and whoever wants to be first must be the slave of all.Whoever of you wants to become first among you shall be bondservant of all.And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all.and whosoever would be first among you, shall be servant of all.
4 sermons cite this verse
… free. Force me to render up my sword, and I shall conqueror be. Jesus says, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be the slave of all. Then he says, think about it. Even the Son of Man, talking about himself, didn't come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. The same principle runs through the epistles. Paul in 1 Corinthians 9 and in verse 19 says, Though I am free, I belong to no man. I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To win as many as possible. What are you doing, Paul? Well, I'm trying to win as many as possible. What do you mean? Well, I'm trying to see unbelieving people become committed followers of Jesus Christ. Why? So that they might prove themselves to be the worshipers from John 4 that the Father seeks. Why? So that God, who created us for the praise of his glory, is praised and glorified in all that we are and all that we do. And for that reason, and since it is such a compelling issue for me, says Paul, I'm prepared to make myself a slave in order that people might become the worshipers of God. He actually makes the very same point in another way when he writes to the Galatians in chapter 5, and I think in verse 13. And he says, you, my brothers, were called to be free, but do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature. …
… In Matthew chapter 20, verses 26 to 27, Jesus said, It is not so among you, but whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave. notice jesus says there's absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to be successful in life there's nothing wrong with wanting to be great but what jesus said is if you really want to be great and important and significant you need to follow a different path to success than that which the world offers for example the world says look out for number one jesus says look out for others The world says, destroy your opposition. Jesus says, love your opposition. The world says, hold on to your rights. Don't let them go. Jesus said, let go of your rights. The world says, if you want to be great, rule other people. Jesus said, if you want to be great, serve other people. The world says, promote yourself. Jesus says, humble yourself. …
The Gospel of Mark emphasizes this service. There's a verse in Mark chapter 9 that says, whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all. Let that sink in. Let that sink in. Whoever wants to be first must be a servant of all. Wouldn't that change our hierarchical systems? if the way to the top would be being of service to everyone that you encounter. So in the book of Luke, it highlights this reversal that Christ does. The Magnificent declares that God has brought down the powerful and lifted up the lowly. The reversal, Luke chapter 1. John highlights this love of the least in Jesus' intimacy, how he stoops down to wash the feet of his disciples, showing that the divine glory is revealed in humble service. Because you see, from Genesis to Revelation, God's heart beats for the least. Now, let's think about this theologically. Why does God prioritize the least? Here are my responses. Number one, because the least reveal our dependence on God. …
… He's redefining this picture. Mark 10, verses 43 through 45. You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant. He says, this is what I came to do. I came not to be served, but to serve and to give my life as a ransom for many. Leadership in the kingdom of God, authority in the kingdom of God is a servant authority. It's why in 1 Peter 5, when leaders and elders in the church are addressed, Peter says, do not lord your leadership, your authority over the church. It does not bring honor to Christ. It goes against the picture we have in Christ. Leaders do not lord themselves over people, because there is one Lord, to use Jesus' words from Matthew 23, there's one Lord to whom leadership points. Now this is key right here. When it comes to leadership in the church, I want you to see two foundational realities that must be present in any leader in the church, particularly in an elder in the church, a pastor in the church. First, and hang with me here because this is foundational to thinking about submission. First, their authority, a leader's authority, leader's authority is conditional. …