(Audio)
Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant;
whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave.
Why are we here? What is our purpose in life that brings us to this day? Why did we get out of bed this morning? Many of us usually look to serve ourselves, although we don't think of it that way. We want pleasure or achievement or some other satisfaction for ourselves. The unspoken consequence is that we thereby expect others will help us achieve those desires. The trouble is that when we seek happiness for ourselves we cannot grasp it. It slips through our fingers like mist.
When the ten heard this,
they became indignant at the two brothers.
We may become aware of our selfishness when we experience feeling indignant at others who are basically just doing the same thing. Perhaps they are using us as rungs on their ladder to happiness. When this happens we tend to overreact. We do more than simply insist on well defined boundaries. Because we feel our own desire to be the greatest threatened we lash out.
Come, let us contrive a plot against Jeremiah.
It will not mean the loss of instruction from the priests,
nor of counsel from the wise, nor of messages from the prophets.
And so, let us destroy him by his own tongue;
let us carefully note his every word
We need to be like Jesus. He is able to love even those people who are trying to take advantage of him. He does this without succumbing to them or letting them sidetrack his mission. Like Jeremiah, he stands before God to speak on our behalf to turn his wrath away from us even while we are acting as his enemies.
Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve
and to give his life as a ransom for many.
Into your hands I commend my spirit;
you will redeem me, O LORD, O faithful God.
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