The greatest among you shall be your servant.But he who is greatest among you will be your servant.But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.
6 sermons cite this verse
… and the greatest among you will be your servant and whoever exalts himself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. Matthew chapter 23 verses 8 through 11. For Christians, what makes us teachable is not fear of being publicly humiliated. It doesn't grow out of shame. It doesn't come from being made to feel lesser. Being teachable comes from the assurance of being loved. Of course, getting schooled includes the humiliation and death of your pride, but without the assurance of being loved by God, your broke, cooked pride will just make you either resentful or defeated. But when you trust that your teacher, the teacher, cares for you, you become willing to go through the crucible of being taught. Jesus loves you enough to make you teachable. And he sends you many teaching assistants to guide you along the way. For me, as a young military officer, this included Master Sergeant Hotchkiss and many other enlisted personnel, whom I technically outranked, but became my teachers nonetheless. …
… Listen to what he says in verse 11 and 12. He says, but he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. I love that. Stop, pause right there. Here's what Jesus, if you want to be great in my kingdom, this is a different kind of a lifestyle when you are in the kingdom of God. And Jesus says, if you want to be great in my kingdom, you have to learn to be a servant. And whoever, verse 12, exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. I love this passage because God says, listen, when you learn to have a servant mentality, when you learn to have a servant mindset, God says that requires you to humble yourself. And when you humble yourself, God says, I will exalt you. I love this passage. I love, jot this verse down when you get a chat. I'm not going to turn to a reader, but jot down James 4.6. James 4.6 says, God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. …
… All who exalt themselves will be humbled and all who humbled themselves will be exalted. Matthew chapter 23 verses 11 through 12. So in today's passage in Matthew, what I just read, Jesus gives us this startling truth. The king himself identifies with the least. I want you to hear that. Jesus identifies with the least Not with the puffed up Not with the princes and the kings Not with those with the most money Not with those who we elevate in positions But he identifies with the least of them Because he says what you do to them It's like you do it to me He does not say he is found in the palaces of emperors But in the hungry child He does not say he is enthroned in marble halls, but in the prisoner's cell. He does not say his presence is revealed only in the eloquence of preachers, but in the cry of the forgotten. This is a most shocking reality, especially in the times that we live in, that God's kingdom is a kingdom of the least. …
… the gospels jesus modeled and mandated servant leadership he defined leadership by service we don't have time to turn to all these places but matthew chapter 23 verses 10 through 12 nor are you to be called teacher, for there is only one teacher, the Lord, the Christ. And the greatest among you must be your what? Greatest among you must be your servant. Mark 9, verse 35. If anyone wants to be the first, he must be the what? Must be the last. 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. …
… clearly enjoys her zeal for service. Matthew chapter 20, Jesus said this, the son of man came to serve. Matthew 23, Jesus said this, the greatest among you shall be your servant. Y'all help me preach this. Shall be your servant, right? So Jesus has no problem with Martha's serving. Jesus doesn't actually rebuke Martha for serving. He doesn't rebuke her at all. In fact, he diagnoses her because Jesus is a great physician. Martha's problem wasn't that she had a desire to serve Jesus, but the Bible says that Martha's problem was that she was distracted by serving Jesus from what Jesus's priorities were on that particular occasion. What Jesus wanted on that day was for the sisters to sit at his feet. We don't know the last time that Jesus came to the house, maybe he had asked Martha for a turkey sandwich. We don't know. Maybe he said, hey, Martha, can you make a meal? Me and the disciples, we haven't ate for a while. That was the last time Jesus came over. We don't know. Maybe Martha was just rolling with old information. …
… Do not be called leaders, for one is your leader, that is Christ. The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled. Whoever humbles himself shall be exalted." And then he poured out a diatribe of woes on the leaders of Israel who were anything but humble. This is disgusting to Christ, and when it occurs among the people of Israel, the leadership, it's even more disgusting to Paul because it's happening in the church. Paul has no place for this. So how are you to consider us as those who serve Christ in our life and who are faithful to Scripture in our teaching? Everyone who has a proud heart, Proverbs 16, 5 says, is an abomination to the Lord. You know, if you react to somebody with a larger ministry, or more popularity, and more notoriety, or someone who outshines you in gifts and accomplishments, you have just taken your spiritual temperature. How you react to the praises given to other men, and not have any desire at all to belittle them or their work. …