Devotions Archive Archive: 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 Search Archive Print This Article Christ-following Wednesday, February 24, 2016 Matthew 20:26-28 Jesus said, "Whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant ... The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Jesus was upset with the scribes and Pharisees when they refused to serve other people, but with his own disciples he kicks it up a notch. He tells them they will have to follow his footsteps right up to the cross. Jesus gives his life for us. His disciples want recognition as his friends and followers, and Jesus offers them this: "Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?" They want to sit at his right and at his left in his kingdom. They don't realize, like we do, that there will be crosses to his right and left on Golgotha. I immediately think of those crosses as the unexpected result of their request for glory. The closer we are to Jesus, the more he asks us to give our lives ... to him and for him ... for our friends ... for many. What he asks for is not a partial offering. It might or might not involve physical death, but it always requires giving up my rights, my ego, my plans, even my loved ones ... essential parts of what I've always called my life. Jesus describes his own future earlier in this chapter of Matthew: he will be "mocked and scourged and crucified, and will be raised up on the third day." Three days is a long time between death and new life. Most of us don't think we can last that long. How long can you actually hold your breath? Being a "Christian" is not automatically a sacrificial life, at least in the United States where I live. But being a Christ-follower is something else entirely. Jesus says I must "love the Lord with all my heart, soul and mind. And love my neighbor just as I care for myself." When we do that with and for each other, there is no better life to live or better death to die. In those times Jesus is so close it's like he's underneath our skin. We don't wonder whether God is real when we love like that. Save me, O Lord, in your kindness. My trust is in you. I say, "You are my God." In your hands is my destiny; rescue me from the clutches of my enemies. (from Psalm 31) "; Add      Edit    Delete