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Now there was also a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest. And He said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called benefactors. 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. For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as the One who serves. But you are those who have continued with Me in My trials. And I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as My Father bestowed one upon Me, 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
In recent readings, Jesus is in Jerusalem. It is Holy Week. He has made His Triumphal Entry, cleansed the temple, and faced the challenges of the leadership. He has also returned a few challenges of His own. He speaks to the leadership, His disciples, and also the public. (See readings from last Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday). In Friday's reading, Jesus began to speak about the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, and how they are to endure what is to come, and on Saturday we read His teachings on both the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the age, when He will return. In Monday's reading, Jesus taught how we are to await His return. In Tuesday's reading, we read of the plotting of the leadership to take Him, and of preparations for the Passover, which we know as the Last Supper. In yesterday's reading, we were told that when the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. Then He said to them, "With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer, for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God." Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, "Take this and divide it among yourselves, for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me." Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you. But behold, the hand of My betrayer is with Me on the table. And truly the Son of Man goes as it has been determined; but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!" Then they began to question among themselves, which of them it was who would do this thing.
Now there was also a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest. My study bible tells us that "in view of Jesus' willingness to die for the world, the concern of the disciples over who among them is the greatest is reprehensibly small-minded." Perhaps their concern stems from the fact that Jesus has just spoken of the coming of the Kingdom and its fulfillment, and they've misunderstood His meaning. Whatever the cause, they are vying for position among themselves.
And He said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called benefactors." My study bible says, "Some kings called themselves benefactors, a title which is not without irony considering their tyrannical rule." The Greek word for benefactor can also be translated as "do-gooder" or "doer of good works."
"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. For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as the One who serves." A note says that "Jesus Himself is the supreme example of His teaching that greatness consists in humble service to others." In all ways, they (and we) are to look to our Teacher as the supreme example of what it is to truly be His follower.
"But you are those who have continued with Me in My trials. And I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as My Father bestowed one upon Me, that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel." My study bible says, "Jesus is not speaking of two different kingdoms but of one kingdom which will be fully revealed at His glorious return. then, the disciples will sit on thrones occupying honorary positions as reward for sharing Christ's trials."
We often hear about what humility means, but Jesus' position here regarding His disciples goes much further to illustrate exactly what He means than most of us can picture easily. When we think of leadership, we think of authority, the ability to be in charge. But Christ's kind of service goes further than a simple understanding of what leadership means. It extends much deeper into our own considerations of what authority means, what it is to "lord it over" others. Humility comes first as a state of mind and state of the heart; it is an inward intention to please God, a willingness to "step down" from worldly considerations of power into a completely different idea of where power comes from and what it means. Jesus' life serves us as an interpretation of His words here. He did not rule a kingdom in the worldly sense. He did not take profits for Himself, He did not take a position in a conventional sense of rule. He didn't make extravagant public works to call Himself a "benefactor" either! In all ways, Jesus lived His life in consideration of one thing: what pleased the Father. In this sense, He was willing to submit His entire life to this purpose, and every element of His life. This is an inward state of humility. It's an attitude about what matters most. In this perspective, our conventional understanding of what gives us authority is stood on its head: notions of "who is greatest" don't apply. Rather, what Christ tells us is that it is those who've "continued with Him" in His trials who will receive this Kingdom, and will sit on thrones as Judges. (We look to the history of Israel and its Judges to begin to think about what this means, and add to it Jesus' implications of cosmic rule.) Christ isn't speaking here of a life lived with fanfare or the capacity to lord it over others, but one in which we may face many trials, go through suffering, and be "on the outs" with others, if this is where God's love takes us. But this quality of service, our imitation of Christ, is available to each of us, because it begins in the heart. It is borne of an understanding that nothing comes before pleasing God, not any worldly consideration of rank, hierarchy, authority. God's love is about upholding the values of true relatedness, righteousness and justice, through all things. Like Christ's great suffering, and His sacrifice, these things may seem to make no sense when we are in the middle of them. But His honor isn't the same as worldly honor, and that remains a permanent challenge to each of us to fathom for ourselves -- especially when we go through times of trial ourselves.
It's also worthy to mention some of the implications of the language here in today's reading for us to consider. To serve (Gr. diakonon) is our root for "deacon" and it is a word that implies serving at table. In yesterday's reading, Jesus introduced the Eucharist, encouraging all to "take" and distribute. In this context, to lead is to be one who serves and distributes this Eucharistic meal to others, and this should be considered in all its broad senses of offering Christ to the world. We remember that it was St. Peter who was told to "Feed my lambs." We also look at the language for "let him be as the younger." The word "be" here is more like "to become." The one who is greatest is the one who can become the younger. Our ordinary understanding of growth, therefore, is reversed by Christ in this image of "becoming the younger." (We recall that He taught we must receive the kingdom of God as a little child.) Service is therefore implied in all ways, including the energy we have for serving at this table. How do you offer Christ to the world?
