds them again that this is not what His kingdom is about at all

His Kingdom is an “upside down kingdom”

It’s where the greatest one is not the one who reclines at the table and is being served

Rather, it’s the one who does the serving

And on this particular night, the One who is doing the serving, is the LORD and Master Himself!

The One who is truly the greatest is declaring himself be the greatest by serving.

He serves His disciples by breaking the bread and distributing it

He serves them by pouring the cup and passing it around

He serves them, as John reports, by pouring water into a basin, girding Himself with a towel and washing their dirty feet

He serves them by going willingly to a horrible death in order that His mission might be complete and in order that reconciliation between Holy God and sinful man might be complete

Jesus declared His greatness by serving his disciples

He said in Matthew 20:26-28 “....But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, 28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.””

I believe that this is part of the reason that Paul had such harsh words for the Corinthian Church in 1 Cor. 11

Because the attitude that they were displaying was quite the opposite of what Jesus showed

They were coming together and eating the Lord’s supper as Jesus had commanded them to do

Or, that’s what they thought anyway.

But Paul says to them, “You think that you are eating the Lord’s supper together.

“but actually you aren’t”. what you are doing is not the Lord’s supper.

If it was the Lord’s supper, each of you would be showing how great he/she is by how well you serve each other. Just as Jesus taught you to do

Instead, you are coming together and acting like pigs at feeding time.

Some you are gorging yourselves, while others are going hungy

Some of you are getting drunk, while, presumably, others had nothing to drink

Everybody is looking out for themselves

And Paul calls the Corinthian church out on this!

The bread that we eat and the cup that we drink is a remembrance of a great sacrifice

It is a remembrance and declaration of the greatest act of service ever!

This passage tugs at me and convicts me

Because I know how badly I want people to think well of me.

I want to think that if I wasn’t around, their lives would just go downhill

Really, down inside, I want people to think that I’m the greatest. I don’t know if I would ever get into an open argument about it because it feels so childish

But when God pierces my soul with His sharp, two-edged sword, I know that those feelings are there