Well, this morning I invite you to turn to Matthew chapter 20. Matthew chapter 20, and we will be looking at verses 17 through 34. If you're a visitor, we're working through the Gospel of Matthew, and today we come to 17 through 34 of Matthew 20, page 981. And it does end, a sort of bring it into an important section here of a long teaching that Jesus and training of his disciples that he has been giving. So let's give our attention this morning to verse 17.
Context: we just looked at last time the labors and workers in the vineyard, and that very much ties together with what follows. Verse 17 this is the word of the Lord: "And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the 12 disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, see we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day
"Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons and, kneeling before him, she asked him for something. And he said to her, what do you want She said to him, say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one on your right hand and one on your left, in your kingdom Jesus answered, you do not know what you are asking are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink? They said to him, we are able. He said to them, you will drink my cup, but to sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my father.
"And when the 10 heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. But Jesus called them to him and said, you know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave. Even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many
"And as they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him. And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside. And when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, Lord have mercy on us, son of David The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, lord have mercy on us, son of david And stopping, Jesus called them and said, what do you want me to do for you They said to him, lord let our eyes be opened And Jesus, in pity, touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him."
And there ends the reading of God's Word.
One of the great blessings of beloved going through a Gospel is to see all the connections here. And I didn't realize, especially in the Gospel of Matthew, how prevalent the teaching of our Lord is in explaining for us what true greatness is in this life. What is true greatness in this life? There's this danger that is built into us that we are always pursuing greatness don't even realize that we're living for this on our own terms and it shows up in many different ways in our lives, even as followers of Christ.
You will remember at the beginning of chapter 18, this really began a big section here dealing with this concept of greatness. When they came up to Jesus and they asked the question, "Who is then the greatest in the kingdom they had heard the second prediction and they knew and thought about: who is going to fill the void? Who will be great when Jesus leaves us? And you remember, since then, Christ has been discipling them as to what greatness truly is in this life. He's helping them to understand this concept. And remember, he used little children to teach them this. He set children in front of them a little child and he instructed them about that when he said, "To enter the kingdom of God, you have to become like little children. Whoever humbles himself like this little child remember what he said is the greatest."
This theme just keeps running through this: at the heart of becoming great is becoming humble. At the heart of becoming great is to become a servant. And that may be the greatest challenge and the walk for us as being Christians in our following of Jesus Christ. We never seem to learn this. It's the very last thing that we are. We are not humble. And because of that, we do not follow the path of humility or understand what that path looks like, which is one of denial of ourselves in serving others.
In fact, the evidence of a lack of humility in us constantly showcased in our life. We never really think what true humility is in walking and being as a servant. The road that we want to walk in life, the pursuit that we often give in our lives, is one of pursuing comfort and success. And we strive to achieve all of that to create our own life of happiness. See, it's a path where we try to achieve greatness and happiness and comfort on our own terms. It's the thing that Jesus is here exposing, the thing that he is giving his attention to.
And so, after a long training of his disciples on this, Matthew brings us now, I think, to a great solution this morning to all of this. He brings us to a solution in a surprising way. This is why the scriptures are so wonderful. And I say this as sort of a precursory, but it has everything to do this morning the path of greatness: with seeing Jesus. I want us to think about that for a minute. The path of greatness has to do, and it begins with seeing Jesus himself. That's the heart, I believe, of this: that the more we see him, the more we understand him, the more we see him in his sacrificial love for us, laying down his life for us, the more we begin to follow that same kind of path.
If we do not know him as the suffering servant, our lives will correspond. Our lives will correspond. The more we see Jesus, the more we understand the immensity of the sacrifice for us, the more our eyes turn away from ourselves to serve others.
Today I want to consider this by looking at greatness explained, greatness evaded, and then greatness exhibited. Greatness explained, greatness evaded, and greatness exhibited.
One of the blessings of preaching through a book is to see that often our chapter breaks and the sections as they are sort of marked out for us are not helpful at all. You can accomplish that. That's a good job in preaching. And that's exactly what we have here in front of us. That's why I've hoped to see that Matthew is a running story. In fact, many of these books would all be read together in one sitting. And so you have to see the flow of the author. You have to see what the author is doing here.
And we have a continuation of what has come before with the great parable that Jesus told of the landowner and the bringing in of his servants. You remember the context of that? Peter had heard about the rich young ruler. He had seen this man walk away because he couldn't endure the heat. He hadn't been willing to leave all and follow Christ. And so he asked this all-important question: "Well, we have. We've left everything for you. What do we have? What do we have?" That still very much ties into the subject of greatness.
And Jesus gave a surprising answer. We looked at last time that he affirmed that on that day, when the Son of Man comes in his glory and is seated on his throne, there are going to be great rewards given. The 12 will sit you notice here on the 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel. And Jesus affirms: there's going to be great material reward in the kingdom. You're going to receive a hundredfold for such sacrifices that you've made, and eternal life. But Jesus, then if you remember the sermon last week, do you remember what happened last week? I never know. I never remember from week to week. But that the whole reward was based on grace. The basis of the reward was not their following or sacrifice, but it was based on the incredible grace of God in their lives. And he went after that misunderstanding: did they think they deserve this?
And so Jesus gave that great statement, which he's still working with today: "So the last will be first, and the first last." Those who think that achievement and greatness constitutes the first place in the kingdom will find themselves to be last. But those in humility recognize the graciousness of the landowner, and that being in this vineyard in his church and his kingdom is one of incredible blessing and grace they will be first.
So he spoke. of jesus tells this parable of this really good landowner who went out throughout the day and picked up workers for his vineyard. And a great dichotomy was made between the first workers and all the rest to make a point something a point to Israel a very big point to his disciples in contrast to the first workers, who assumed that they should have more for all their work in the kingdom that they have done, those brought in at the 11th hour received the same. And they grumbled against him. They grumbled against the generosity. "Do you begrudge my generosity?" kingdom operates on an entirely different principle of grace, doesn't it? The whole thing. The whole thing the ability to enter the kingdom the ability to be saved the ability to be brought into Christ's church requires a certain kind of attitude. When we understand the graciousness of the landowner: "Thank you for bringing me in so early." So one of you walked up and said, "We need to write a book on this. We are mesmerized by the great conversions late in life of somebody who did something terrible. What a story! You all have to be brought in and carried into the kingdom early, to be a first worker in the kingdom."
Our attitude should be: "Wow. Thank you for doing that for us. We're just happy to be here. That you gave us more time to serve in your kingdom. That you would consider us from the beginning of our lives. That you would put your sign on us. That you would bless us that way. Give them what you will. If you want to give them more, I'll just be the doorkeeper." is the attitude we should have.
But what does becoming first look like? What is the path of that? We're not done with this issue. That's today. You think we've made some progress, right, by now on this subject with the disciples? Do these teachings ever set in in people's lives of Jesus Christ? All of a sudden, from Jesus, we have greatness explained. We have greatness captured. And it's never the thing we would ever choose.
Jesus breaks into the most detailed of the third and final prediction of his death at this point. "As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the 12 disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, see, verse 18, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.
Now, maybe these seem sort of like interjections that sort of wreck the flow of Matthew or wreck the flow of the narrative, and we don't quite know what to do with them. This is a really big point in the Gospel of Matthew. "Dear disciples, here's what's going to happen to me. When we get to Jerusalem, you will watch me die. They will take me, and they will mock me."
Now think about who we're talking about here. We know the story. They will put a purple robe on me. They will put a crown of thorns on me. They will stand, and they will ridicule me and punch me in the face. In a mock coronation, I will become a scorn to many. And then they will scourge me. They will take that Roman whip and give me the beating of a common criminal. They will spit on me. Then they will kill me. I will get the cruel death of a criminal sentenced, and then I will go to the cursed Roman cross. I will be penned there. I will suffer. I'm filling it out. The wrath of God in body And soul. And after that is completed, I will rise on the third day. That is the ultimate path of greatness. That is greatness. That is greatness. If greatness is in humbling oneself, is there. an act in all of history, when we consider who this is, of something that's greater than that? Unless people have not yet stopped and asked, why is he doing that? Why is he doing that? Do you read right past those? Do we hear The gospel? Jesus lived, Jesus died, he rose again. The son of man will die. For who? He will suffer. that's the path of greatness. He who is greatest among you is the least. He who is greatest among you must humble himself. He who is first will be last and the last first. He has one aim in all of this. Who are we looking at? Who are we looking at? How is greatness achieved? And the great answer
That Matthew has built too for us? A cross. A cross. Now they just heard the gospel preached to them. You think Jesus didn't preach the gospel and the Matthew? And the gospel is all over the place, but you can go right to these. predictions a third time and they still haven't comprehended it and why well precisely because point two we evade the subject of greatness. at all costs at least on christ's terms we refuse by nature the message of the one who became great among us by death now i want you to hold That thought can you hold that thought we'll come back to that On the heels of this, verse 20, we read that the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, kneeling before him. She asked something. She asked him for something. And he said to her, what do you want? Now that's phrased interestingly that I'm going to come back to too. What do you want? What do you want? She essentially says, well, I'd like greatness. for my two sons. I want these two sons of mine to sit, one on your right hand and one on your left in the kingdom. You're struck with this. This is a very odd request right after that prediction. Did anyone listen to him? Did anyone listen to what he just said? I'm going to go die. And no one asked why. Here comes mom. Mother of James and John. heard the teaching she obviously heard the teaching also of jesus when he said that? you're going to sit on thrones when the reward comes in the kingdom which also makes me wonder didn't jesus just talk about leaving father and mother for the kingdom i don't know how this went down i'm really trying to figure out my kids were joking with me last night just last night about how bad of a singer i am and it's really true i'm so glad they cut the mics when this happens up here they were kind of mocking my singing you know who thinks i can sing my mom she's she just thinks i can sing like eric clapton she's gonna hear this sermon and not be happy i mean it i'm gonna get it you can sing chris you can't. No, I can't, Mom. I cannot sing. Where did this come from? Did they ask Mom to do this? These are grown men. This is John, who's going to go off to the island of Patmos. Or maybe she's just doing what every mom does. Kind of begs the question, doesn't it? how could she ask this? How could you have the Gospel? just preached to you of The life, death, and resurrection of Christ and this is what you come up with? And isn't it our problem? Everything in this life is about us. Everything's about us. This is what we think life is to achieve greatness. Jesus hears this and says, you have no idea what you ask. It's amazing how patient He is. You're not grasping what I'm saying. And your question proves it. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? Jesus is speaking of his death on the cross. The cup is symbolic all throughout the Old Testament of drinking the cup of God's wrath. And baptism, of course, in this context with the other Gospels is a sort of metaphor for death judgment. He has to undergo. Are you able to do that? I think that's maybe one of the most important questions that Jesus could have ever asked of us. Do you think you're able? Are you able to pay for the sins that have barred you from eternal life and the presence of God and undergo the death of the cross, the cruel death of the cross, and drink the wrath that should rightly fall on you? Do you think you're able to accomplish that? Now notice the switch here in person. And they answer, not mom, it includes them. We're able. we can do it. You know, this is such patience from our Lord and it just requires such patience in Christian ministry, doesn't it? They don't have a clue as to what they actually need and what Jesus came here for and what he had to undergo to save them. I don't think anyone to this day has a full clue to the depths of what he had to undergo to save you, save us. It's a remarkable study, human nature. It's a painful irony in some ways because the rich young ruler said he could keep the law. I can do it. I've kept it. They just says we can endure the cup. Jesus says something shocking. as he always does, you will drink my cup. But to sit at my right hand and on my left is not mine to give. It is for those prepared by my Father. What Jesus was saying is, your sons will in fact undergo suffering and martyrdom for me. There is A path for them. That's not something A mom would ever want to hear, by the way. But the degree in glory, the positions that they'll get, that's appointed by my Father. What Jesus is drawing out here, what's so important about this text, is that the pathway to glory is a pathway of suffering. And as a follower of me, you must follow my path. But they don't understand the path to greatness. they don't understand what greatness looks like. And you see, we do constantly evade what is truly great. If we could understand this, how wonderful and more effective ministry will be. the greatness of Christ came through the death of the cross. at this point, it causes a fight among the disciples. You know, it's just like having the Lord's Supper and then us breaking out in a big fight. We read the 10 heard it, they were indignant. Because for the sole reason that they and mom desperately had tried to position themselves in front of them. That's what the fight's about. This is like little kids trying to be first in line. And Jesus calls them together and says, You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must become your servant and whoever wants to be first must be your slave just as the son of man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many he's capturing the end of isaiah 53 right there he's the fulfillment of it you guys know in this life You understand, in this life, when Gentiles, when pagans come into power, what do they do with power? They begin to lord it over people. That's the whole history of rulers and kings and authorities. this, is the propensity of human nature. They lord it over people. Rulers do this all the time. but jesus says my servants not so i think this also on the side answers the problem of christians desperately trying to take political power i think it's jesus's answer we would lord it over everyone in the same way if christians got all the power and that's just what christians are vying for in our age right now, Christian nationalism. Here's the path for you. Your path to glory is a path of suffering and becoming a servant. You want to be great? Become nothing. Well, that just flies in the face of everything. We live and aspire. Think of, you know, we grow up and we have dreams. I had a dream of being a pro basketball player. I'm not Michael Jordan. I never will be. The path to greatness, says Jesus, is my path. For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. See, Jesus challenges them and he challenges us as to what we think being a true follower means. it's not just to have the good life. It's not just to have creaturely comforts. That's evidence of you trying to pursue your own greatness. Luther commented on this and he said, so many in the kingdom think they're riding on into the kingdom of heaven on cushions. Jesus is saying, a servant gets dirty. A servant gets on his knees. A servant lays down his life. And you see, now comes the big moment, I think. I've never tied this together before but it just dawned on me in studying this week. The mother of James and John, two figures are highlighted. James and John, two figures are highlighted. Just ask for the best position in the kingdom, right? "What was the parable about the first shall be last and the last first the landowner's doing what the landowner is serving people by going out at the 11th hour right and bringing in people into his kingdom "What a gracious landowner What a gracious landowner Matthew says: in connection as they went out of Jericho a great crowd followed them behold now this is the only gospel that Matthew says there were two Mark says this is blind Bartimaeus Luke says it's blind Bartimaeus Matthew says there's two figures here it's purposeful it's set in stark contrast to the previous scene this is what the authors do this is why i said chapter breaks aren't aren't helpful now we read that two blind men are sitting by the roadside begging far away off the beaten path are two blind beggars can't see to get around no ability even to see jesus and lo and behold, they're sitting on the road begging. Now the disciples had just asked for the best seats in the kingdom." about status and glory and position. And Jesus says, you don't even understand what this. is about. You have to become a servant. The least and the last shall be first. Day and night, by the road, two beggars. Everyone passes by. Coins, please! Coins! When they heard about Jesus, they cried out, what a different response. Son of David, have mercy on us. Jesus is about to go to the cross. In Israel, this is the 11th hour for Israel. These 11th hour guys are outside the vineyard. Hopeless, blind, can't see. What just happened? In total faith, they cried out from the cheap seats. These are the chief seats. Blind beggars, son of David, which is a messianic term, we believe, we believe you're the Messiah is what's being communicated. Have mercy on us. They can't see. Crowd gets angry, tries to shut them out. They crowd all the more. They just keep belting out mercy, mercy. It's faith. It's faith. It's clearly faith. And here it is. And stopping. The landowner just stops. Jesus called to them and said, now pause. Direct question. It's direct question of the mom in comparison to contrast James and John. What do you want? What do you want, dear mother? What do you want me to do? Again, what do you want? What do you want? What do you want me to do for you? Give us seats? They said, Lord, that our eyes may be opened. When he opened their eyes, who was the first person they saw? Jesus. What a contrast. What do you want Jesus to do for you? You see, what is the problem back since the beginning of the discussion in chapter 18 on greatness? They can't see greatness. They can't see it. Because they can't see Jesus yet. For who he is And what he had come to do. And these blind beggars, they just want to see him. But in reality, didn't they already see? Truly, they recognized a great one was among them. And they saw it. and an ultimate display of greatness, the one going to the cross to bear the sins of many, took his eyes, think about this, our Lord's very eyes and his humanity, the body given to him, he took his eyes, he laid his eyes upon them, and he touched them in sacrificial love, and immediately they're healed, and notice the end of the section, they followed, they're followers. The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many. Do you see it? He just illustrated it all, and this closes the section. this is greatness. to come for the needy like this and then lay down his life for them. The only way you get outside of yourself, the only way I do, because we have the same problem as pastors, is to see Jesus. To understand the depths of that sacrificial love that he, being in the form of God, made himself nothing. The truly great one. And became a slave. And served others all the way to the 11th hour, all the way to the cross, to set them free and make them followers of him. Who's really the great one in this text? last week, as we came to the supper Sunday night, we considered Jesus washing the feet of the disciples, The humbling of himself in that way. I was talking to Pastor Contreras on Tuesday, And we were talking about this, and we thought, what do we do with that text? What we do is we become very amazed that Jesus would ever stoop down the wash at the feet of Judas, right? What a thing. How could he do that? Do you think it was harder for him to wash Judas' feet than yours? See how we think? Is he so much worse? If we are all going to be his disciples, our eyes must first see him. Our eyes must understand who was given to us, who was sent to us, and who sacrificially laid down his life to atone for all of our sins. I think that's the crucial message that brings this all together. I'm going to die for you. Where are your eyes? Christ looked upon people in his weariness, weakness, and he saw their need, and he served them. Graciously giving them life even at the 11th hour before the cross. A dear friend said to me this week, God gave us two eyes to look out, not in. That's the path of greatness. Whoever would truly be great among you must become your servant because there we see Jesus. And the more you look at Christ, beloved, and see him and understand what he did for you, becoming nothing for you, sacrificing and becoming the atonement, then you will begin to take those very eyes and look on those "Who need him and serve them. What do you want from me, says Jesus? It's a question, isn't it? Money? Greatness? What are you pursuing in life? You have missed the whole narrative of the whole scriptures. What do you want from me? Isn't this the answer? That we might see Jesus. That we might see. To understand the immensity of the sacrifice. That we too might become servants. The extent to which you see Jesus and his sacrificial love is the extent to which you begin to turn away from yourself. And beloved, that is true greatness in the kingdom of God. They shall be first. Amen. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for teaching us and showing us your son. Thank you for such a sacrifice made for us. Open our eyes that we may see Jesus. and that then we might become servants in that same train, on that same path. There's so many in need. There's so many who need Him. What a message for the mission of the church. Help us, O Lord, to be about serving since we've been served by a Savior who loved us and died for us like this. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.