“For who is greater, the one seated at the table, or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is seated at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.”- Luke 22:27
In this passage we see the Lord celebrating the last supper with the Apostles. Think about this, our Lord Jesus Christ is having the last supper before He knows He is going to be crucified. He is sharing His last meal with those that were closest to Him, the Apostles. These 12 men have spent the last three years following Jesus. Jesus had poured His all into the Apostles: teaching them, loving them, modeling for them the behavior that a follower of Jesus Christ should exhibit. After three long years of apostleship, you would think they would know what it meant to be a follower of Jesus, right? And yet, in verse 24 we read this: “A dispute also started among them over which of them was to be regarded as the greatest.” Yep, here is Jesus Christ- the model of humility, the model of sacrifice, the model of servitude, listening to his APOSTLES arguing over who should be considered the greatest. Unbelievable!! But what do you expect from fallen men, from sinners saved only through the Grace of God.
Now Jesus could have easily gone off on the Apostles, and called them a bunch of dummies that were missing the point of everything He had done. But He didn’t. Jesus knew the Apostles, He knew that down deep they had good hearts and were well intentioned, but he also knew their shortcomings too: Peter was a brash fisherman. Matthew was a reformed tax collector (and probably a thief). He called James and John “Sons of Thunder” for a reason, probably because they argued a lot. Simon the Zealot was a called a zealot for a reason!! Thomas probably doubted everything. Jesus loved them for who they were, for the faith they had in him, in spite of the laundry list of shortcomings they had. Can you relate? I sure can.
No, Jesus did not yell and go crazy, he related a simple story to them, telling them they were to be different than Gentiles who cared about being great. He told them that the greatest must become the least, and that leaders should serve, and then he capped it off with verse 27: “For who is greater, the one seated at the table, or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is seated at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.” If you really think about this verse it will bring a tear to your eye. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Creator of the Universe, the embodiment of Love, Goodness and Mercy did not come to this Earth as an honored guest, but rather as a servant. Our Lord Jesus Christ came down from Heaven, where He lived with the Father and Spirit, where he walked the streets of gold, and saw the crystal sea, and heard the songs of the angels, to redeem mankind not through force, not through distinguishable honor, but rather through a sacrificial act. Jesus Christ humbled Himself, suffered being called names, lied about, spit on, flogged, mocked, and crucified…all to save us. While we hated Him, He loved us.
Take a moment as we approach these last few weeks before Easter, and consider the fact that Jesus humbly served…not invoking the power and authority that He had, but rather through humility and submission to the will of God redeemed us through His atoning death and sacrifice. We too, in following the example of our Lord and Saviour, should be willing to model the same in our lives.
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