Who Is the Greatest - 14

Welcome to Turning Point Weekend Edition. How do you define greatness? Is it fame?

Is it power? Award-winning skill as an actor or an athlete? Dr David Jeremiah says Jesus has a very different definition of greatness, one that's sorely needed today. Here's David to share his message. Who is the greatest?

This is Turning Point. I'm David Jeremiah, and this is the Weekend Edition. We're studying the book of Mark, and today we're in the ninth chapter, verses 30 to 37. And our discussion today is who is the greatest? Jesus had a very different definition of success. He said that being a servant, that putting yourself last, not first, was the key to becoming great, not in the world, but in his everlasting kingdom. We could use a little bit of that today, don't you think? Let's find out more about it as we open our Bibles to the ninth chapter of the book of Mark on the Weekend Edition of Turning Point. I have a little story to tell you.

Today we're going to talk about the power of service, and I thought I would just begin with this story. A woman took her husband to the doctor's office. After his checkup, the doctor said, your husband is suffering from a very serious infection. Well, the husband was hard of hearing, and he said, what did he say? And his wife said, he says, you're sick.

And the doctor went on, but there's some hope, and he said, ma'am, I just need to help you understand what you can do for your husband. You need to reduce his stress. Each morning, give him a healthy breakfast. Be pleasant and nice and kind, and for lunch and dinner, make him his favorite meal, and don't discuss your problems with him. It will only make his stress worse. Don't yell at him.

Don't argue with him, and most importantly, just cater to your husband's every whim, and if you do that, your husband, for the next six months to a year, if you do that during that period of time, I think your husband has an opportunity for complete recovery. And the husband said, what did he say? And she said, he said, you're going to die. Some people will do anything to avoid serving, won't they? As we've studied the book of Mark, we have learned together that one of the hardest things for any of us to face are the shortcomings or flaws in our lives. I think maybe it's been a shock to all of us, and even to me somewhat, having studied this many times before, that the disciples were far from perfect people. Oftentimes we think, oh, he's a disciple. He must have it all together, and we even think about that today. Oh, he's a disciple, which means he's closer to God.

He's got it together. How many of you have discovered with us so far the disciples don't have it all together? They're facing one flaw after another. In one place, it's their lack of prayer. Remember, they couldn't cast out a demon, and they couldn't figure it out. And Jesus said, well, you can't figure it out because this kind of demon only comes out through prayer.

They couldn't figure out what to do with their fear, and they just seemed to be so dull of hearing when it came to the things Jesus was trying to communicate to them. And this particular story that is in the progress of his journey to the cross is told not only by Mark, but it's also in the book of Matthew and in the book of Luke. As Mark tells this story, he shows us how Jesus was trying to teach his disciples. And I'd like to tell the story sort of in the same vein in which I see the Lord Jesus walking through this with his men.

There are four characteristics of this. First, there's some information, then there's an interrogation, and then there's some instruction, and Jesus finishes with an illustration. So with our Bibles open to Mark in the ninth chapter, we begin our reading today at the 30th verse with some information. The Bible says, they departed from there and passed through Galilee, and he did not want anyone to know it. Jesus and his disciples have gone now from the northern part of Israel, and they're going through Galilee, and Jesus has determined that he's going to reach his destination, which is Jerusalem, and ultimately his destination, which is the cross. And the Bible says that he didn't want anybody to know where he was going, and we don't know why he doesn't want anybody to know until we read the next verse.

Verse 31 says, for he taught his disciples and said to them, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill him, and after he is killed, he will rise the third day. Jesus didn't want to be interrupted in his opportunity to mentor his disciples and tell them what was going to happen in a few days, because he is going to the cross, he's going to be buried and resurrected, and the disciples, if they don't get this information, are going to be caught off guard. So Jesus didn't want anybody to know where he was going because he wanted uninterrupted time to teach his disciples. Now, Mark often portrays Jesus as a teacher. You see this throughout the entire gospel, but most often he doesn't tell us what Jesus is teaching. In this text, he tells us what the subject was of their discussion as they moved along the way that day. Jesus is teaching about his death, burial, and resurrection.

That's the subject matter. He's trying to explain to his disciples that though they wanted a king with a crown, they got a king with a cross, and their king was headed toward the cross, and they needed to be prepared for it. This is the second of three times that Jesus actually explains this.

In the book of Mark, I won't read them, but one is in the 31st verse of Mark 8 and in the 33rd verse of Mark 10. Jesus is telling his disciples what is to happen. Every once in a while I run into somebody who talks about the crucifixion as if Jesus was taken off guard, they got him without his notice, and they swiftly moved him to Calvary and killed him without his permission. What a silly thing for anybody to say, especially anybody who purports to have read the Bible, because throughout this journey with his disciples, the Lord Jesus is gradually unfolding the plan of redemption for them so that they have no reason not to know.

They understood. Jesus wasn't taken by surprise. Jesus knew that he was born to die.

He came not to be ministered under, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many. Now he's coaching his disciples ahead of time so that they will know what to do. Now, it's interesting that as he goes along the way and he's teaching them, obviously the disciples are also having their own discussion. They were talking about something that they shouldn't have been talking about, and as Jesus is involving himself with them and explaining to them what's going to happen to him, he overhears them having a discussion. Now, let's notice after the information, the interrogation, Jesus questioning his disciples, verse 33. The Bible says that when they came to Capernaum and they stopped over there, obviously they were going to stop in the house of Peter where they had their headquarters up until this time, Jesus brought his disciples into the house and he asked them a question. He says, if I were to put it in the language today, he probably said, what were you guys talking about on the road as we got here?

Now, you have to get this picture in your mind because this is kind of what happened. Jesus is walking along the road and his disciples are walking apart from him, probably in front of him. And as Jesus is walking along the road and he's been teaching them about his coming death, burial, and resurrection, mostly after that, he notices that the disciples are in a discussion.

Literally, the word is pretty strong. It means they were arguing with one another. And as they walked along the road, Jesus could see them in this intense argument, the disciples arguing with one another.

And when they get to Capernaum and they go into Peter's house, Jesus gets them in a circle and he says, what were you guys talking about on the road? Now, I don't think Jesus was in doubt about what they were talking about. He knew what they were talking about, but he was trying to draw them out.

He said, tell me what you were talking about. Now, notice the questioning of Jesus is met by the quietness of the disciples. And they kept silent. They wouldn't answer his question. For on the road, they had been disputing among themselves who would be the greatest. How embarrassing. Jesus is telling them about his death and they're arguing with each other about who gets to be the greatest.

Now, a couple of things are going on here. Obviously, they still haven't figured out the difference between a king with a cross and a king with a crown because their greatness was all about, hopefully, serving in the kingdom with the Lord in a place of prominence. And somehow, Jesus' teaching about suffering and death got them into this debate over who was going to be the greatest. In fact, I've noticed in the New Testament that quite often when Jesus talks about his death, burial, and resurrection, the disciples talk about who's going to be the greatest. So Jesus asks them, what were you talking about? And obviously, they didn't want to answer that question.

They would not answer because they were ashamed and should they not have been ashamed for doing that on that particular day in that particular situation. The Bible says they were arguing about greatness and it wasn't about being great as a disciple. It was about greatness, in essence, who's the most important among the disciples. And I can just hear Peter say, oh, I was standing closest to him when he transfigured on the mountain.

It has to be me. And John probably said, well, you know what he calls me. I'm the disciple Jesus loved, you know. And each of them probably had their own argument about who was the greatest. And they were comparing and ranking their accomplishments, their skills, and their gifts. And they weren't talking so much about greatness in the kingdom of God as they were just talking about who was the greatest man among them. In just a few chapters, we will learn that James and John and their mother have a similar discussion, where she wants to promote her boys so that they get a place of prominence in the kingdom. You can read about that in Mark chapter 10.

We'll get to it later. And later on, just before Jesus went to the cross, the disciples are in the room and they're arguing with one another, again, over who was the greatest in the kingdom. And Jesus Christ walked into the room knowing what they had been talking about. The Bible tells us in John chapter 13 that he took off his outer garment and he donned the clothing of a servant. And he got down on his knees and washed the feet of the disciples.

Whoa. He talks about his death, burial, and resurrection. They talk about who's the greatest.

They talk about who's the greatest. He washes their feet. And Jesus is then going to explain to them why what they're talking about is so absurd and off base.

From the information, we have the interrogation and now the instruction. Notice verse 35. And Jesus sat down and he called the 12 and he said to them, if anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.

Now doesn't that sound like a disconnect? How do you get to be first by being last? Jesus does not tell his disciples to cease trying to be great. Instead, he redefines the meaning of greatness. He doesn't implore us to stop pursuing greatness. He demands that we pursue a specific form of greatness. He is encouraging us to desire, to pursue, to crave a certain kind of greatness that serves all. This is Jesus' definition of greatness.

And of course, it's not an isolated thing in the text. I remember going through the scripture and being reminded of how many times this principle is recorded in the Bible. It's almost like Jesus wants to make sure we don't forget this. This is not only the key to what it means to follow the Lord, but as you're going to see in a moment, it may be one of the missing ingredients in our culture today. So let me just run through these scriptures quickly.

If I were you and I'm taking notes, just write down the address and you can look them up and fill them in later. But here's just a sampling of where this is in the Bible. Matthew 2016, so the last will be first, and the first last, many are called, few are chosen. Matthew 20, 26 and 27, 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. Matthew 23, 11, but he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. Mark 10, 43 and 44, you shall not be so among you, but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. Luke 9, 48, whoever receives this little child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me, for he who is least among you all will be great.

Luke 13, 30, and indeed there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last. Luke 22, 26, but not so among you, on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves. That's a sampling, that's not all, that's a sampling of the many times when Jesus taught this core basic principle of the Christian life. And isn't it interesting, we hear almost nothing about it in our culture today, most people are quite surprised when they hear this, that the principles of leadership for believers is exactly the opposite of that for those who live in the culture. The basic concept of serving is found over 300 times in the New Testament, 130 times in the Gospels, and 170 times in the Epistles, so the Lord did not save us to be sensations, he saved us to be servants. And he's giving us this principle so we will know how to function, not only in the church, but in our culture, so that we can know the joy of Christ's likeness. Here's the difference between what Jesus is saying here and where most people are in their understanding of leadership today.

Let's just start with the triangle. If you start out in the business world today, men, women, graduate from college, maybe grad school, you get a degree, you're ready to go, you enter into the company at the lower level. Nobody starts up here, you start down here, and at the lower level of your company are the most people. There are more people down here on this level than any place else, the entry level. If you stay there and you progress in your career, little by little, you move up, and at every level where you move up, there are fewer people. The next level, fewer people. All of a sudden, if you work hard and you know the boss's family, you get to the top.

Amen? You get to the top. And all of a sudden, you're at the top of the triangle, and people say, it's such a good thing to be able to serve under him. That's what we say, isn't it, in the world today. I serve under, in the military, I serve under, we serve under people. That's the way the world views leadership. We're the triangle, and the one at the top, at the pinnacle, looks out at his world, and he makes this observation. Look at all the people who are serving me. Jesus says, well, that's all right if you want to live that way in your culture, but that's not my way.

Jesus says, you have to turn the triangle upside down. Jesus says, he who will be the greatest among you, let him be the least. That doesn't mean the least in dignity, the least in popularity, the least in ability. It means you understand that in the Biblical sense of leadership, it's not how many people are serving you, it's how many people you are serving. That is servant leadership. That's Biblical leadership.

That's Jesus' kind of leadership. Jesus says, if you want to be great in the kingdom of God, don't ask the question, how many people are serving me? Ask the question, how many people has Almighty God allowed me to serve? And we begin to understand the joy of serving as we begin to institute this principle in our lives. Greatness is waiting on believers in the form of common and simple tasks.

The more common and humble the task, the greater the deed. So Jesus said in Luke 22, 27, I am among you as one who serves. Now, please notice that Jesus is not teaching this principle in classroom. He's teaching it on a road. And where's that road taking him, you guys? It's taking him to Jerusalem. It's taking him to the cross. Jesus is walking out the lesson that he's teaching his disciples. He said, I did not come to be ministered to, but to minister and to give my life a ransom for many.

What is he doing? He's walking toward Jerusalem. He's walking toward the cross. He's saying by his attitude, I'm not going to stay here and be your king with a crown because I understand that before I can be your king with a crown, I have to be your king with a cross. And in his servant attitude, he's giving himself up.

The Bible says he gave himself up for us so that we might be saved. That's what service is. And Jesus is living it out as he's teaching it to his disciples. How do we serve one another? Jesus says if you want to be great, you have to learn to serve. For greatness in the kingdom is not where you stand on the hierarchy, but it's where you stand in serving other people.

Now, that's his instruction. And finally, he gives us an illustration, and the illustration is in verse 36 and 37. Then Jesus took a little child, and he set him in the midst of them. And when he had taken up in his arms, he said to them, whoever receives one of these little children in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives not me, but him who sent me. So we believe that in this situation, Jesus was in Peter's house. And the probability is Jesus went and got one of Peter's children. By the way, that's a shock to everybody that Peter was married, but the Bible tells us he was. He wasn't celibate. He was married. He had some children. I'm just telling you that.

All right. So Jesus gets one of Peter's children, and he brings him into the center of the circle where all the disciples are. And the Bible says when he got him in the center of the circle, Jesus picked this child up in his arms, and he said, whoever receives this little child receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. What was going on there, men and women, was this. In that culture, a child was considered to be the furthest down on the hierarchy of important people in their culture.

Women were second from the bottom, and men were everything. And the Bible says Jesus took a child, this little child that didn't seem to have any significance to anyone, even though it was Peter's child, and he took this child up in his arms, and he said, whoever receives this little one, this one who has no status, this one who doesn't have any standing, this one who would be considered expendable, whoever receives this little one receives me, and whoever receives me receives the father who sent me. And one author I read said, in that moment, the Lord taught us that we can literally shake heaven with what we do in our service on this earth. By reaching out to those who are unserved and undeserving of service according to the culture in which we live, and ministering to them and touching their lives, something happens in heaven that's triggered by something that happens on the earth. Jesus receives us and God receives us because we receive them. When we serve, we enter into a kind of intimacy with God that is, well, it's greater in many respects than prayer and fasting and all the other disciplines.

It puts us instantly in God's favor because that's who God is and that's who Jesus is. They serve. And so the question we have to ask ourselves as we fumble along in our Christian lives, are we connected in heaven because we're serving on earth?

What are we doing? Oh, you say, pastor, what do you mean? I come to church every week.

I love to come here. You teach. That's what I do. That's not serving.

That's learning. Serving is what you do to help, what you do to minister. You say, well, what can I do?

Well, I can promise you, you can do something. If you're a Christian, Almighty God's given you a gift, so you have a special gift that makes it possible for you to serve. You say, well, I don't know what it is.

Well, find out what it is. But there's no excuse for being a Christian in the kingdom of God and not having something to do that serves others. If I understood this completely and I wasn't serving, I'd rush to the nursery and say, how can I help? Because the Bible says, there's one significant thing in the kingdom. What can a baby do to help a church?

Not a thing. But when we serve these little ones, these infants who don't have anything to offer back to us, the Bible says, when we receive them, we receive Jesus, and when we receive Jesus, we receive the Father. What an incredible promise. When we welcome them, when we receive them, that means we look out for their needs.

We try to help them in the areas where they have hurt. And Jesus himself gave us his own commentary on this practice. I want to read this to you from the book of Matthew.

When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory and all the nations will be gathered before him and he will separate them one for another as the shepherd divides the sheep from the goats and he will set the sheep on his right hand but the goats on the left and the king will say to those on his right hand, come you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world for I was hungry, Jesus said, and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took me in. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me.

I was in prison and you came to me. And the righteous will answer him saying, Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you as a stranger and take you in or naked and clothe you?

Or when did we see you sick or in prison and come to you? And the king will answer and say to them, assuredly I say to you, in as much as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me. Jesus says when we minister to others, we minister to him and here's something else. It is really in my estimation the only way you can ever minister to him. You say, well, I come to church and I worship him.

That's worship. But the only way you can serve Jesus is by serving other people. Some people say I love Jesus and I want to serve him, but other people, you got to be kidding me, you know? No, the only way you're going to serve Jesus is to serve other people and in serving other people you're going to get hurt, you're going to get wounded, you're going to get disappointed and discouraged, but so did Jesus. If you want to be Christ-like, you have to serve other people.

And I want to ask you again this pointed question. What do you do to serve Jesus? Yes. Do you host a Bible study? Do you work in the Sunday school?

Do you park cars? Whatever it is that you do. But are you serving? And there is nothing we can ever be asked to do that is beneath the dignity of a servant of Christ if he knows he's doing it for the Lord. A large group of European pastors came to one of Dr. D.L. Moody's Bible conferences in the late 1800s. And following the European custom of the time, each guest put his shoes outside his room to be cleaned by the hall servants overnight. But of course, they were in America and they didn't have hall servants in America. And so Moody was walking through the dormitory that night and he saw the shoes and he determined not to embarrass his brothers from Europe.

And he mentioned the need to some of his ministerial students who were there and they didn't seem to be all excited about helping him with the project. So Moody went back to the dorm, gathered all the shoes into his room and alone, the world's most famous evangelist began to wash and polish the shoes of his European guests. Only the unexpected arrival of a friend in the midst of this work revealed the secret. And when the foreign visitors opened their doors, the next morning their shoes were shined and they never knew by whom.

Moody never told anybody but his friend told a few people and during the rest of the conference, different men volunteered to shine the shoes of the European delegates in secret. Perhaps the episode that I've just told you is a vital insight into why God used D.L. Moody so powerfully. He was a man with the servant's heart and that was the basis of his true greatness. Ladies and gentlemen, let's just say, the first time you see Jesus walking on this earth or the first time you see him visiting this earth, he's in a poor, humble cradle surrounded by shepherds and sheep.

The last time you see him before he goes back to heaven, he's broken on a cross, cruelly massacred by the Romans. All of those humiliating, humbling pictures of our Lord are simply to remind us that he came to serve. Somebody said, how do I know if I'm serving? And the answer to that question is easy, by how you respond when somebody treats you like a servant.

That's how you know. And isn't it interesting, when the Lord wanted to reach this world, he reached us as a servant. He came as a servant to reach us and it's in order to help us understand that if we are to reach the world, we have to reach the world the same way. I want to encourage us all to find something we can do to serve the Lord. Find something that God has enabled you to do and do it with all of your heart. For I'm telling you right now, looking back over a life of serving the Lord, there is no greater joy outside of becoming a Christian than waking up every morning and knowing I get to spend my life today serving the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. What joy there is in all of that. We invite you to join us again next weekend as Dr. David Jeremiah shares another powerful message from God's Word, right here on Turning Point, Weekend Edition.