“A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest.” – Luke 22:24
That a group of guys sat around and argued about “who’s the greatest” isn’t surprising. However, the setting in which the disciples had this debate should force us into some honest reflection!
Jesus and His disciples had just eaten the Last Supper together. Jesus spoke of His body broken for them and His blood shed to establish the long-awaited New Covenant. Jesus told them one of them would betray Him. And in that solemn, dark time of reflection on God’s grace and faithfulness, and the ever-present human potential for treasonous sin, their minds wandered to…who’s the greatest!
The situation would be ridiculous if it weren’t characteristic of our own walk with Christ! Christ has given us everything: forgiveness of sins, new life, union with Him, eternal life. He’s the greatest and there’s no other! But rather than fully submitting to His greatness and following Him humbly, we still try to build empires and ever-larger monuments to our greatness. Often we’ll do things in His name, but we ultimately do them to receive the applause, recognition, and respect of other people.
We shouldn’t. We don’t need to. We’ve received everything we need and more than we deserve! We should live our lives to please Jesus. He’s the greatest. We need only receive His applause and approval, not that of other people. We need to let go our desire to have our name known and celebrated here on earth, as we humbly live our lives to hear just one thing: “Well done, good and faithful servant!”