But *ye* [shall] not [be] thus; but let the greater among you be as the younger, and the leader as he that serves.
Jesus says this at the table on the night He was betrayed. The disciples had just been arguing over which of them was the greatest, and His answer turns the whole idea of rank upside down.
Commentators note where Luke places this quarrel: at the most painful moment possible.
There was honesty in these hearts; but what ignorance! What unbrokenness of self! "There was also a dispute among them about which of them should be considered the greatest." Other Gospel writers also mention this rivalry, which was out of place, while He was doing miracles and teaching. Luke mentions it at the most painful and humiliating point of all. It came while they shared in the communion of His body and His blood, and just after they heard that the traitor was among them, offering to sell their Master for thirty pieces of silver!
Verse 25 shows how power works in the world. Verse 26 draws the opposite line for the disciples.
There was also strife among them. Each one wanted the top place, and this just as their great Master was about to take the lowest place. Such, sadly, is the heart of man, even of saints. But it did bring out the basic difference between the disciple and the world very clearly. The world shows and keeps its greatness by taking the place of a master. Christian greatness comes from taking the place of a servant.
One writer finds the cure for their rivalry in nearness to Christ Himself.
This is the most humiliating picture of man's heart. Right after the table where His love is displayed, they argue about who should be the greatest. When you get near to Christ you feel as if every shred of yourself was gone. Verse 25 shows what goes on in the world; but verse 26 shows that Christianity is the total and entire opposite of it. It is a beautiful state of soul that brings a person into the place of being nothing, and glad to stay out of sight… The soul that goes on with Christ can say, "Well, I am content to be nothing."
The Lord did not only give the command. He was the living example of it, and He acted it out that same evening.
The Lord knew what was going on. He took the chance to teach them the lesson of true greatness, and also the favour in the kingdom in store for them all. True greatness would be shown in serving. And the Lord Himself showed this: "I am among you as the one who serves." What a rebuke! Had He not been serving all along? … What, too, must they have felt when they saw Him get up from the table, tie a cloth around Himself, and begin to wash the feet of each one of them (John 13)! For it was during the supper that the Lord stooped to that lowly service.
The verse speaks to "the leader," and the danger it corrects did not stop with the disciples.
Men soon turned service into lordship. Our Lord took pains to see the danger coming and to warn of it. He also planted the principle of grace, and that grace, if held in faith, guards from evil and shapes the heart according to God. This evil was so bold and stubborn that it followed the apostles themselves right up to the last Passover and the Lord's Supper.
A promise follows the rebuke at once. The Lord answers their scramble for rank by giving them a kingdom.
The Lord, always full of gentleness and meekness, forgets Himself in His care for His disciples. He says to them, "Let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves." He teaches them by His own example what the love of God is… It is as though He had said, You need not raise yourselves: My Father will raise you. "You are those who have continued with me in my trials, and I appoint to you a kingdom, as my Father has appointed to me."
- Rivalry. The argument over rank broke out at the supper table. The traitor sat there, and the Master was about to take the lowest place of all.
- Reversal. The world keeps greatness by holding the place of a master. Among disciples, greatness comes from taking the place of a servant. The two are opposites, not variations.
- Rule. "As the youngest" means being content to be nothing. That contentment comes from nearness to Christ, not from effort.
- Example. He had already lived the command, and He proved it that same evening by rising from the table to wash their feet.
- Reward. Turning service into lordship is the old danger. But no one needs to grab a place: the Father raises those who take the low one, and He appoints them a kingdom.
For which [is] greater, he that is at table or he that serves? [Is] not he that is at table? But *I* am in the midst of you as the one that serves.
The argument breaks out at the worst moment. Jesus is speaking of His betrayal and death, and His closest followers are arguing about which of them is the greatest. He answers with a question about rank at a table — and then puts Himself on the serving side.
One writer notes where Luke places this quarrel: at the table, moments after Jesus named the traitor.
There was honesty in these hearts, but what ignorance! How unbroken their self-will was! "A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest." Other Gospel writers, as well as Luke, mention their unfitting rivalry while He was in the middle of His miracles and teaching. Luke mentions it where it was by far the most painful and humiliating: at the sharing of His body and His blood, and just after they heard that the traitor was among them, offering to sell their Master for thirty pieces of silver.
Their scramble for the top place exposed two opposite ways of measuring greatness.
There was also strife among them, each wanting the foremost place, and this just as their great Master was about to take the lowest place. Such, sadly, is the heart of man, even of saints. Yet it brought out very clearly the basic difference between the disciple and the world. Worldly greatness shows and keeps itself by taking a place above others. Christian greatness takes a servant's place. In that greatness Jesus Himself was pre-eminent. Few words are more touching than this — "I am among you as the one who serves." Such had been His life of perfect grace, and such, in supreme measure, His death was about to be.
The title "benefactor" carried real weight in the world of that day.
The title of "benefactor," Euergetes, is the one by which one of the Ptolemies is known in history, and it was often given to the Roman emperor. But this flattery was not to be found among His disciples. Instead the greater was to be as the younger, and the leader was to be in the servant's place. In men's thoughts, who was the greater — the one at the table or the one who served there? What did they see in Him? The Greatest was the One who served them all!
The claim was not a mood or a general attitude. It described how He had lived in front of them for three years.
Consider what these words meant. When they woke in the morning, He had often been awake before them and had prepared their breakfast. They never needed a servant if He was near. His love made Him watch for chances to work on their behalf, and if there was one task more menial than another, that was the task He took. He, the Lord of glory, was the servant of those rough, unschooled fishermen. His love bound Him with unbreakable chains to a life of service. He is our pattern... He who loves most serves most, and he who would be most like his Lord must take the lowest place among his brothers, so that he may serve them all.
His service did not stop when His life on earth did.
In John 13, when the blessed Lord was going to glory, we would have said, there is an end of service. It is not so. He gets up from where He was sitting among them as a companion. He washes their feet — and that is what He is doing now... In Luke 12 we learn that He still continues the service in glory: "He will dress Himself for service and have them recline at table, and He will come and serve them." There we get His service in glory. It is His glory in love, though in the form of service... He never gives up the service. Selfishness likes to be served, but love likes to serve.
One writer adds a warning. These words can be misread as softness toward sin.
But do not use this precious word as a cover for indifference about evil. It does not mean He lovingly allowed the smallest evil or defilement. Nothing could be more false or more dangerous. He does not allow it, but lovingly takes the towel and dresses Himself to serve. He pours the water into the basin — not to allow or overlook evil, but to wash it away, to restore our consciences.
- Setting. The argument over greatness erupted at the table, moments after Jesus named the betrayer — the most humiliating moment possible for such a quarrel.
- Contrast. Worldly greatness takes the place above others and collects flattering titles. Greatness among His own takes the servant's place.
- Proof. He was describing His own life, not just stating a principle. He watched for chances to help them and took the lowest task — the Lord of glory serving fishermen.
- Permanence. He washed their feet on the way to glory, and Luke 12 shows Him serving still. Love likes to serve, so He never gives the place up.
- Purpose. His service is not indifference to evil. He takes the towel to wash defilement away. The same love should shape how His followers treat each other.