“Whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve – to give his life as a ransom for many.” ~ Jesus (Matthew 20:26-28)

 

Once again, here we have Jesus reiterating the primary purpose of his ministry – namely, to encourage (see, in-Courage – John 14:27 et al) us all to live lives of Joy-full service & willing self-sacrifice …

And here again as well we have Jesus using the term “Son of Man” not to describe himself (otherwise he would not only be exposing himself as a liar – see Matthew 16:28, but would also be outing himself as a hypocrite – see Matthew 18:3-4) , but rather to refer to the free will that resides within all of us – to the Human-ness that lets us all choose between being a selfish “Son of Adam” or a holy “Child of God” (see Matthew 9:2 & Matthew 9:22, John 1:12-13, John 12:36, John 14:12, John 14:20-26, John 15:26, 1 John 3:1, 1 John 5:19, and even Galatians 3:26).

 

And even if we were to hypothetically assume that he was referring to himself in this passage, Christians & non-Christians alike would do well to remember that Jesus told his listeners quite clearly that they were to emulate his Love-filled life (see Matthew 16:24, John 13:15-17, John 14:6, Matthew 25:35-40, Matthew 7:21 et al) – that they too were “Children of God” who could do just as he did and make their lives about serving instead of being served (see Matthew 20:28, John 12:47-48); about not striving for personal salvation in the Hereafter but rather choosing to bring the Calm of Heaven to the lives of others Here&Now (see Matthew 5:9, John 14:27, Luke 17:20-21, Matthew 10:7 et al).

 

Amen … Let it be so.

 

Filed under: My Favorite Verses by Scaughdt