Matthew 20:26

What is true greatness?

In the kingdom of this world, the great man is the one who has risen to a place of wealth and power. He has a retinue of aides and assistants, conditioned to follow his orders. He is accorded V.I.P. treatment and receives special favors wherever he goes. People regard him with respect and awe because of his rank. He never has to stoop to anything menial; there are always others to do that for him.

But in the Kingdom of our Lord, things are quite different....

There are two kinds of greatness in the New Testament and it is helpful to distinguish them. There is a greatness associated with one's position and another greatness linked with one's personal character.

In speaking of John the Baptist, Jesus said that there was no greater prophet than he (Luke 7:28). Here the Savior was speaking about the greatness of John's position. No other prophet had the privilege of being the forerunner of the...

Matthew 20:17-34

Jesus was setting out for Jerusalem on His last journey. Did He not know that He was going straight into danger? He was safe in Perea; why did He not stay there? Why did He leave this shelter - and go straight into the den of lions at Jerusalem? He knew all that awaited Him - but He did not shrink from it; He resolutely set His face to go, because it was the way marked out for Him. The...

Whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.If anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. § I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone … not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a...