Matthew 20: 17-28
17And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, 18"Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death, 19and deliver him to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day." 20Then the mother of the sons of Zeb'edee came up to him, with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. 21And he said to her, "What do you want?" She said to him, "Command that these two sons of mine may sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom." 22But Jesus answered, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?" They said to him, "We are able." 23He said to them, "You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father." 24And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. 25But Jesus called them to him and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. 26It shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 27and whoever would be first among you must be your slave; 28even as the Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
What touched my Soul
"...but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave; even as the Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Today I would like to focus my thoughts on the paragraph above. I would divide it in two parts; two teachings.
First. Jesus give is again a challenge contrary to the rules of this world: If we want to be great at the eyes of our God we need be the small of the smallest, the ones who serve.
I'm pretty much certain that Jesus is not telling us that we should all work in restaurants, pubs or hotels.
Jesus is telling us that we need to pay attention to our brothers and sisters. Be ready to serve them, put the talents and skills God gave us at the service of our neighbours. He gives His own example that came to serve. Son of God but servent, born from a simple and humble family, although with a very solid faith and trust in God, come to serve not to be served.
Second. Jesus give the disciples (but I dont think they realized in that time the importance and meaning of it) the first note on the reason why he will give his life for us. "...as ransom for many" .
I am particulaly interested in exploring this last part as I've always thought since young age, why we christians say that Jesus Saved us.
Not wanting to extend this notes to much I need to touch some basic bullets on this matter:
- Adam is the father of sin and of all Humanity, he is also the father of fault against God. And that fault passed to us his sons as inheritance. We are the heirs of the original fault of our father Adam.
- No man by himself can atone for that fault.
- In the cross Jesus, man and God made the atonement for our fault that we by ourselves could never be able to achieve.
This wraps up the Second teaching pretty well doesn't it?
Let's pray to God and thank Him for his love. It ws His love that made Him send His own son to save us.
Let's ask Him to give us the humbleness to follow Jesus and serve the others always.
Thanks be to God
Comentários