UPSIDE DOWN WORLD
Opening Prayer
“Oh Jesus, friend of sinners… Let our hearts be led by mercy; Help us reach with open hearts and open doors.”(2011 My Refuge Music.)
Read Luke 22:24–38
24 A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. 25 Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. 26 But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. 27 For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. 28 You are those who have stood by me in my trials. 29 And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, 30 so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
31 “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
33 But he replied, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.”
34 Jesus answered, “I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.”
35 Then Jesus asked them, “When I sent you without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?”
“Nothing,” they answered.
36 He said to them, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. 37 It is written: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors’[a]; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment.”
38 The disciples said, “See, Lord, here are two swords.”
“That’s enough!” he replied.
Footnotes:
a Luke 22:37 Isaiah 53:12
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Is there someone you are planning to meet today whom you can serve?Meals are for companionship not confrontation, so our passage begins on a sad note. Maybe we are shocked at the insensitivity of the disciples, but beware: the desire to be “top dog” is deeply ingrained in each of us. Would we have behaved any better? The unseemly argument leads to a memorable saying as Jesus, the Son of God, describes himself as their servant (27). And then he challenges them to follow his example.
But how? Well, it will require courage to be different (25), willingness to stay close to Jesus (28), radical self-awareness (33) and wise preparation (36). Is that all?! How are you doing in this area? It would seem that living a servant life is not for the faint-hearted.
Why do we want to be in control? Often it is the desire to appear better than the next person. Was that Peter’s problem (Matthew 26:33)? Peter had to learn the hard way (22:60). Maybe every time he heard a cock crow, he remembered he was only an unworthy servant.
But there was no need for him to despair. Nor is there for us. Christ himself promises to deliver us out of the bondage of having to be in control, into the perfect freedom of service.
Apply
It is so easy to live to serve ourselves. How can you serve the next person you meet? How can you lay down your own wishes and think of the needs of another?
Closing prayer
Father, forgive my pride and boastfulness and make me, this day, more like Jesus who came not to be served but to serve.
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