Luke 22:24-30 - Who is the greatest?

22:24

It one sense this part is pathetic. Jesus is just about to be betrayed and go to the cross and suffer on behalf of all mankind, and here are the disciples arguing about which of them was the greatest. Yet this is an all too human response. We get upset about things that really don’t matter at all, and when the truth is that none of us are great on our own merits.

2:25,26

Jesus takes the opportunity to correct and instruct them. Authority, leadership and greatness in the Kingdom are completely different than they are in the world. In the world these things are used to exalt oneself, to gain advantage for oneself, and to belittle others. In the Kingdom the leader and greatest is the one who serves. where we have authority, we must exercise authority, but we do so as servants, and to build others up.

2:27-30

Jesus then points to Himself as an example of this, and in John’s gospel we read of Jesus washing the disciple’s feet. It is interesting that the other gospels do not mention this, yet here is a clear indirect reference to the event. Then Jesus speaks about conferring a kingdom upon the disciples. There is such an important balance here. We tend to go to one extreme or the other. We either just talk about servanthood, or we just talk about the rewards of the kingdom. Jesus always spoke about both! Paul in his letters seems to imply that the rewards mentioned here apply to us all as well (eg 2 Tim 2:12; 1 Cor 6:3), and this would seem to be consistent with the tenor of Scripture. In Hebrews it says that Jesus endured the scorn of the cross for the joy set before Him, and in John 13 that He served because he knew who He was. If we are to have a true servant heart we also need to be confident in who we are in Christ, and in the future blessings that will be ours.