(week 05/08)
Olubi Johnson
Luke 22:24-27 (KJV): And there was also a dispute among them as to which of them seems to be greater. (25) And He said to them, the kings of the nations exercise lordship over them. And they who exercise authority on them are called benefactors. (26) But you shall not be so: but the greater among you, let him be as the lesser, and he who governs, as one who serves. (27) For which is the greater; he who reclines, or he who serves? Is it not he who reclines? But I am among you as He who serves.
Matthew 20:25-28 (KJV): But Jesus called them and said, You know that the rulers of the nations exercise dominion over them, and they who are great exercise authority over them. (26) However, it shall not be so among you. But whoever desires to be great among you, let him be your servant. (27) And whoever desires to be chief among you, let him be your servant; (28) even as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.
Romans 1:9-10 (KJV): For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you (10) always in my prayers, making request if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come to you.
Here, the Lord Jesus teaches us how to be great in the Kingdom.
In the Kingdom the servant is the greatest.
It is vital to see that the service spoken of here is primarily spiritual and not just physical menial service.
In the account in Luke 22.8-13 we see Jesus sending Peter and John to do the physical service of the preparation of the Passover feast. Jesus did not do this physical service. However, later on we see Jesus washing the feet of his disciples: a physical service to illustrate a spiritual principle and service of forgiving one another’s sins and praying for another.
So Jesus was the greatest amongst them because he served them all with his spirit by praying for them and so provided supernatural provision and protection for them all:
Luke 22:31-32 (KJV): And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has desired you, that he may sift you as wheat. (32) But I have prayed for you, that your faith fail not.
And when you are converted, strengthen your brothers.
John 17:12 (KJV): While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those that You have given Me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
How then does spiritual service make one great in the Kingdom?
The more people God can minister to through your spirit, especially in the place of prayer and intercession, to get them to be born-again and then to cause the Christ nature to be formed in their souls and bodies, the greater you are in the Kingdom.
Galatians 4:19 (KJV): My little children, of whom I travail in birth again, until Christ be formed in you
Romans 8:26-27 (KJV): Likewise the Spirit also helps our infirmities. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. (27) And He searching the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
This is because the more people God uses your spirit as a conduit pipe to minister to, the greater the measure of His life and power that has to be ministered through you and so the greater the grace of God that has to be given to you.
Psalms 30:5 (KJV): For His anger is only a moment; in His favour is life. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.
1Peter 3:7 (KJV): Likewise, husbands, live together according to knowledge, giving honor to the wife as to the weaker vessel, the female, as truly being co-heirs together of the grace of life, not cutting off your prayers.
Furthermore the greater the grace of God ministered, the greater the humility of heart you must have.
James 4:6 (KJV): But He gives more grace. Therefore He says, God resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble.
So the greater you are in the Kingdom, the more humble you must be.
