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. Luke 22: 24-30 ESV
Luke 22: 24-30
MacArthur - Nothing comes more naturally to fallen human beings than pride, manifesting itself in self-centeredness, self-love, self-promotion, and self-fulfillment. Pride is the defining sin of fallen human nature, the soil in which all other sins sprout, take root, and grow. It is the damning sin that produced angelic rebellion against God and sought to topple Him from His throne as the sovereign ruler of the universe. It produced the sin of Eve and Adam, plunging the race into corruption. That pride has been reclassified as a virtue throughout history and in contemporary society only reveals the depths of human depravity. Isaiah wrote of such a wicked reversal of reality, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” (Isa. 5:20)....Jesus’ warning of His impending suffering and death (Lk 9:44) and their need to be willing to suffer (Lk 9:23-26) had not sunk in with the apostles (Lk 9:45-46). They still were focused on the crown instead of the cross; on the glory, not the suffering. Still anticipating the imminent arrival of the kingdom, an argument started among them as to their place in it. Ironically, while Jesus spoke of His personal suffering, they argued about their personal glory. (See The MacArthur New Testament Commentary) - Precept Austin
A dispute also arose among them - Jesus just told them about His going to suffer, yet again. It's easy to arm chair quarterback this one, hindsight is 20/20 after all, and we are left aghast, but only because of our own pride, no different than those that virtue signal today. Oh, we say, "I would never deny my faith, I would never disappoint my Lord like that", but haven't you? Every time I sin I defy the right of the Creator to tell me, His creation, how to live, act and respond. Every time I hate someone I elevate myself as though I was somewhat less needing as a sinner, a better type of sinner, rebel, rejecter of God's law and Kingship. Every time I fear man in the face of doing what's right versus flying under the radar, every time I refuse to forgive my neighbor or pray for my enemy, has God not spoken to these matters, is He in the wrong? It's all over our world right now, pride has become a virtue, "I am the greatest, worship yourself and the world will follow." Those who follow that don't follow Jesus though, and He says, "deny yourself, take up your cross, and come follow Me." I would rather be the slave of Christ than the king of men, though it flies in the face of my ego, yet my Lord suffered, He was humble, He lead the way in all that.
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13
The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them - As a follower of Christ you are not part of that structure, there is no need for you to politic, plot and snake your way up the ladder. You do your best, like Joseph, whether as a slave in Potiphar's house, a prisoner in jail, or as second to Pharaoh as God place him to save the people of that time from famine. At work you have bosses who just tell people what to do and cannot handle hearing when they are wrong. They promote suck ups and in turn inbreed the worst sort of management. A leader on the other hand is different than the average boss, his title puts weight upon his own shoulders and he surrounds himself with people that are not afraid to challenge him or tell him when he's wrong. Why? Because he is grounded enough to know that he can be wrong, and he wants to do what's right, not pretend at it, not spin things to sound better than they are, but actually turn from the wrong direction, get on the right path and reward his team for getting everyone there.
Satan is always fomenting our pride. And the best response is to gather around the Word and pray the Word (Jn 1:1, Rev 19:13) as a group. That's the next best thing to having a personal audience with Jesus. My daughter has a friend who is a leader in the church and whose marriage is experiencing severe testing. When several of the women she knew agreed to come over to her home and pray for this woman and her spousal strife, the Spirit laid on my daughter's heart to lead the time of prayer so that it was somewhat structured. She is a reluctant leader, but obeyed and sent all the ladies Scriptures to ponder before they gathered, asking them to bring other Scriptures to the prayer meeting. The upshot is that it was a wonderful time of hearing the voice of Jesus via the Spirit and the Word and all participants sensed God's favor on the meeting.
Wiersbe explains that "The Romans in particular vied for honors and did all they could, legally and illegally, to win promotion and recognition, but they are not the examples for us to follow. (Borrow Be courageous Luke 14-24)
The leader as the one who serves - Jesus wants them to let go of their egos, the striving to be heard, to be seen as the greatest, the GOAT, let it not enter your mind, let it not create factions. In church situations I have found sometimes it is better to walk away if a thing cannot be reconciled or it remains a sore point for others whenever they see you. The loud ones don't want to serve, they want to be revered, held up and served, how unlike the Lord Whom they preach. You will never experience so much freedom in this life as the day you decide to work as unto the Lord and not worry what men think of you, or what others have that you do not.
…27and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave— 28just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” 29As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed Him.… Matthew 20: 277-29
For who is greater - Well, duh, the one who reclines, it's all over the internet and tv, they are always reclining at the Oscars, at large festivals, in stadiums, at fancy restaurants, beside pools and on yachts, surrounded by an entourage of people that make sure they know how special they are.
But I am among you as the one who serves - The greater than Solomon, God the Son, Himself, the maker and ruler of the world is here before you, and you know no one greater than Him, and He has made Himself a servant. What should His followers be like then?
…41The men of Nineveh will stand at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now One greater than Jonah is here. 42The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and now One greater than Solomon is here. Matthew 12: 41-42
You are those who have stayed with Me in My trials - They are the ones chosen of, called by God to do so, and the one that would be greatest will learn to be the least.
Have stood (continued) (1265)(diameno from dia = intensifies meaning + meno = to remain or abide) means to remain permanently (dia = through so "to remain through" is the idea) or to continue in the same place or condition (cf Lk 1:22+). When diameno is used to describe people as in this passage it means to remain constant or to stand by. The perfect tense signifies they had begun in the past to stand with Jesus and remained standing with Him. This is interesting in that they would soon temporarily flee out of fear of the authorities, but they would return and remain standing, tradition recording that all except John doing so to the point of martyrdom. Are you standing with Christ? Of course ultimately we can stand with Him because His Spirit in us enables us to stand. Jude writes "Now to Him Who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy." (Jude 1:24+)
In John 6 we see a contrasting response among those who followed Jesus
As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. 67 So Jesus said to the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?” 68 Simon Peter (WHO DENIED HIM TEMPORARILY) answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life.(John 6:66-68). - Precept Austin
I assign to you - "You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you." Keep your focus on Him, on His word, and you need not worry about titles. The gravity of it is you are not fit to lead if you cannot serve, and they have much to learn as do we all.
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