At the church where I
serve, we are in the middle of a sermon series entitled “The Kingdom of Heaven
is…” During this series, we
are spending our time together looking at a series of statements that Jesus
made that are recorded for us in an account of His life that has been preserved
in the New Testament of the Bible, called the gospel of Matthew.
During this series, we
are discovering how Jesus described the kingdom of Heaven. During this series,
we are discovering how one enters into the Kingdom of Heaven. During this
series we are discovering how one should live as part of the kingdom of Heaven.
And as we go through this series, our hope and our prayer is that God would
move by the power of the Holy Spirit, in our heads, hearts, and hands in such a
way that we would live lives that reveal and bring the light and love of the
kingdom of Heaven into the areas of influence we have been given.
This week I would like
for us to spend our time together looking at another event from history that is
recorded for us by Matthew in the account of Jesus life that bears his name.
However, before we jump into this event from history, we first need to
understand the context in which this event from history takes place.
In the 17th chapter of
the gospel of Matthew, Matthew records for us how a glimpse of the glory of
Jesus as God in a bod was revealed to three of His closest followers in an
event from history that is referred to in churchy language as the
transfiguration. Matthew then records how Jesus miraculously healed a young boy
who was tormented by a demon, in spite of the littleness of the faith of the
disciples and the crowds that were following Jesus. Jesus proclaimed to His
closest followers that they would soon head to Jerusalem, where He would be
delivered over to the Roman Empire to be killed, but that He would be raised
from the dead three days later. The disciples, who were grieved by Jesus
prediction, kept silent about His prediction. Jesus then proceeded to
miraculously provide the money necessary to pay the poll tax that every person who lived in the Roman Empire over
the age of 20 was required to pay.
Now I want us to take a
minute and imagine ourselves in this event from history as one of Jesus closest
followers. I want us to take a minute and place ourselves in the shoes of the
disciples. You are one of Jesus closest followers. For three years, you have
watched as Jesus has performed miracles that no one else had done. For three
years, you have listened as Jesus taught as no one had ever taught. For three
years, you have heard Jesus talk about the kingdom of heaven. And then you
happened to be with Jesus when you were given a glimpse of the glory of Jesus
and heard the very voice of God.
You have come to
believe that Jesus was the fulfillment of a promise that God had made to the
Jewish people to send a rescuer, a deliverer, a Messiah who you believed would
bring the Jewish people back to God and back to prominence in the world. And
because of all that you have seen and heard from Jesus, because of what you
have come to believe about Jesus, you have a question that you would like to
ask Jesus. You have a question that you would like to ask Jesus when it comes
to the nature of the kingdom of heaven.
Because it is in this
context that Matthew gives us a front row seat to this event from history. An
event from history where the disciples ask Jesus a question that is still asked
today when it comes to the kingdom of Heaven. A question that Matthew records
for us in Matthew 18:1. Let’s look at that question together:
At that time the
disciples came to Jesus and said, "Who then is greatest in the kingdom of
heaven?"
Matthew brings us into
this event from history by revealing the question that the disciples posed to
Jesus: "Who
then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" Now, this morning did you
notice that is was the disciples, not a disciple, that asked Jesus this
question. You see, Jesus closest followers wanted to know who of them would be
the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven.
We
know this to be the case because in two other accounts of Jesus life that are
recorded for us in the Bible, called the gospel of Mark and the gospel of Luke,
we see Jesus closest followers arguing with themselves about who would be the
greatest in the kingdom of Heaven. In Luke 9:46, we see Luke reveal for us the
reality that this question was asked because, as Luke pointed out, an argument
started among them as to which of them might be the greatest.
What
is interesting is that when the disciples asked Jesus this question, the word
greatest conveyed a clear sense of being superior in importance or status. In
other words, the disciples basically approached Jesus as a group and basically
said to Jesus “Hey Jesus we have a question that we want to ask you so that you
can help settle an argument that we are having. So Jesus, here is our question:
Which one of us will have the highest status in the kingdom of Heaven? Which
one of us will be viewed as being most important in your kingdom? Which one of
us is superior to the rest? Which one of us is the best disciple over the rest
of the disciples?
Now here
is a question to consider: Is this not the same question that we all have a
tendency to ask today? How often can we find ourselves in a place in life where
we are asking “Who has the highest status? Who is viewed as being most
important? Who is superior to the rest? Who is the best over the rest?”
How
often can we find ourselves in a place in life where we are saying to ourselves
or telling and arguing with others “I should have the highest status. I should
be viewed as being most important. I should be viewed as being superior to the
rest. I am a better follower of Jesus than these other followers of Jesus?
You
see, there is something that lurks under the surface of every one of us that
desires to compare ourselves with others. There is something that lurks under
the surface of every one of us that desires to be viewed as being superior to
others. There is something that lurks under the surface of every one of us that
desires to be viewed as being more important than others. There is something
that lurks under the surface of every one of us that desires to be viewed as
deserving of a higher status than others.
And
it was this desire to be viewed as deserving of a higher status than the rest
that had emerged to the surface in the form of this question that the disciples
asked Jesus. And it is this desire to be viewed as deserving of a higher status
than the rest that can emerge in our lives as well. And as Matthew continues to
give us a front row seat to this event from history, we see Matthew record for
us how Jesus responded to this question that had emerged from each of the
disciples desire to be viewed as deserving of a higher status than the rest.
Tomorrow
we will be looking at Jesus response…
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