Passage Read: Matthew 19-20
Meditation Verses: 20:25-28
Thought
Unbelievers who gain authority over another use that authority for their own comfort and advantage. They think everyone under them is given to them for their own benefit and comfort, to satisfy all their wishes. There may be some mediating and problem-solving duties toward those under them, but those under them are really just tools for their own comfort and pleasure and purposes. So when Jesus says that those who belong to Him and wish to be great, they must become the slaves of all, its easy to think we just turn the paradigm upside-down: The one who wants to be great then lives for the wants and wishes of those he is placed over. But the disciples didn't understand Jesus to mean that at all! They understand Him to mean that their primary purpose becomes to preach and teach everyone about Jesus and how to live for Him, to make disciples of Jesus in all the world. There was a very specific way in which they were to be the servants of all, even giving up their lives, their wants and wishes, their earthly hopes and dreams, even their life, to help others know and walk with Jesus. That's not what the average person would ever think of first, from someone meant to serve them. Most don't even want what the disciples are supposed to give!
Application
Jesus didn't flit from one person to another, working in their home or business for maybe room and board, doing whatever people wanted Him to do in hope of telling them a little about Himself. Jesus was single-mindedly focused on preaching and teaching about His Father, Himself, His kingdom and how to live in it. He performed miracles as part of His work, but sometimes He put off those who came for healing in order to teach, because teaching is what the people needed most. The people didn't necessarily agree with that. They came for healing, not for words, but they needed His message even more than they needed His healing. He never let anyone derail or distract Him from His real purpose, the purpose His Father had given Him. That's how I'm to be the slave of everyone, to give up my wants and wishes in order to help others know and walk with God. Whatever authority I have over another should be used for that purpose alone. That's what makes me the slave of all.