In my view these two stories, of the request of the mother of James and John and the healing of two blind men, are tied together by the similar two requests of Jesus: what do you want (v21) and what do you want me to do for you (v32). These are the questions of Someone who sees Himself as a servant.
On the one hand, Jesus puts Himself in service to a mother. In the end He will not be able to do what she asks. It was not in His power or authority. But this did not stop Him from asking the question. We may, at times, refrain from helping people because we suspect in advance that what they ask is going to be hard, maybe even beyond our ability. It reminds me of Peter at the Beautiful Gate in Acts 3. What else does a lame man ask for but for alms. Peter didn’t have any money but he was able to say what he could do which was to offer the man Jesus. Being a servant depends on humility, putting yourself at the disposal of others, and being willing to say “I can’t do that but I will do what I can do.”
In the other situation, Jesus put Himself in service to people the rest of the crowd thought were not deserving of His attention. This is truly the “greatness of Jesus.” He is important; He is on the way to Jerusalem and a crowd of people is gathering to accompany Him and to hear His powerful teaching. To the world, that means He has no time in the schedule for a couple of blind guys. It’s like the children back in Ch. 19. “Go away children; the great Jesus has no time for you today.” But Jesus says, Let the little children come to me and do not forbid them. And here He stops the whole procession and calls to the men: What do you want Me to do for you?
How does He do this? As we noted in the previous post, Jesus understands the centrality of the cross and resurrection in everything. He is willing to go to Jerusalem and lose His life so that it might be given back to Him. It is absolutely opposite the way people are born to think. The key to greatness is not being great. The key to greatness is being the servant, the slave. And at the center of servanthood is the question, what do you want Me to do for you? Belshazzar offered Daniel the third highest rank in government for interpreting the writing on the wall, a worthless position given the kingdom was coming to an end that night (Dan. 5:29). Herod offered his step-daughter up to half his kingdom for exciting his immoral lusts (Mark 6:23). Jesus offers greatness in His kingdom for servitude. For humbling yourself before the desires of others and ultimately at the throne of God.
The very next event in Matthew’s account is what we call the “triumphal entry.” Jesus is about to offer Himself as King to Israel, an offer which, by weeks end, will have been resoundingly rejected. But He will still be Israel’s King. That’s because the people, and especially the leaders of Israel, they do not have the final say. It all rests with His Father who has promised the Kingdom to His Son (Psalm 2). So with us. Greatness lies with the King. And in His kingdom the servants rule!
(This concludes our study in Matthew's Gospel. The remaining chapters have been posted June 8 - August 20, 2018 and published under the titles, "In the Shadow of the Cross" [Triumphal Entry through the Olivet Discourse]; and "31 Days at Gordon's Calvary" [through the crucifixion and burial]; and Feb. 15-March 29, 2016 [burial through ascension].)
No comments:
Post a Comment