Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Today we are introduced to what I think is perhaps
the most powerful, the most transformational, certainly the most inspirational
leadership principle on the planet. Every single leader that you know,
that you have respect for, every single leader that you respect,
actually practices this principle, and every leader that you don't
respect doesn't. And you can leave without it, but you
(00:27):
will not be a leader worth following without this principle.
And this extraordinary concept actually explains in part or at
least partially explains why a first century Jewish cult, a
first century Jewish cult following a crucified leader with no territory,
no military, and no authority, not only survived but thrived
(00:51):
in the first and second and third century. And we're
eventually embraced by the very empire, the very empire that.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
To eradicate it, to exterminate it.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
We said throughout this series that Jesus came into the
world to introduce something brand new, something brand new to
the world, and something brand new for the world. That
what Jesus came to introduce was a radical, radical, radical
departure of everything that was in place. It was a
radical departure of the ways of the kingdoms of this world,
including the way that the world exercised authority and leadership,
(01:27):
and on the religious front. And on the religious front,
it meant that Jesus had to replace everything that was
in place, because the religious systems of the first and
second century, in fact, the religious systems of every century,
the religious systems even of this century, are oftentimes predicated
upon are built upon the very structures of the kingdoms
of this world. In other words, they're all top down.
(01:50):
But the value system and the movement that Jesus came
to begin and launched, the brand new thing, the brand
new movement he started, would actually be up side down.
Now back to our story. The most disruptive and the
I guess the miracle that caused the most controversy and
(02:11):
caused the most I guess disruption is the right word.
The miracle that caused the most disruption during jesus ministry
was when he raised a man named Lazarus from the dead.
This is a very famous story. If you grew up
in church or Sunday school, you've at least heard of
it before. The reason it was so disruptive and the
reason it caused such controversy is that Lazarus was a
well known man within the city or the village of Bethany.
(02:32):
But not only that Lazarus was known outside the village
of Bethany.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
But the thing that made the reason.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
This miracle caused quite a stir, or such a stir
wasn't that Lazarus was dead. He was like dead dead,
like he was already embalmed and entombed dead. They had
already had the funeral dead. This wasn't a oh, I'm
not sure she was dead, and he raised her back
to life when they'd already sung the song, hired the mourners,
(02:58):
they were finishing up the funeral when Jesus finally showed up.
In fact, it's one of the most astounding narratives in
the whole New Testament.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
You should read it for yourself.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Because Jesus finds out Lazarus is dead and are as sick,
and his guys get up and going, hey, let's go
to Bethany, because surely you're going to heal your friend Lazarus,
and Jesus says, sit.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Down, we're not going.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
They're like, what's so disturbing. Jesus shows up at the
end of the funeral and raises a man from the
dead who's already been entombed. In fact, this was such
a big deal that Bethany actually became a tourist attraction.
We're going to see in just a few minutes people
went to Bethany to try to do a Lazarus sighting
because this story spread all over the place. In fact,
(03:38):
the scripture says that the word about Lazarus being raised
from the dead spread rapidly, and some of those who
spread the word went to the Pharisees and told them
what Jesus had done. So this word read this went
all the way to this to Jerusalem. The temple leaders
heard about this. Then the chief priest and the Pharisees
called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. Now we were introduced
(03:59):
to the Sanhedrin a few weeks ago. The Sanhedrin is
like the supreme Court in first century Israel. Were they
They spent their time primarily in the temple area.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
These were the they.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
This was the group that represented the nation to Rome
and represented Rome.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
To the nation.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
And we met a person a few weeks ago who
is a part of the Sanhedrin name Nicodemus. And Nicodemus
was at this meeting, and here's what they concluded at
their meeting, they said, this, what.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Are we accomplishing?
Speaker 1 (04:27):
They asked, here is this man performing many signs? Now,
in our vernacular we talk about Jesus performing miracles, but
these guys were clued in. Jesus was not simply performing
random miracles. Jesus was performing signs, and a sign points
to something, and these guys understood what Jesus was pointing to.
(04:48):
He was pointing to something entirely new. And here's what
they concluded. And how arrogant this statement is. If we
let him go on like this, If we let him
go on like this, everyone everyone will believe in him.
And what will the problem be? What's the consequence of that?
(05:09):
Because they understood something we miss and if everyone follows him,
and if everyone believes in him, eventually the Romans will
come and they will take away our temple and they
will take away our nation because what Jesus is introducing
is radically new. If everybody follows Jesus, nobody will need
(05:31):
us anymore and they won't even need the temple. They
understood what we oftentimes miss, that Jesus came to replace
everything that was in place, and in the end, that's
exactly what he did. And yet even in the twenty
first century, we have a tendency to hang on to
(05:54):
much of what Jesus came to replace. So the text says,
so from that day on they plotted to take his life.
Now Jesus found out about this. How did Jesus find
out about this? We don't know for sure, but here's
my hunch. Nicodemus was there, and Nicodemus got word to
Jesus they are after you, and so the text tells us. Therefore,
because they were plotting to take Jesus' life, he no
(06:16):
longer moved about publicly among the people of Judea. Judea
is the region where the temple is. Judea is the
region where the most of these religious leaders lived in function.
It would have been easy for him to head on
north to Galilee, but he stayed in the region of Judea.
But he was more covert in his actions and his teachings,
in his miracles. And the reason he stayed in Judea
(06:37):
was because Passover was just around the corner, and Jesus
wanted to celebrate Passover in the city of Jerusalem. But
he had to be careful lest he be arrested before
Passover ever got.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
There, and John, the gospel writer John.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Says this that the religious leaders put spies all around
the city of Jerusalem, at all the gates, at all
the places where people collected together, and all around the region,
spies looking for Jesus, looking for an opportunity to arrest
him and to get him upway from the crowd. So
a few days before Passover, Jesus is still trying to
(07:11):
quietly make his way around the city, stay just far
enough away from the city is not to cause any problems,
but at the last minute be able to enter the
city for Passover. And during his wanderings, he goes back
to Bethany, where Lazarus was raised from the dead, And
the text says this that a large crowd.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
We went from crowd to large crowd.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
A large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was
there in Bethany, and they came to Bethany. But check
this out, not only because of Jesus, but also to
see Lazarus. He's a tourist attraction whom he had raised
from the dead. So this is how desperate this group got.
So the chief priest made plans to kill Lazarus as well. Why,
(07:53):
Because he's evidence that something new has happened. He's evidence
that this is a real thing. It's evidence of the
fact that Jesus is about to overwhelm the entire religious
system if they don't do something to stop him. For
on account for on account of him Lazarus, many of
the Jews were going over to Jesus and believing in him. Now,
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this is a very important point. That's not the point
of the message, but I don't want you to miss this.
Because some of you've abandoned Christianity and you grew up
in faith, you walked away, and because the version of
faith were you grew up on was a version where
you just had faith in faith and you just had
to believe, and you checked your mind at the door,
and you checked your intellect at the door, and you
checked your science at the door, and you checked your
(08:36):
justice at.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
The door, and you just had to believe and believe
and believe.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
And I just want you to know, first century Christianity,
the original version was not about believing in belief.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
It was evidence based.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
The reason people began to follow Jesus was not faith.
The reason they began to follow Jesus was something they
saw that Christianity from the very beginning has been an
informed faith. You become a Christian by faith, but you
don't become a Christian because of faith. And here again
(09:08):
we see evidence of the fact that seeing led to believing.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Don't ever, ever, ever forget that.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
And if you left your faith because you thought faith,
that Christian faith was just about faith and faith, I'm
so sorry you left unnecessarily. That was never the original
intent and it was not the original version.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
The text goes on. It's so the next day.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
The next day, a great crowd that had come for
the festival that's Passover in Jerusalem heard that Jesus was
on his way to Jerusalem. So the point of all
this is everybody's talking about Jesus. In fact, Jesus at
this point might have been a little more popular than
Passover itself. People in the city are looking for him,
people outside the city are following him. There's so much emotion.
(09:54):
It's beginning to crescendo and build and build and build.
So the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the group that
we're trying to arrest, they said, look, this is getting
us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him.
They had no idea two thousand years later, all around
(10:17):
the world that was much bigger than they could even
have begun to imagine. The whole world has in fact
gone after him.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
So the stage is set.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Spies are in Jerusalem, you got expected fans outside the city,
you got expected expectant.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Fans inside the city.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
And Jesus in his guys finally begin as Passover gets
closer and closer and closer, they're just a couple of
days out. They finally decide to make their way to
the city of Jerusalem, and the tension is high, drama
is high. The pilot has extra military in the city
and around the city because Passover was always a time
(10:57):
for troublemakers to make trouble for Zeloz to proclaim that
they were the Messiah. There's so much tension, there's so
many people. And the other thing you have to picture
is this, Jerusalem is a large city by ancient standards,
and people are streaming into the city from all around
the city. Thousands and thousands and thousands of pilgrims from
all that region are streaming into the city, and Jesus
(11:18):
and his GUIs joined the crowd.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
They're on the road.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
They're headed to Jerusalem, and that's where our story takes
place today.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
Here's what happened.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
The text says they were on their way up to Jerusalem,
with Jesus leading the way and again again, meaning he'd
already had this conversation with him once, he wanted to
have it within one final time.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
This wasn't the first time, so.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Jesus, the text says, he took the twelve aside and
told them what was going to happen to him.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
So they're on this road.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
There's people in front, there's people behind, there's people wanting autographs,
there's people asking Peter questions and John questions. They all
want to get to Jesus. And Jesus takes his guys.
He steps off the road. He goes over in an orchard,
perhaps to sit down under a sycamore tree and making
that po And the people are still all streaming towards
Jerusalem and waving and looking, and they're shewing the crowds away,
and Jesus wants to have one final conversation with the
(12:08):
guys before they get to Jerusalem.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
And here's what he said. He says guys, we're.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
Going up to Jerusalem, and the son of man talking
about himself will be delivered over to the chief priest
and the teachers of the law. I mean they've been
trying to get to me the whole time. They're about
to get to me, and they will condemn him talking
about himself. They will condemn him to death, and he'll
be handed over to the Gentiles or the Romans, the
(12:37):
Gentiles who will mock him, spit on him, flog him,
and kill him, and three days later he will rise.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
You got it.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
And this is the and they're sitting there thinking what
is he even talking about? I mean, this is unimaginable.
I mean, we got the momentum. I mean, we got
the crowd, we got one crowd with us, we got
another crowd waiting for us.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
Word has reached Jerusalem that you're on your way.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
Well, what are you talking about. There's so much momentum.
There's no way in the world something bad is gonna
happen to you. Besides, you know, they're looking at each other.
This guy just raised not just a dead guy, a
dead dead guy, like a dead dead dead guy who've
been embalmed and in toomb i mean, I mean, Jesus,
I don't know what you're talking about, but okay, whatever, okay,
(13:26):
but we're I mean, this is things, something great is
about to happen, so we're not sure exactly what you're
talking about. So Jesus finishes the little talk, they stand up.
They head back over to the road to continue to Jerusalem,
and a couple of guys hang back and they say, Jesus,
we need to talk to you for just a minute,
and the text says then then then, like right then,
(13:47):
like as soon as Jesus finished this speech about all
the bad things that are gonna happen to him, right then,
James and John, the sons of Zebedee, we met them
a few weeks ago, came to him and they said.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Teacher, we want you to for us whatever we ask.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
I mean, that's too bad about the spitting and mocking
and flogging and dying. That sounds horrible, but anyway, we
need you to do us a favor, like right then,
And we kind of laugh. But it's a little bit
like our prayers, isn't it to your heavenly Father? I mean,
like you're great and all you made, like the whole
universe and the enzymes and proteins. We're still trying to
figure out that out in the striculatory system. Bok, hey, but
about my job. You know, God, you're great, but let's
(14:25):
get to me. So Jesus has just explained, like this
was such an emotional speech, and that was just sort
of the you know, the short version he lays out
what's about to happen to him.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
They're like just it's like.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
They don't even care. Would you do us a favor?
We want something from you? So Jesus, gracious Jesus says,
what what do you want me to do for you?
He asked, and they kind of look over their shoulders
they don't want the other guys to hear it. And
they say, well, look, would would you let one of
us sit on your right and the other at your
left and your glory? I mean, after this spitting and
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mocking and flogging and dying things over, we'll probably hang
back during all that. But you know, once, you know,
once you pull off your rabbi robe and it's Messiah
and you your kingdoms come and you establish yourself on
a throne. Hey, when you're like sitting on a throne,
we want to be on your left and your right.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
We know we can't be number one.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
Because you're a number one. You're a number one, Give
me a jay, But could we be like number two?
And could we be number three? In other words, can
we have positions of authority in your coming kingdom organization?
Because after all, we know that's where this is headed,
after this spitting and flogging and you know whatever all
that was about.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
And Jesus says to them, he's so patient.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
He says, guys, you don't know what you're asking, because
he knew and they would discover that glory would precede
the glory. And they respond on to know, sure, we
can handle it, we can handle it. We can hang
with you. You just tell us what we need to do.
We are with you. We want to be number two
and number three. But they were wrong because in a
(15:53):
few weeks, when we get to this part of the story,
when Jesus is arrested, before he has spilt a single
drop of blood, they run.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
When the other.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
Guys overheard this conversation. When the ten heard about this,
they became indignant with James and John. Now this doesn't
mean they're offended. How could you say such a thing
to Jesus after what he just told us. No, it's
the opposite, is hey, wait a minute, what about us?
We want to be number two and number three and
get out of my way. And I was here first,
and I'm Peter and I'm the older.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
And now you have Jesus disciples.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
I mean, they're, you know, probably hours away from entering
the city of Jerusalem. Now they're having an argument over
who's gonna be the greatest in jesus Kingdom, in Jesus movement,
in his ecclecia, and Jesus just rolls his eyes, like,
I think I picked the wrong guys. And the text
(16:47):
says that Jesus called them together again. It's like, okay,
everybody off the road, back over in the orchard under
the sycamore tree. Will be back in just a few minutes, folks.
And he gives them the following little the little lecture.
And if you're a Jesus follower, if you're a Christian,
this is for you. If you're in ministry like me,
(17:12):
this is really for me. If you're not a Christian,
it's our failure to have embraced what Jesus is about
to say that maybe part of the reason you left
faith to begin with.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Here's what he said. He's the guys.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
You know that those who are regarded as rulers of
the gentiles, you know, have they lorded over them, and
their high officials exercise authority over them. And the Greek
text here uses two Greek words that are rarely used
anywhere else in the Greek language, which means the author
is trying to make a very specific point. And his
point is this, He says, guys, you know how authority works.
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The person at the top has all the resources and
all the power and all the leverage flowing up to them,
and they leverage their power for their own benefit, regardless
of what it means for the people under them. You
know how that works. You know how gentiles exercise authority.
And the twelve are sitting there going uh huh. We
know exactly how it works. That's why we're asking if
(18:12):
we can be at the top of the pole, at
the top of the heap, at the top of the pyramid.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
We want to be on top. We know exactly how
it works.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
When you're on top, you get more stuff than the
people on the bottom.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
When you're on.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Top, you leverage your authority to get from the people
further down, what you want and what you need for you,
We know.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
Exactly how it works. And then Jesus looks at them.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
I don't know, he may have shaken a finger at him.
And Jesus looks at you if you're a Christian. And
I know he looks at me because I'm a pastor.
And these next four English words, these next five Greek words,
are so powerful and they are words that we must
take to heart. But more than that, these are words
(18:57):
we have to take to work that many of us
need to take home. And here's what he.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
Says, says, you guys know how it works. Yep, not
so with you, not so with you.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
What I'm introducing, guys, is brand new. What I'm introducing
is completely different. What I'm introducing is such a departure
from the kingdoms of this world that resources and power
and authority will be managed differently. And my ecclesia, and
if you're going to be a part of my eclaca,
(19:39):
if you're going to be a part of my movement, guys,
you got to get this right. You got to get
this straight. That power and influence is not for the
powerful and the influential. We are flipping it up side down.
In my movement, power and influence will be used for
a different purpose and with a different person in mind. Instead,
(20:02):
he says, instead, whoever wants to be.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
Great among you? Pause? Whoever wants to be great among you?
Speaker 1 (20:08):
And I think he could have looked at them and said, okay, guys,
do you want to be great? And two of them
had already tipped their hat. Do you want to be great? Okay,
if you want to be great, raise your.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Hand, guys great. All of them are like, we want
to be great? Good? As he said, it's good you
want to be great.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
If you want to be great, if you want to
aspire to greatness, if you want to be an official,
if you want to be a leader, if you want
to be somebody with influence, that's great.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
How many of you want to be great? And finally,
all their hands are up.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
While their hands are up, he says, okay, in my kingdom,
this is how it works. Whoever wants to be great
must be your servant.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
All hands came down.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
They shuddered. They looked around, Wait, servant, see for us?
Servants a concept for them? They knew servants their families,
many of their families had servants. Matthew the tax collector
had a lot of servants. And Jesus said, if you're
going to be great in my movement, then you must
take the position of a servant, that is, you go
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to the back of the line, to which they thought,
that's not fun, to which Jesus could have said.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
I'm not done, and it gets worse.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
And whoever wants to be first must be slave servant
at least they get paid, must be slave of all
that's the back of the.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
Back of the line. And they're quiet.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Jesusaid, you want to be my deal, You want to
be leaders in my deal. You should have known by now, guys,
my world is an upside down world. My kingdom is
an upside down kingdom. I've come to replace all that
is in place, not only the kingdoms of this world,
but even the religious structures of this world. And before
they could object, before they could leave, before they could
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ask any tough questions, Jesus said, look at me, Look
at me, for even the son of man talking about himself.
For even the son of man did not come to
be served, but to and to give his life a
ransom for many. My opinion, I think every Christian should
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memorize this statement. I think every Christian leader should memorize
this statement. I think if we got this right, something
would happen in our communities.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
I know what would happen in our families.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
But this is Jesus saying, guys, let me take all
your excuses away. I am your leader, and even I
did not come to be served, but to serve and
to give my life a ransom for many.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
And they had no idea what was coming.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
They had no idea that he literally meant he was
going to lay down his life, and soon they would
be confronted with this overwhelming, powerful, transformational idea that Jesus,
Jesus was the king who came to reverse the order
of things, to reverse the order of everything, that he
would be the king who would lay down his life
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for his subjects. And then he would say to his subjects,
I'm not asking you to lay down your life for me.
I'm asking you to lay down in your life for one.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
Another.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
And the amazing thing about this is that these guys
got it. In fact, Matthew Mark Luke John the Four Gospels.
After John, we get to the Book of Acts that
tells us what happened after the Resurrection in the Book
of Acts.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
There's a problem in the church, the Early Church. You
know what. The first problem in the Early Church was.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
These guys are spending so much time serving food to widows.
They can't get them to take a break to teach
everybody else what Jesus taught them. It's like, Peter, look,
could you lead a Bible study? You know, I'm taking
care of the widows, Okay, Jesus, Peter, great, Can we
get somebody else to do that. No, I don't want
my heavenly Father to think that I'm too big from
my breeches. I'm trying to find the most lowly thing
I can do, and serving widows right here in Jerusalem,
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that's the most needful thing, and so let me do that.
They finally literally had to pry their fingers off the
serving trays to get them to teach because they were
the only ones who knew.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
What Jesus taught.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
They got this, they were reluctant not to go to
the back of the line. But I don't think they
got it during the little speech. I think they got
it the next day because the next day and we're
gonna talk about this for the next couple of weeks.
The next day, they finally get to Jerusalem. They finally
get to what's called an upper room, and they're having
(24:20):
this Passover meal together. They've just come through a parade
of people shouting Hosannah, Hosanna, Hosannah. I mean, they are
close to Jesus and people are essentially proclaiming Jesus Messiah
in Jerusalem on Passover. I cannot exaggerate the emotion and
the controversy this created in the city of Jerusalem. They
are literally, they are famous, they are sought after, and
(24:44):
now they're together celebrating Passover, and they can just imagine
what the next day may hold for them. Is Jesus
surely is about to proclaim himself king. And they're reading
the Passover meal, and Jesus is saying some odd things
and that Judas went to run an errand nobody really understood,
you know. And suddenly Jesus stands up and he takes
(25:05):
off his outer robe and he wraps a towel.
Speaker 2 (25:11):
Around his face his waist.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
The text says he took off his outer clothing and
wrapped a towel around his waist, and when he did,
they panicked They panicked because he knew what he was
about to do.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
They panicked because none of.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Them had thought to wash even their own feet, much
less one another's feet. None of them had taken it
upon themselves to find a servant to wash feet. They
were so excited. This was such a heady moment. There
was so much going on. As suddenly Jesus stands up
and takes off his rabbinic robe and doesn't proclaim himself Messiah.
(25:47):
He puts a towel around his waist, and they're like, okay,
we may have forgotten to do this, but there is
no way in Hades, is how they said it. There's
no way in Hades we're about to let you wash
our feet. In fact, Peter said, no, you shall well
never wash my feet, but he did.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
Washing feet takes a while.
Speaker 1 (26:09):
Washing twelve pairs of feet takes a long time. I
think no one said a word after Peter finally settled down.
All they heard was the dripping of water from that cloth.
Is Jesus' foot by foot, toe by toe, ankle by
ankle washed their feet.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
They were completely humiliated. Think of it.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
They knew what those hands could do. They knew what
those hands were capable of. They had seen Jesus do
things with his hands that no one would ever believe.
And there he was washing their feet, and he took
this opportunity to illustrate the roadside chad.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
He finished, he stood up, put.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
Back on his rabbinic rogue, wiped his hands, sat back
down to the table. I think no one is saying
a word. And here's what he said to them, to me,
To you, if you're a Jesus follower, he says, you
call me teacher and lord, and rightly so that is
what I am.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
I am your teacher, I am your lord.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
Now that I, your lord and teacher, have washed your feet,
you also should wash one another's feet. I Jesus have
set you an example that you should do as I
have done for you.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
And then he restates that idea.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
That even the son of a man did not come
to be served, but to serve and to give his
life a ransom for many.
Speaker 2 (27:46):
And he says it this way.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
This time, he says, very truly, I tell you, no
servant is greater than his master. And you, all, by
the way, he would say, are the servants. And I've
just declared myself master, and you acknowledge that I am masters.
Speaker 2 (27:58):
So I'm the master.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
You're the servant and not better than me, are you, Guys, Peter,
are you better than me? No, sir, John, you better
than me?
Speaker 2 (28:04):
No, sir.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
Well, if you're not better than me, then you can
never use who you are as an excuse not to
serve the people around you, because I just serve them,
not simply as the servant, but as a slave. And
the messenger is never greater than the one who sent him.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
Now that you know these.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
Things, he said, because I've taught you, and now I've
illustrated it. Now that you know these things, you will
be blessed if you do them. In other words, guys,
when you start thinking you're a big shot, you just
go find some more feet to wash.
Speaker 2 (28:39):
Guys, don't ever forget this night. And they didn't.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
In fact, in the years following the Resurrection of Jesus,
in the years following the resurrection of Jesus, the persecuted.
Speaker 2 (28:55):
Church did just that.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
In fact, their other's firstness, the other's firstness of the
first century Church was so strong and so out in
front that it was actually appalling to the Roman and
Greek culture that celebrated strength and victory and conquests. The
idea that these people would put other people first, that
they would leverage what they had for the sake of
other people, That instead of using their power to become
(29:19):
more powerful, they would use their power to empower people.
This was this was appalling. It was completely upside down.
But over time it actually became appealing, and people flocked
to the Jesus movement. Christians refused to abandon sick people.
Christians refused to abandon the villages when the plague swept
(29:40):
through and put just took just about everybody in the
village out, and they refused to run because Christians were
not afraid of death, and they took in abandoned and
exposed children. And that compassion and their generosity and their
other's firstness and their willingness to give and distribute or
(30:04):
basically recognize the dignity and the equality of other people
was staggering, and eventually it became contagious and like an
airborne disease, Christianity spread all around the Empire and even
to over the borders into barbarian tribes and against all odds,
a cult with a crucified leader, with no territory and
(30:27):
no military and no authority, was eventually embraced by the
empire that set out.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
To destroy it. But comp here.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
If you're a Christian, that's your story. Those are your people.
It worked once, it could work again. What if we
just do that. It's not intuitive, it's not natural. It's
(31:00):
so upside down. It requires me to look for an
opportunity to go last. But let's be honest, when you
see it, you admire it. When you see it, you
seek it. And if you've ever had the opportunity to
follow someone who models.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
It, you respect them. And Christians we are called to it.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
And I think when it comes to going to work tomorrow,
I think, when it comes to going home this afternoon,
I think, when it comes to okay, what does this
look like in my world? I think it all boils
down to a simple question. It's a simple question that
we should ask in every single environment and in every
single relationship. It's a question that as a leader, I
get asked often, but I don't ask often enough.
Speaker 2 (31:54):
It's a question that if.
Speaker 1 (31:55):
You're the leader, you're the boss, you're the manager. You
know you run the franchise. You're the person, you're the man,
you're the woman, You probably get asked this question a lot.
You probably don't ask it enough. But in the upside
down world that Jesus introduced to this world, it's a
question that those of us with more authority and more
power and more influence should ask the most. And it's
(32:16):
this question, how can I help? How can I help?
How can I leverage me.
Speaker 2 (32:27):
For you?
Speaker 1 (32:28):
And as a Jesus follower, we should ask this question most,
and we should ask this question often, and we should
ask this question of the people who least expect it
and perhaps who may feel like they.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
Least deserve it.
Speaker 1 (32:47):
And if you do, you will be like your father
in heaven, who look down on this self centered, me
first world and ask what can I do to help?
And then he sent his son not to be served,
(33:11):
but to serve, and to give his life a ransom
for many. And then he looks at you in the eye,
he looks at me in the eye, and he says, now, Andy,
you just lost your excuse.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
Go do for others what I have already done for you. Imagine.
Speaker 1 (33:33):
Imagine what would happen in your family, Imagine what would
happen in our community, Imagine what would happen in our nation.
Speaker 2 (33:41):
If just the Christians and.
Speaker 1 (33:43):
Fully embraced this idea, my friends, it rocked the world once,
perhaps it could change the world
Speaker 2 (33:55):
Again.
Today we are introduced to what I think is perhaps
the most powerful, the most transformational, certainly the most inspirational
leadership principle on the planet. Every single leader that you know,
that you have respect for, every single leader that you respect,
actually practices this principle, and every leader that you don't
respect doesn't. And you can leave without it, but you
(00:27):
will not be a leader worth following without this principle.
And this extraordinary concept actually explains in part or at
least partially explains why a first century Jewish cult, a
first century Jewish cult following a crucified leader with no territory,
no military, and no authority, not only survived but thrived
(00:51):
in the first and second and third century. And we're
eventually embraced by the very empire, the very empire that.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
To eradicate it, to exterminate it.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
We said throughout this series that Jesus came into the
world to introduce something brand new, something brand new to
the world, and something brand new for the world. That
what Jesus came to introduce was a radical, radical, radical
departure of everything that was in place. It was a
radical departure of the ways of the kingdoms of this world,
including the way that the world exercised authority and leadership,
(01:27):
and on the religious front. And on the religious front,
it meant that Jesus had to replace everything that was
in place, because the religious systems of the first and
second century, in fact, the religious systems of every century,
the religious systems even of this century, are oftentimes predicated
upon are built upon the very structures of the kingdoms
of this world. In other words, they're all top down.
(01:50):
But the value system and the movement that Jesus came
to begin and launched, the brand new thing, the brand
new movement he started, would actually be up side down.
Now back to our story. The most disruptive and the
I guess the miracle that caused the most controversy and
(02:11):
caused the most I guess disruption is the right word.
The miracle that caused the most disruption during jesus ministry
was when he raised a man named Lazarus from the dead.
This is a very famous story. If you grew up
in church or Sunday school, you've at least heard of
it before. The reason it was so disruptive and the
reason it caused such controversy is that Lazarus was a
well known man within the city or the village of Bethany.
(02:32):
But not only that Lazarus was known outside the village
of Bethany.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
But the thing that made the reason.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
This miracle caused quite a stir, or such a stir
wasn't that Lazarus was dead. He was like dead dead,
like he was already embalmed and entombed dead. They had
already had the funeral dead. This wasn't a oh, I'm
not sure she was dead, and he raised her back
to life when they'd already sung the song, hired the mourners,
(02:58):
they were finishing up the funeral when Jesus finally showed up.
In fact, it's one of the most astounding narratives in
the whole New Testament.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
You should read it for yourself.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Because Jesus finds out Lazarus is dead and are as sick,
and his guys get up and going, hey, let's go
to Bethany, because surely you're going to heal your friend Lazarus,
and Jesus says, sit.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Down, we're not going.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
They're like, what's so disturbing. Jesus shows up at the
end of the funeral and raises a man from the
dead who's already been entombed. In fact, this was such
a big deal that Bethany actually became a tourist attraction.
We're going to see in just a few minutes people
went to Bethany to try to do a Lazarus sighting
because this story spread all over the place. In fact,
(03:38):
the scripture says that the word about Lazarus being raised
from the dead spread rapidly, and some of those who
spread the word went to the Pharisees and told them
what Jesus had done. So this word read this went
all the way to this to Jerusalem. The temple leaders
heard about this. Then the chief priest and the Pharisees
called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. Now we were introduced
(03:59):
to the Sanhedrin a few weeks ago. The Sanhedrin is
like the supreme Court in first century Israel. Were they
They spent their time primarily in the temple area.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
These were the they.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
This was the group that represented the nation to Rome
and represented Rome.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
To the nation.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
And we met a person a few weeks ago who
is a part of the Sanhedrin name Nicodemus. And Nicodemus
was at this meeting, and here's what they concluded at
their meeting, they said, this, what.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Are we accomplishing?
Speaker 1 (04:27):
They asked, here is this man performing many signs? Now,
in our vernacular we talk about Jesus performing miracles, but
these guys were clued in. Jesus was not simply performing
random miracles. Jesus was performing signs, and a sign points
to something, and these guys understood what Jesus was pointing to.
(04:48):
He was pointing to something entirely new. And here's what
they concluded. And how arrogant this statement is. If we
let him go on like this, If we let him
go on like this, everyone everyone will believe in him.
And what will the problem be? What's the consequence of that?
(05:09):
Because they understood something we miss and if everyone follows him,
and if everyone believes in him, eventually the Romans will
come and they will take away our temple and they
will take away our nation because what Jesus is introducing
is radically new. If everybody follows Jesus, nobody will need
(05:31):
us anymore and they won't even need the temple. They
understood what we oftentimes miss, that Jesus came to replace
everything that was in place, and in the end, that's
exactly what he did. And yet even in the twenty
first century, we have a tendency to hang on to
(05:54):
much of what Jesus came to replace. So the text says,
so from that day on they plotted to take his life.
Now Jesus found out about this. How did Jesus find
out about this? We don't know for sure, but here's
my hunch. Nicodemus was there, and Nicodemus got word to
Jesus they are after you, and so the text tells us. Therefore,
because they were plotting to take Jesus' life, he no
(06:16):
longer moved about publicly among the people of Judea. Judea
is the region where the temple is. Judea is the
region where the most of these religious leaders lived in function.
It would have been easy for him to head on
north to Galilee, but he stayed in the region of Judea.
But he was more covert in his actions and his teachings,
in his miracles. And the reason he stayed in Judea
(06:37):
was because Passover was just around the corner, and Jesus
wanted to celebrate Passover in the city of Jerusalem. But
he had to be careful lest he be arrested before
Passover ever got.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
There, and John, the gospel writer John.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Says this that the religious leaders put spies all around
the city of Jerusalem, at all the gates, at all
the places where people collected together, and all around the region,
spies looking for Jesus, looking for an opportunity to arrest
him and to get him upway from the crowd. So
a few days before Passover, Jesus is still trying to
(07:11):
quietly make his way around the city, stay just far
enough away from the city is not to cause any problems,
but at the last minute be able to enter the
city for Passover. And during his wanderings, he goes back
to Bethany, where Lazarus was raised from the dead, And
the text says this that a large crowd.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
We went from crowd to large crowd.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
A large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was
there in Bethany, and they came to Bethany. But check
this out, not only because of Jesus, but also to
see Lazarus. He's a tourist attraction whom he had raised
from the dead. So this is how desperate this group got.
So the chief priest made plans to kill Lazarus as well. Why,
(07:53):
Because he's evidence that something new has happened. He's evidence
that this is a real thing. It's evidence of the
fact that Jesus is about to overwhelm the entire religious
system if they don't do something to stop him. For
on account for on account of him Lazarus, many of
the Jews were going over to Jesus and believing in him. Now,
(08:16):
this is a very important point. That's not the point
of the message, but I don't want you to miss this.
Because some of you've abandoned Christianity and you grew up
in faith, you walked away, and because the version of
faith were you grew up on was a version where
you just had faith in faith and you just had
to believe, and you checked your mind at the door,
and you checked your intellect at the door, and you
checked your science at the door, and you checked your
(08:36):
justice at.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
The door, and you just had to believe and believe
and believe.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
And I just want you to know, first century Christianity,
the original version was not about believing in belief.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
It was evidence based.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
The reason people began to follow Jesus was not faith.
The reason they began to follow Jesus was something they
saw that Christianity from the very beginning has been an
informed faith. You become a Christian by faith, but you
don't become a Christian because of faith. And here again
(09:08):
we see evidence of the fact that seeing led to believing.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Don't ever, ever, ever forget that.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
And if you left your faith because you thought faith,
that Christian faith was just about faith and faith, I'm
so sorry you left unnecessarily. That was never the original
intent and it was not the original version.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
The text goes on. It's so the next day.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
The next day, a great crowd that had come for
the festival that's Passover in Jerusalem heard that Jesus was
on his way to Jerusalem. So the point of all
this is everybody's talking about Jesus. In fact, Jesus at
this point might have been a little more popular than
Passover itself. People in the city are looking for him,
people outside the city are following him. There's so much emotion.
(09:54):
It's beginning to crescendo and build and build and build.
So the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the group that
we're trying to arrest, they said, look, this is getting
us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him.
They had no idea two thousand years later, all around
(10:17):
the world that was much bigger than they could even
have begun to imagine. The whole world has in fact
gone after him.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
So the stage is set.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Spies are in Jerusalem, you got expected fans outside the city,
you got expected expectant.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Fans inside the city.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
And Jesus in his guys finally begin as Passover gets
closer and closer and closer, they're just a couple of
days out. They finally decide to make their way to
the city of Jerusalem, and the tension is high, drama
is high. The pilot has extra military in the city
and around the city because Passover was always a time
(10:57):
for troublemakers to make trouble for Zeloz to proclaim that
they were the Messiah. There's so much tension, there's so
many people. And the other thing you have to picture
is this, Jerusalem is a large city by ancient standards,
and people are streaming into the city from all around
the city. Thousands and thousands and thousands of pilgrims from
all that region are streaming into the city, and Jesus
(11:18):
and his GUIs joined the crowd.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
They're on the road.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
They're headed to Jerusalem, and that's where our story takes
place today.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
Here's what happened.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
The text says they were on their way up to Jerusalem,
with Jesus leading the way and again again, meaning he'd
already had this conversation with him once, he wanted to
have it within one final time.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
This wasn't the first time, so.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Jesus, the text says, he took the twelve aside and
told them what was going to happen to him.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
So they're on this road.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
There's people in front, there's people behind, there's people wanting autographs,
there's people asking Peter questions and John questions. They all
want to get to Jesus. And Jesus takes his guys.
He steps off the road. He goes over in an orchard,
perhaps to sit down under a sycamore tree and making
that po And the people are still all streaming towards
Jerusalem and waving and looking, and they're shewing the crowds away,
and Jesus wants to have one final conversation with the
(12:08):
guys before they get to Jerusalem.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
And here's what he said. He says guys, we're.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
Going up to Jerusalem, and the son of man talking
about himself will be delivered over to the chief priest
and the teachers of the law. I mean they've been
trying to get to me the whole time. They're about
to get to me, and they will condemn him talking
about himself. They will condemn him to death, and he'll
be handed over to the Gentiles or the Romans, the
(12:37):
Gentiles who will mock him, spit on him, flog him,
and kill him, and three days later he will rise.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
You got it.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
And this is the and they're sitting there thinking what
is he even talking about? I mean, this is unimaginable.
I mean, we got the momentum. I mean, we got
the crowd, we got one crowd with us, we got
another crowd waiting for us.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
Word has reached Jerusalem that you're on your way.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
Well, what are you talking about. There's so much momentum.
There's no way in the world something bad is gonna
happen to you. Besides, you know, they're looking at each other.
This guy just raised not just a dead guy, a
dead dead guy, like a dead dead dead guy who've
been embalmed and in toomb i mean, I mean, Jesus,
I don't know what you're talking about, but okay, whatever, okay,
(13:26):
but we're I mean, this is things, something great is
about to happen, so we're not sure exactly what you're
talking about. So Jesus finishes the little talk, they stand up.
They head back over to the road to continue to Jerusalem,
and a couple of guys hang back and they say, Jesus,
we need to talk to you for just a minute,
and the text says then then then, like right then,
(13:47):
like as soon as Jesus finished this speech about all
the bad things that are gonna happen to him, right then,
James and John, the sons of Zebedee, we met them
a few weeks ago, came to him and they said.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Teacher, we want you to for us whatever we ask.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
I mean, that's too bad about the spitting and mocking
and flogging and dying. That sounds horrible, but anyway, we
need you to do us a favor, like right then,
And we kind of laugh. But it's a little bit
like our prayers, isn't it to your heavenly Father? I mean,
like you're great and all you made, like the whole
universe and the enzymes and proteins. We're still trying to
figure out that out in the striculatory system. Bok, hey, but
about my job. You know, God, you're great, but let's
(14:25):
get to me. So Jesus has just explained, like this
was such an emotional speech, and that was just sort
of the you know, the short version he lays out
what's about to happen to him.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
They're like just it's like.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
They don't even care. Would you do us a favor?
We want something from you? So Jesus, gracious Jesus says,
what what do you want me to do for you?
He asked, and they kind of look over their shoulders
they don't want the other guys to hear it. And
they say, well, look, would would you let one of
us sit on your right and the other at your
left and your glory? I mean, after this spitting and
(14:55):
mocking and flogging and dying things over, we'll probably hang
back during all that. But you know, once, you know,
once you pull off your rabbi robe and it's Messiah
and you your kingdoms come and you establish yourself on
a throne. Hey, when you're like sitting on a throne,
we want to be on your left and your right.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
We know we can't be number one.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
Because you're a number one. You're a number one, Give
me a jay, But could we be like number two?
And could we be number three? In other words, can
we have positions of authority in your coming kingdom organization?
Because after all, we know that's where this is headed,
after this spitting and flogging and you know whatever all
that was about.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
And Jesus says to them, he's so patient.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
He says, guys, you don't know what you're asking, because
he knew and they would discover that glory would precede
the glory. And they respond on to know, sure, we
can handle it, we can handle it. We can hang
with you. You just tell us what we need to do.
We are with you. We want to be number two
and number three. But they were wrong because in a
(15:53):
few weeks, when we get to this part of the story,
when Jesus is arrested, before he has spilt a single
drop of blood, they run.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
When the other.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
Guys overheard this conversation. When the ten heard about this,
they became indignant with James and John. Now this doesn't
mean they're offended. How could you say such a thing
to Jesus after what he just told us. No, it's
the opposite, is hey, wait a minute, what about us?
We want to be number two and number three and
get out of my way. And I was here first,
and I'm Peter and I'm the older.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
And now you have Jesus disciples.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
I mean, they're, you know, probably hours away from entering
the city of Jerusalem. Now they're having an argument over
who's gonna be the greatest in jesus Kingdom, in Jesus movement,
in his ecclecia, and Jesus just rolls his eyes, like,
I think I picked the wrong guys. And the text
(16:47):
says that Jesus called them together again. It's like, okay,
everybody off the road, back over in the orchard under
the sycamore tree. Will be back in just a few minutes, folks.
And he gives them the following little the little lecture.
And if you're a Jesus follower, if you're a Christian,
this is for you. If you're in ministry like me,
(17:12):
this is really for me. If you're not a Christian,
it's our failure to have embraced what Jesus is about
to say that maybe part of the reason you left
faith to begin with.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Here's what he said. He's the guys.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
You know that those who are regarded as rulers of
the gentiles, you know, have they lorded over them, and
their high officials exercise authority over them. And the Greek
text here uses two Greek words that are rarely used
anywhere else in the Greek language, which means the author
is trying to make a very specific point. And his
point is this, He says, guys, you know how authority works.
(17:49):
The person at the top has all the resources and
all the power and all the leverage flowing up to them,
and they leverage their power for their own benefit, regardless
of what it means for the people under them. You
know how that works. You know how gentiles exercise authority.
And the twelve are sitting there going uh huh. We
know exactly how it works. That's why we're asking if
(18:12):
we can be at the top of the pole, at
the top of the heap, at the top of the pyramid.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
We want to be on top. We know exactly how
it works.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
When you're on top, you get more stuff than the
people on the bottom.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
When you're on.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Top, you leverage your authority to get from the people
further down, what you want and what you need for you,
We know.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
Exactly how it works. And then Jesus looks at them.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
I don't know, he may have shaken a finger at him.
And Jesus looks at you if you're a Christian. And
I know he looks at me because I'm a pastor.
And these next four English words, these next five Greek words,
are so powerful and they are words that we must
take to heart. But more than that, these are words
(18:57):
we have to take to work that many of us
need to take home. And here's what he.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
Says, says, you guys know how it works. Yep, not
so with you, not so with you.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
What I'm introducing, guys, is brand new. What I'm introducing
is completely different. What I'm introducing is such a departure
from the kingdoms of this world that resources and power
and authority will be managed differently. And my ecclesia, and
if you're going to be a part of my eclaca,
(19:39):
if you're going to be a part of my movement, guys,
you got to get this right. You got to get
this straight. That power and influence is not for the
powerful and the influential. We are flipping it up side down.
In my movement, power and influence will be used for
a different purpose and with a different person in mind. Instead,
(20:02):
he says, instead, whoever wants to be.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
Great among you? Pause? Whoever wants to be great among you?
Speaker 1 (20:08):
And I think he could have looked at them and said, okay, guys,
do you want to be great? And two of them
had already tipped their hat. Do you want to be great? Okay,
if you want to be great, raise your.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Hand, guys great. All of them are like, we want
to be great? Good? As he said, it's good you
want to be great.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
If you want to be great, if you want to
aspire to greatness, if you want to be an official,
if you want to be a leader, if you want
to be somebody with influence, that's great.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
How many of you want to be great? And finally,
all their hands are up.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
While their hands are up, he says, okay, in my kingdom,
this is how it works. Whoever wants to be great
must be your servant.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
All hands came down.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
They shuddered. They looked around, Wait, servant, see for us?
Servants a concept for them? They knew servants their families,
many of their families had servants. Matthew the tax collector
had a lot of servants. And Jesus said, if you're
going to be great in my movement, then you must
take the position of a servant, that is, you go
(21:00):
to the back of the line, to which they thought,
that's not fun, to which Jesus could have said.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
I'm not done, and it gets worse.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
And whoever wants to be first must be slave servant
at least they get paid, must be slave of all
that's the back of the.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
Back of the line. And they're quiet.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Jesusaid, you want to be my deal, You want to
be leaders in my deal. You should have known by now, guys,
my world is an upside down world. My kingdom is
an upside down kingdom. I've come to replace all that
is in place, not only the kingdoms of this world,
but even the religious structures of this world. And before
they could object, before they could leave, before they could
(21:47):
ask any tough questions, Jesus said, look at me, Look
at me, for even the son of man talking about himself.
For even the son of man did not come to
be served, but to and to give his life a
ransom for many. My opinion, I think every Christian should
(22:07):
memorize this statement. I think every Christian leader should memorize
this statement. I think if we got this right, something
would happen in our communities.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
I know what would happen in our families.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
But this is Jesus saying, guys, let me take all
your excuses away. I am your leader, and even I
did not come to be served, but to serve and
to give my life a ransom for many.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
And they had no idea what was coming.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
They had no idea that he literally meant he was
going to lay down his life, and soon they would
be confronted with this overwhelming, powerful, transformational idea that Jesus,
Jesus was the king who came to reverse the order
of things, to reverse the order of everything, that he
would be the king who would lay down his life
(22:54):
for his subjects. And then he would say to his subjects,
I'm not asking you to lay down your life for me.
I'm asking you to lay down in your life for one.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
Another.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
And the amazing thing about this is that these guys
got it. In fact, Matthew Mark Luke John the Four Gospels.
After John, we get to the Book of Acts that
tells us what happened after the Resurrection in the Book
of Acts.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
There's a problem in the church, the Early Church. You
know what. The first problem in the Early Church was.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
These guys are spending so much time serving food to widows.
They can't get them to take a break to teach
everybody else what Jesus taught them. It's like, Peter, look,
could you lead a Bible study? You know, I'm taking
care of the widows, Okay, Jesus, Peter, great, Can we
get somebody else to do that. No, I don't want
my heavenly Father to think that I'm too big from
my breeches. I'm trying to find the most lowly thing
I can do, and serving widows right here in Jerusalem,
(23:47):
that's the most needful thing, and so let me do that.
They finally literally had to pry their fingers off the
serving trays to get them to teach because they were
the only ones who knew.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
What Jesus taught.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
They got this, they were reluctant not to go to
the back of the line. But I don't think they
got it during the little speech. I think they got
it the next day because the next day and we're
gonna talk about this for the next couple of weeks.
The next day, they finally get to Jerusalem. They finally
get to what's called an upper room, and they're having
(24:20):
this Passover meal together. They've just come through a parade
of people shouting Hosannah, Hosanna, Hosannah. I mean, they are
close to Jesus and people are essentially proclaiming Jesus Messiah
in Jerusalem on Passover. I cannot exaggerate the emotion and
the controversy this created in the city of Jerusalem. They
are literally, they are famous, they are sought after, and
(24:44):
now they're together celebrating Passover, and they can just imagine
what the next day may hold for them. Is Jesus
surely is about to proclaim himself king. And they're reading
the Passover meal, and Jesus is saying some odd things
and that Judas went to run an errand nobody really understood,
you know. And suddenly Jesus stands up and he takes
(25:05):
off his outer robe and he wraps a towel.
Speaker 2 (25:11):
Around his face his waist.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
The text says he took off his outer clothing and
wrapped a towel around his waist, and when he did,
they panicked They panicked because he knew what he was
about to do.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
They panicked because none of.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Them had thought to wash even their own feet, much
less one another's feet. None of them had taken it
upon themselves to find a servant to wash feet. They
were so excited. This was such a heady moment. There
was so much going on. As suddenly Jesus stands up
and takes off his rabbinic robe and doesn't proclaim himself Messiah.
(25:47):
He puts a towel around his waist, and they're like, okay,
we may have forgotten to do this, but there is
no way in Hades, is how they said it. There's
no way in Hades we're about to let you wash
our feet. In fact, Peter said, no, you shall well
never wash my feet, but he did.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
Washing feet takes a while.
Speaker 1 (26:09):
Washing twelve pairs of feet takes a long time. I
think no one said a word after Peter finally settled down.
All they heard was the dripping of water from that cloth.
Is Jesus' foot by foot, toe by toe, ankle by
ankle washed their feet.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
They were completely humiliated. Think of it.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
They knew what those hands could do. They knew what
those hands were capable of. They had seen Jesus do
things with his hands that no one would ever believe.
And there he was washing their feet, and he took
this opportunity to illustrate the roadside chad.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
He finished, he stood up, put.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
Back on his rabbinic rogue, wiped his hands, sat back
down to the table. I think no one is saying
a word. And here's what he said to them, to me,
To you, if you're a Jesus follower, he says, you
call me teacher and lord, and rightly so that is
what I am.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
I am your teacher, I am your lord.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
Now that I, your lord and teacher, have washed your feet,
you also should wash one another's feet. I Jesus have
set you an example that you should do as I
have done for you.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
And then he restates that idea.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
That even the son of a man did not come
to be served, but to serve and to give his
life a ransom for many.
Speaker 2 (27:46):
And he says it this way.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
This time, he says, very truly, I tell you, no
servant is greater than his master. And you, all, by
the way, he would say, are the servants. And I've
just declared myself master, and you acknowledge that I am masters.
Speaker 2 (27:58):
So I'm the master.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
You're the servant and not better than me, are you, Guys, Peter,
are you better than me? No, sir, John, you better
than me?
Speaker 2 (28:04):
No, sir.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
Well, if you're not better than me, then you can
never use who you are as an excuse not to
serve the people around you, because I just serve them,
not simply as the servant, but as a slave. And
the messenger is never greater than the one who sent him.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
Now that you know these.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
Things, he said, because I've taught you, and now I've
illustrated it. Now that you know these things, you will
be blessed if you do them. In other words, guys,
when you start thinking you're a big shot, you just
go find some more feet to wash.
Speaker 2 (28:39):
Guys, don't ever forget this night. And they didn't.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
In fact, in the years following the Resurrection of Jesus,
in the years following the resurrection of Jesus, the persecuted.
Speaker 2 (28:55):
Church did just that.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
In fact, their other's firstness, the other's firstness of the
first century Church was so strong and so out in
front that it was actually appalling to the Roman and
Greek culture that celebrated strength and victory and conquests. The
idea that these people would put other people first, that
they would leverage what they had for the sake of
other people, That instead of using their power to become
(29:19):
more powerful, they would use their power to empower people.
This was this was appalling. It was completely upside down.
But over time it actually became appealing, and people flocked
to the Jesus movement. Christians refused to abandon sick people.
Christians refused to abandon the villages when the plague swept
(29:40):
through and put just took just about everybody in the
village out, and they refused to run because Christians were
not afraid of death, and they took in abandoned and
exposed children. And that compassion and their generosity and their
other's firstness and their willingness to give and distribute or
(30:04):
basically recognize the dignity and the equality of other people
was staggering, and eventually it became contagious and like an
airborne disease, Christianity spread all around the Empire and even
to over the borders into barbarian tribes and against all odds,
a cult with a crucified leader, with no territory and
(30:27):
no military and no authority, was eventually embraced by the
empire that set out.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
To destroy it. But comp here.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
If you're a Christian, that's your story. Those are your people.
It worked once, it could work again. What if we
just do that. It's not intuitive, it's not natural. It's
(31:00):
so upside down. It requires me to look for an
opportunity to go last. But let's be honest, when you
see it, you admire it. When you see it, you
seek it. And if you've ever had the opportunity to
follow someone who models.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
It, you respect them. And Christians we are called to it.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
And I think when it comes to going to work tomorrow,
I think, when it comes to going home this afternoon,
I think, when it comes to okay, what does this
look like in my world? I think it all boils
down to a simple question. It's a simple question that
we should ask in every single environment and in every
single relationship. It's a question that as a leader, I
get asked often, but I don't ask often enough.
Speaker 2 (31:54):
It's a question that if.
Speaker 1 (31:55):
You're the leader, you're the boss, you're the manager. You
know you run the franchise. You're the person, you're the man,
you're the woman, You probably get asked this question a lot.
You probably don't ask it enough. But in the upside
down world that Jesus introduced to this world, it's a
question that those of us with more authority and more
power and more influence should ask the most. And it's
(32:16):
this question, how can I help? How can I help?
How can I leverage me.
Speaker 2 (32:27):
For you?
Speaker 1 (32:28):
And as a Jesus follower, we should ask this question most,
and we should ask this question often, and we should
ask this question of the people who least expect it
and perhaps who may feel like they.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
Least deserve it.
Speaker 1 (32:47):
And if you do, you will be like your father
in heaven, who look down on this self centered, me
first world and ask what can I do to help?
And then he sent his son not to be served,
(33:11):
but to serve, and to give his life a ransom
for many. And then he looks at you in the eye,
he looks at me in the eye, and he says, now, Andy,
you just lost your excuse.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
Go do for others what I have already done for you. Imagine.
Speaker 1 (33:33):
Imagine what would happen in your family, Imagine what would
happen in our community, Imagine what would happen in our nation.
Speaker 2 (33:41):
If just the Christians and.
Speaker 1 (33:43):
Fully embraced this idea, my friends, it rocked the world once,
perhaps it could change the world
Speaker 2 (33:55):
Again.
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