Greatest Among You

Introduction

Last week we talked about how Jesus taught us and reminded those opposing him that the greatest commandment was to love God with your whole being and to love your neighbor as yourself. There was nothing more important than learning what this meant and practicing it in your life. This week we continue further with the passage that follows with Matthew 23:1-12 In this passage Jesus teaches what this greatest commandment looks like in practice which was counter to what was taught by the Pharisees and went against what even the disciples were trying to establish. Listen to Matthew 23:1-12

Matthew 23:1–12 NRSV

1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; 3 therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach. 4 They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them. 5 They do all their deeds to be seen by others; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long. 6 They love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues, 7 and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have people call them rabbi. 8 But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students. 9 And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father—the one in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah. 11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.

Trouble in the text

Jesus is confronting these Pharisees and Teachers of the law because they are doing more harm than good. According to biblical scholars their teaching is putting heavy burdens on the people by the many rules. They themselves do not do anything to help with these burdens. On the opposite end, Jesus’ burden is light. While both may be teaching how to obey the law, Jesus is rebuking them because their practice and teaching is doing more harm than good. What is interesting is that Jesus said do what they teach you but do not do what they practice. He then proceeds to list all the things wrong with their practices which is not part of what the law teaches.

They want to appear prominent and be seen by others as important. They want to be honored by others and put above others in status. They want to be viewed above in every respect. Their practices or beliefs about what their lives should look like, being above others. They sought this in their teachings, the way they walked through life, and the way they conducted themselves among others. It was about being honored above others.

Jesus told his disciples that they taught the right belief in God and loving God with all their being, yet they modeled the teaching of loving your neighbor as yourself poorly. Jesus told them to listen to their teachings but do not follow their practices. As on biblical scholar put it, what they taught was a heavy burden on the people. They did not help the people but insisted on extra burdens of expecting extra of the people they served.

Grace in the Text

However, if you notice the way Jesus taught, he taught not about honoring himself but honoring God and serving others. This was the essence of the greatest commandment. It was about loving God and loving neighbor. To love your neighbor was not to put them above others or to elevate them as more important and others as less important. Jesus did not neglect people because of status in society. The Pharisees and scribes sought an elevated status, a higher privilege than others because of who they were. Jesus taught and served other regardless of what he got out of it. Jesus served others and loved them through both his words and actions

Instead of seeking honor and privilege above others, he sought and helped the downtrodden. He even sought to help those who would turn on him. He sought to help his enemies who wanted to discredit him. Jesus did not teach to put himself above others or that some people were worth helping and others were not. Jesus pulled together a group of disciples who were not the top of society, who were not prominent members of their community. He helped and disciples women and men though women were a lower social class than men in that culture. Fishermen were stinky smelly people who were looked down upon, yet Jesus chose them for his disciples. Tax collectors were the lowest of low people and were despised by people, yes Jesus chose a tax collector.

Jesus taught that serving others is the way in which you show not just with words that you love your neighbor but with action. As James 2:15-16 says in the context of faith,

James 2:15–16 NRSV

15 If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that?

Jesus taught that if you want to be the greatest, which is what the Pharisees and Scribes sought to be, he said it is accomplished by humbly serving others. Jesus modeled that humble servant that birthed forth the church.

Trouble in the world

If we look around us today, it is not hard to find people seeking positions of power or seeking status above others. Do not some people seek positions to make themselves important or feel like they are over or above others in society?

Is this not the cry lately against politicians who are not seeking to help the people they are elected to help? Is it not the accusation made against these same politicians that they seek to serve their own self-interests and help themselves rather than the people who elect them? Is it not the same accusations that go out against them that they are disconnected from what the needs of the people really are because they are far removed from the world of the people they serve?

Now that I have picked on politics, let me pick on governmental forms. Pick your poison so to speak, capitalism, the accusation is that greed rules the minority in power and it abuses the rest. Socialism, we will level the greed playing field that capitalism creates by redistributing wealth, but the select few will determine who pays and who receives. Communism, will resolve it all by taking away all rights and you are meant to simply serve those in power who say what you deserve.

While my intention here is not to say all politicians are bad or all forms of government is bad, they are all this disconnect of purpose of power. In any of these, the breakdown occurs when people seek what is best for them or what is best for those they determine are more deserving. It is when people is positions of power or elevated positions above others have a choice to make every day. Who am I serving, and when that choice is themselves then they break the commandment of loving their neighbor as themselves. When they choose to elevate one group of people over another, they break the commandment of loving their neighbor as themselves.

While I am not under any delusions of a utopian society in this age, I believe we can still do better than what we are doing now.

Grace in the world

While I have picked on politicians and governments, I do want to highlight that some people truly do love others as they love themselves. They make the choice daily to serve others humbly. This is evidence of the grace of God as work in their hearts guiding them in living out the the greatest commandment. These people are the greatest among us when it comes to humbly serving others.

I will share a couple of names and highlights of what they did.

Mother Theresa - she dedicated her life to serving the destitute and dying in one of the world’s worst of slums in Calcutta India. In a BBC article about her, it mentioned that she “She founded the order, The Missionaries of Charity, to look after abandoned babies and to help the poorest of the poor, once saying that they ‘lived like animals but die like angels.’” She did not discriminate based on people’s religious beliefs but sought to serve them regardless. Her mission in life was to serve the poor and destitute and by God’s grace she was part of was started as her mission in India which grew into an international missionary group operating in over 100 countries and having over 517 operation centers.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer - he dedicated his life to teaching and following after what is right, in the face of death. He founded a secret school when the church itself lost control of its direction under Hitler. He did not concern himself with his own life but worked hard at teaching the truth uncompromising and without regard to the cost. He taught the world about the true cost of grace and coined the phrase you hear often “cheap grace” which to his point was not truly grace at all but what we cheapen it to when we don’t follow Christ’ with our whole being.