We’ve spent most of our time talking about how not to serve Christ, now lets spend some time talking about what we should be doing. Read the above passages, focusing on verse 12. Our goal as followers of Christ should never to be elevated.
He says “do not be called ‘Rabbi’”. The Scribes and Pharisees were all about the titles. A (s)cribe by definition is merely someone who diligently and reverently copies God’s word, however a (S)cribe is someone to be looked up to because they interpret and preserve the law, they are God’s pens on earth. A righteous and God fearing Jew is merely someone who is following the great Jehovah, however a Pharisee is one who is above the law. They are God’s examples to man on earth and they are to be respected and honored because of their standing with God. Do you see the difference between that mindset and what Jesus is saying in these verses? Jesus says don’t look for the title of “Teacher” because anything you learn is from Christ.
He is to be the model for us. He is to be the example for us. God took on human flesh and walked among us to become the perfect sacrifice for our sins. In His time here on earth He also gave us the example of how to live our lives. Everything He did He did to glorify the Father. His actions were motivated by His love for the unredeemed. He lived the perfect life of submission finally submitting Himself to death on the cross. Everything we do should be interpreted with Christ as the model.
Don’t want to seek to be elevated because we are all equal in Christ and we all submit to the same God. Look at Romans 1:16:
16For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.We all have the same salvation, we all come to Him the same way. There is nothing special about any of us other than the fact that God loves us. Look at Galatians 3:26-28
26For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.We are all one in Christ. There is none of us that is more important than another.
Jesus tells us in these verses not to seek any title; Rabbi, Teacher, Father or anything else that man may dream up. We serve God, He is our Father – not someone given a title by man. We serve God, He is our Teacher – not someone given a position by man.
God is to receive all of the glory, never us. Anything that elevates us above God is sin. Any title that we revere above Christ is an idol and it must be cast away from us. Let us give the glory where glory is due. Let God have all the titles. Let Him be the holy one, let Him be reverenced, let Him be called Father and Teacher. Don’t seek that for yourself.
Jesus tells us if we want to be great we must be willing to accept lowly service, look at verses 11 and 12. ”He who is greatest among you shall be your servant.” Our perfect example of that is Jesus on the night of the last supper. Do you remember what He did before dinner? He washed everyone’s feet. God Himself took on the role of servant didn’t He? The biggest picture of Christ humbling Himself for others has to be the cross. Did Jesus have to die on the cross for Himself? No. That He did for us...
He allowed Himself to be betrayed, He allowed Himself to be captured, He allowed Himself to be beaten, He allowed Himself to be spat on and He allowed Himself to be nailed to a tree. Why did He do all that? Because we needed Him to…
He knew that we could not save ourselves. He took upon that role of servant and fulfilled a duty that we could cannot because He loves us more than we can imagine.
Let us follow His example in the way that we serve. Let us seek to be exalted in the next kingdom and not this one. Let us humble ourselves before one another remembering that when we serve each other we are serving Him. There is no task no menial for us to perform.
Look closely at verse 12 and the choice it offers. We can choose to be honored in this life but we will ultimately be humbled if that is the case. We can choose to be humbled in this life and be ultimately lifted up in the next. Let the only words of praise that we seek be "Well done my good and faithful servant". Let us serve Christ first and seek only His approval.
Let us not forget His example to us on the cross. Let us serve Him and others out of love never forgetting that is was God’s grace and mercy that brought us to the place in which we now stand.
Grace and peace to you all…
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