Servant of All

Reframing Greatness and Leadership through the Teachings of Jesus

Ralph E. Enlow, Jr.

• Publisher: Kirkdale Press
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781683592983
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Church

What did Jesus really mean when he said, "Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, the servant of all" (Mark 9: 35)? Servant leadership is commended by popular leadership writers and scholars. However, much of the practical, theoretical, and even theological commentary on servant leadership doesn't do the Bible justice. It fails to account for the context and history of interpretation around this often-quoted saying of Jesus. This context has everything to do with a truly biblical understanding of servant leadership, and that's what Servant of All unfolds. In a culture where greatness is often confused with fame or competence, Servant of All is a much-needed correction.This useful guide includes personal and group reflection questions, ideal for ministry training and discipleship.

Part 1

MISUNDERSTANDING GREATNESS

Chapter 1

A TEACHABLE MOMENT

A great man stands on God. A small man on a great man.

RALPH WALDO EMERSON

We must not measure greatness from the mansion down but from the manger up.

JESSE JACKSON

Major educational theorists such as Jean Piaget, Leon Festinger, David Krathwohl, and Jack Mezirow have different ways of saying it, but they all acknowledge that mental or emotional disturbance is a key ingredient in people’s readiness to learn.1 On a popular level, this phenomenon is sometimes described as a “teachable moment.”

We should not be surprised that Jesus, the Master Teacher, understood and employed this principle. In fact, I would argue that in every major discourse of Jesus recorded in the Gospels, Jesus either provoked or took advantage of dissonance in order to exploit a “teachable moment.” Here are some examples:

•The Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5–7)—Toward the beginning of the sermon, Jesus made a number of provocative and contrarian claims: “you have heard that it was said … but I tell you” (5:21–22). Conventional biblical interpretation and moral sensibilities were turned on their heads, and presumed religious experts were discredited.

•His kingdom parables (Matt 13)—Contrary to the Galilean peasants’ welcoming embrace of Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah, their venerated religious leaders refused to acknowledge anything of the kind. Although the precise chronological sequence of events is difficult to establish conclusively, scholars who have sought to harmonize the Gospel accounts conclude that this series of parables about the true nature and unfolding of the kingdom follows soon after the shocking allegation of the Jewish authorities that Jesus’ miracles were performed by the power of Satan (Matt 12:22–29).2 As if that weren’t enough, Jesus’ mother and brothers appeared on the scene intending to take him under active family supervision, presumably in light of their concern that his claims were delusional (Matt 12:46–50). Whoa! Instead of the expected official recognition and coronation of Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah who would break Israel’s Roman oppression, those who would be expected to authenticate Jesus’ claims disassociated themselves from him. The people’s eager anticipation of imminent Messianic triumph was being smashed before their eyes. In the wake of these hope-extinguishing events, Jesus offered a series of parables to illustrate what his kingdom is really like and the much more slow and subtle ways by which it will emerge, grow, and prevail.

•The Bread of Life Discourse (John 6)—Straight on the heels of his miracle of feeding the five thousand, and against the backdrop of the Passover feast (6:4), Jesus began with the superficial hunger of his followers and asserted himself to be the true Bread of Life in visceral terms (6:53–56). The provocation was so stark that John tells us many of his disciples abandoned him. Even those that remained were bewildered (6:60, 66).

•The Upper Room Discourse (John 13–17)—After Jesus squelched yet another squabble among his most faithful and intimate followers, he ratcheted up their anxiety by announcing he would soon depart from them: “I will be with you only a little longer … where I am going, you cannot come” (13:33). As they jockeyed for position, anticipating that their Master would soon come into his own, he told them that he would instead mysteriously leave them.

•The Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24–25)—When the disciples remarked on the grandeur of the massive and seemingly impregnable restored temple gleaming in the setting sun, Jesus stunned them by revealing, “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down” (24:2).

Jesus was the master of teachable moments, so it should be no surprise that his teaching on greatness came in response to such a moment.

A Sermon, Not a Sentence

As I mentioned in the introduction, there are two main things we need to observe about the circumstances surrounding Jesus’ assertion that “anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all” (Mark 9:35). First, it was provoked by a series of events and an escalating debate. Second, it launched a lengthy lecture that extends far beyond the few words recorded in the ninth chapter of Mark’s Gospel. On the subject of greatness, Jesus gave an entire sermon, not merely the single sentence to which we have typically reduced the matter.

In the next few chapters of this book, we will examine one by one the series of events that led up to Jesus’ famous statement on true greatness. But before we do that, let’s briefly take a look at that second observation mentioned above: Jesus’ statement came at the beginning of a lecture that extends far beyond the summary in Mark 9:35.

How long is that lecture? By combining and harmonizing the accounts of Matthew, Mark, and Luke (known as the Synoptic Gospels, from the Greek “seen together”)—each of whom records the incident to a greater or lesser extent—we can piece together the entire exchange. Here are the references:

•Matthew 18:1–35

•Mark 9:33–50

•Luke 9:46–50

Matthew’s account is by far the most extensive of the three. Mark’s and Luke’s reports are congruent with Matthew’s, but they are less comprehensive.

If we want to find out all that Jesus said about greatness, we need to look at his entire lecture, which I believe takes up the entirety of Matthew 18. We know this because Matthew provides specific textual markers. Matthew 18 begins with the words “at that time,” and the narrative associated with that occasion continues until Matthew 19 opens with the words, “When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee.”

We don’t know for sure that Jesus actually delivered this entire discourse on a single occasion. However, even if Jesus and his disciples did not embark the very next day on the ministry tour that precedes his final ascent to Jerusalem to face the culmination of violent opposition and death by crucifixion, we can still be confident that Matthew intends us to see the entire discourse that comprises chapter 18 as revolving around a single issue.

In my experience, most teaching on Matthew 18 treats the passage as if it is a series of comments and illustrations on four or five different topics, perhaps delivered on four or five separate occasions, not—as I believe it should be read—a composite exposition on the subject of kingdom greatness. For example, Matthew 18:15–18 is the go-to Bible passage about confronting interpersonal offense, but I have rarely encountered teaching on that passage that connects it to Jesus’ axiom about greatness or to the rest of the chapter’s commentary on the subject.

Perhaps you have heard sermons or songs about the “ninety-and nine” (18:12–14), but how often have those noted that the memorable illustration of the Father’s love derives its meaning in reference to Jesus’ assertion about greatness? Likewise, fuller understanding of Jesus’ “seventy-times-seven” response to Peter’s inquiry about forgiveness (18:21–22) requires our awareness that both Peter’s inquiry and Jesus’ reply come in the context of an exposition on greatness.

I freely admit that we have access only to the parts of Jesus’ sermon on greatness that the Holy Spirit guided the human authors to preserve. As John observes at the end of his Gospel, “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written” (John 21:25). But we have a lot more than we typically recognize. Table 1 offers a topical synthesis of the accounts of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

SUBJECT	MATTHEW	MARK	LUKE
Jesus exposes/addresses the disciples’ dispute	18:1	9:33–35	9:46
Jesus calls a little child	18:2–5	9:36–37	9:47–48
John calls for reprisals		9:38–41	9:49–50
Jesus warns about stumbling blocks	18:6–11	9:42–50
Lost sheep illustration	18:12–14
Guidance about offenses	18:15–20
Peter asks about forgiveness	18:21–35

Table 1: Jesus’ Teaching on Greatness

Deep and Wide

Do you see? Jesus’ teaching concerning greatness on this occasion involves, not a single sentence, not a three-point sermon, but a six-point sermon. There’s more to “Jesus on greatness” than you think! Jesus’ teaching concerning greatness on this occasion involves, not a single sentence, not a three-point sermon, but a six-point sermon.

I invite you to join me in taking a deep dive into this subject throughout the rest of this book. I will devote the next four chapters to the events that constitute the build-up to Jesus’ perspective on greatness. In the succeeding six chapters, we will seek a better understanding of each main aspect of this extensive and foundational teaching on what it really means to be great.

I hope to help you see how the six segments relate to each other and to the central thesis. I think you are in for some significant surprises. And I hope you will gain a deeper grasp of the meaning of each segment as you come to understand them, as our Lord intended, as elaboration on his assertion:

Anyone who wants to be first must be the

very last, and the servant of all.

Questions for Personal or Group Reflection

1.Would you agree that Jesus’ teaching pattern is one of provocative engagement more than clear explanation? Why do you think Jesus used the approach he did?

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2.Name what you consider to be t...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Foreword
• Acknowledgements
• Part 1: Misunderstanding Greatness
• Part 2: Jesus’ Sermon on Greatness