Who is the Greatest?

Introduction

Mom’s friend - Eddie Murphy story. Hotel in New York. She got on an elevator. Three large men got on the elevator and stood silently behind her. “Hit the floor.”

Read Luke 22:24-30

Luke 22:24–30 ESV

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. 28 “You are those who have stayed with me in my trials, 29 and I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, 30 that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

We are now in the final moments of Jesus and he has just had the Lord’s supper, and the disciples are lost to what is happening. We know this… because they are fighting at the table of the Lord’s Supper.

You do not stand in the presence of a lion and debate who is stronger. You try not to get eaten by the lion.

Explanation

Luke 22:24-26.

The setting and location of this conversation is important. Where are they?

They are with Jesus at the Lord’s Supper. Let’s build the gravity here.

Have you ever tried to do something nice with your kids, only to realize that your kids really don’t care about whether or not it is nice at all? You take your kids on vacation only to realize that vacation is really nothing special to them.

I can imagine that if Jesus wasn’t God, he would have been discouraged - and he may still have been.

He has spent three years with these men, and they still don’t get it.

What a painful moment for Jesus. His disciples are jockeying for position as He discusses His demise.

Imagine your children fighting gleefully over your possessions as you share that you have terminal cancer.

The problem remains that we are often the same way in our discussions with Jesus.

Our ambitions often creep to the surface at one point or another. Or we openly brag about our ambition, having had it stamped by God for approval.

We are consistently comparing ourselves to others.

Our consistent arguing demonstrates how pride blinds us to what God is really doing.

We lose the bigness of Jesus. That when we are in the presence of Jesus we are at the table with the God of the universe, the Lion of Judah.

My greatest hope in studying the book of Luke is that Jesus just becomes much bigger to you.

We lose the beauty of what Jesus is doing.

Luke 22:25-27.

Jesus addresses what they are thinking from the culture then from the Biblical standpoint.

Culturally - When one person exerts power over another that person will exert power in the same way to the next person.

The first thought people often think when it comes to power and authority is “how can I use this for my advantage.” How can I wield this authority to my betterment? How can I make the most out of this?

What if Jesus had yelled at them? What if Jesus had threatened them the same way another ruler would have?

Biblically - Jesus tells us to break the power cycle. We can turn it upside down.

We won’t do this by voting - contrary to popular opinion. Voting is a wonderful freedom we have been given that we must thank God for every chance we get. Can Christians bring about change in countries throughout the Middle East even though they cannot vote? Absolutely.

For a millenia, churches did exactly this. How? By simply serving others. The answer is serve.

Application

You taking the time to serve others around you can change the world. It can!

Instead of attempting to persuade your family, friends, or spouse of something, serve them. The moment will come to persuade. And often, I have found that serving them in the meantime makes that moment come much faster.

Our hearts must change, though.

I tell young pastors what I was once told as I was aspiring to the ministry, “If you are too big for a job, then this job is too big for you.”

I am flabberghasted at the amount of people who come to church without any intention of serving.

I want to lovingly tell you that’s not a Biblical form of Christianity. It is American Christianity, which is a fake Christianity.

Luke 22:28–30 “28 “You are those who have stayed with me in my trials, 29 and I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, 30 that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

One day, those who reign apart from the Kingdom of God will have their small kingdoms stripped from them.

And on that day, those who have lead by serving, by giving away, and by being last - the Kingdom will be given to them.

There is no other way. Only service. Only Christ. Only His Kingdom.

Invitation

Today is a day to take the Lord’s Supper seriously again. To take it seriously from two fronts:

We want to understand the weight of who Jesus is and what Jesus did.

We want to see the deep pride and sin that steals our ability to see Jesus for who He is and what He did.