True greatness.
Our Lord's ministry was not only to the people generally, but to his own disciples and friends; and even to these he had occasion sometimes to address language, not only of instruction, but of rebuke and expostulation. On the occasion here referred to, a serious fault was displayed among the chosen circle, which called for the Lord's interference and reprimand. At the same time the great Teacher pointed out to the erring a more excellent way. Ambition was the fault, and its appearance among the twelve occasioned our Lord's lesson in true greatness.
I. AMBITION AMONG THE FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST.
1. Notice its occasion. It seems as if recent events gave rise to the desire for preeminence among the friends and disciples of Jesus. The special commendation of Peter which the Master had recently pronounced, and the selection of the same apostle, with James and John, to witness the Transfiguration, probably prompted the aspiration and the discussion here recorded.
2. The exact form this disposition assumed. The twelve looked forward to the Messianic kingdom, of which they had come to regard Jesus as the divinely appointed Head, and in which they all expected to occupy posts of dignity and power. But who should be greatest? Who should be the chief minister under the Messianic King? Such was the matter in dispute, and that it should be so shows us how much the apostles had yet to learn.
3. The evil fruits of this ambition. It is quite in accordance with human nature that such a disposition should lead to disagreement and to contention. The twelve not only reasoned, they disputed; rivalry took the place of brotherhood. It is ever so; when the desire for preeminence and supremacy takes possession of men's hearts, farewell to contentment, harmony, and peace!
II. CHRIST'S REBUKE AND REMEDY FOR AMBITION. The observant eye of Jesus had remarked the wrangling which had gone on among his disciples, and his heart was pained. When he inquired into what had happened, they were ashamed and silenced; and he proceeded to unfold a principle which should operate, not in this company only, but throughout all periods of his Church.
1. Christ reveals the new and Christian law of greatness. Only those who are willing to be last of all, and ministers of all, shall be foremost in his kingdom. This was paradoxical, altogether in contradiction to the prevalent plan and principle among men in all grades of society, and in all communities, civil and ecclesiastical. It was exemplified most illustriously in the Lord Jesus himself. "Though he was rich, he became poor;" "He took on him the form of a servant;" "The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister." In his own person—in his incarnation, his humiliation, his obedience unto death, even the death of the cross—our Lord furnished the one incomparable example of humility and self-denial, and laid the axe to the root of the tree of self-seeking and pride. It was a law containing within it its own sanction and power. The humiliation and self-sacrifice of the Lord Jesus were more than an example; they introduced a new motive of spiritual persuasiveness and constraint into human society. The cross of Christ has been the great moral power which has changed human society, and is now the one hope of human regeneration.
2. Christ enforces his new law of greatness by a striking symbol. Our Lord often taught by act, thus enforcing the lessons embodied in his words. On this occasion he took a little child, and preached an ever-memorable sermon from this beautiful and touching text. The infant was in himself a living and evident illustration of submissiveness, teachableness, and humility. And not only so; the infant furnished the great Teacher with the lesson he needed: "Whosoever shall receive one of such," etc. Instead of seeking to be preferred above their brethren, Christians are here taught to seek out, and to minister to, the lowliest and the feeblest; and the inspiriting assurance is added, that those who in the Master's spirit receive and aid the least of his disciples—the lambs of his flock, the babes of his household—shall be regarded as having rendered a service to the Christ himself; nay, as having "received" the Creator and Lord of all, even him who sent and gave his Son for the salvation of mankind!
APPLICATION.
1. Dispositions which we are ashamed to bring into the presence and under the notice of Christ, are by that very fact condemned, and must be at once repressed and checked.
2. Towards one another it behoves the disciples of Jesus to cherish sentiments of esteem and honor.
3. Towards the feeble and the obscure they should display the tenderest consideration, remembering that those who serve Christ's lowliest people serve Christ himself.