Matthew 18-20

October 17

Matthew 18-20

The Kingdom of God is an upside down kingdom. Jesus said we must become like little children to enter the kingdom of heaven, He calls for us to forgive those who sin against us, He says we have to forgive others in order to receive forgiveness, He says to avoid divorce. He reminds us that the Kingdom of God cannot be bought and that it is impossible to be saved apart from the work of God. Several times Jesus reminds us that in the Kingdom of God the first will be last and the last will be first. None of this would make much sense, except for the fact that Jesus lived out what he taught.

Jesus said; "whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”" (Matthew 20:26-28, NIV) Jesus came as the ultimate servant. The One who every knee will bow before on the day of His return allowed sinful man to strip him, whip him, spit on him and nail him to a cross. He lived his life and died his death in order to serve. His death empowered us to live.

 

The ground at the foot of the cross is level. None of us is any better than anyone else. We all need Jesus. None of us has any right to expect another to serve them; we are all to be servants. What a difference our world would be if we tried to be more like Jesus by trying to out serve one another instead of trying to outdo one another.