Written By Ben Dankaka
Meditation – Mark 9:35
Jesus often taught on the Kingdom of God. But despite His numerous explanations, His disciples didn’t understand. Jesus told them He had come to restore the kingdom of God. So they were optimistic that they would become members of His cabinet. Because they had left everything, they were hopeful that Jesus would reward them with top positions. To secure the best positions, the mother of James and John came to Jesus and requested that one of the two sons be given the opportunity to sit on His right and the other on His left in His kingdom. In other words, she wanted her sons to have key positions. “You don’t know what you are asking” Jesus replied. Because they didn’t understand the principles of the kingdom of God, the brothers thought they could lobby. But they were not the only disciples who didn’t know how God’s kingdom works. Obviously, the other ten disciples were also ignorant because when they heard what the two brothers did, they started an argument on who was the greatest among them.
To settle the matter, Jesus gave them a great lesson on leadership. He explained that God’s leadership model is different from what the world does. In the world, leaders exercise authority over their people. That is, they expect their followers to serve them. But in God’s kingdom, it is the other way round. The highest leadership position in the kingdom of God is gotten by the one who serves the most. To be great, we must, first of all, become servants. Jesus further reminded the disciples that His reason for existence is to serve and lay down His life for others. On that very day, Jesus revealed the secret of His success. Today, you too can learn as the disciples did. God bless you.
Prayer: Dear Lord, show me how to serve. Amen.
REFERENCES/FURTHER STUDY: Matthew 20:20-28
Unless otherwise stated all scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version.