Series: Paradoxes of Jesus

#5: “Jesus, the Servant-King” (Palm Sunday)

Matthew 20:17-28 to be read by pastor (and Matthew 21:1-9)

By John Gill ~ March 24, 2024

This morning, we are continuing our Lenten sermon series on “The Paradoxes of Jesus,” the way Jesus was able to hold seeming opposites in creative tension. We’ve seen how Jesus was both Conservative and a Revolutionary; we’ve claimed him as our Gracious Judge; we’ve come to know him as the Enemy Lover, and the Tearful God. Today, the day we remember Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, we will discover yet another paradox of Jesus – the Servant King.

The text I’ve chosen for this Palm Sunday message is the story of a conversation which takes place in the 20th chapter of Matthew, just BEFORE Jesus rides triumphantly into the Holy City. This passage is important because it puts the events of Palm Sunday into context as Jesus tries to teach his disciples the secret to “true greatness.”

Matthew 20:17-28 GNT)

As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and spoke to them privately, as they walked along. “Listen,” he told them, “we are going up to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the teachers of the Law. They will condemn him to death and then hand him over to the Gentiles, who will make fun of him, whip him, and crucify him; but three days later he will be raised to life.”

Then the wife of Zebedee came to Jesus with her two sons, bowed before him, and asked him for a favor. “What do you want?” Jesus asked her. She answered, “Promise me that these two sons of mine will sit at your right and your left when you are King.” “You don't know what you are asking for,” Jesus answered the sons. “Can you drink the cup of suffering that I am about to drink?” “We can,” they answered. “You will indeed drink from my cup,” Jesus told them, “but I do not have the right to choose who will sit at my right and my left. These places belong to those for whom my Father has prepared them.”

When the other ten disciples heard about this, they became angry with the two brothers. So Jesus called them all together and said, “You know that the rulers of the heathen have power over them, and the leaders have complete authority. This, however, is not the way it shall be among you. If one of you wants to be great, you must be the servant of the rest; and if one of you wants to be first, you must be the slave of the others— like the Son of Man, who did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life to redeem many people.”

Isn’t that just like a parent… We always want the best for our children, don’t we? And I’m sure that we all have “gone out on a limb” for them at one time or another. But THIS woman is something else! Who is she, that she can be so bold in talking to Jesus?

We know from other places in scripture that Zebedee’s wife was named Salome, and that their two sons were the disciples, James and John. We also believe that it’s POSSIBLE that Jesus and the Zebedee brothers MAY have been first cousins - that Salome was Jesus’ aunt.

In any case, Salome must have been quite a strong-willed woman! She had the audacity to ask Jesus to give her boys special status in his kingdom. She said, in effect, “When you become king, don’t forget my boys!”

You see, it appears that she, along with many of Jesus’ followers, fully expected that Jesus was about to be crowned king of Israel when he rode into Jerusalem later that day. They were looking for Jesus to defeat their religious and political foes, and set up a new government. That’s what the palms were all about – they were placards greagre– the palm was a symbol of Jewish independence. And, when Jesus had established his royal palace in Jerusalem, he would need all kinds of assistants to rule the country. Who else would he ask to serve as his advisors than the disciples who had been so faithful to him these past three years? And who among the disciples would be better candidates for his closest aids than the cousins of the king?

Yes, Salome and her sons were expecting that Jesus was about to become king, a man who would be “great” in the eyes of the world – a political ruler with servants who would wait on him hand and foot. Subjects would bow down when he walked by, and enemies would tremble at the mere mention of his name. And THEY wanted a little of that greatness to rub off on them!

And who could blame them? Wouldn’t we ALL like to be powerful and wealthy, if we could? Isn’t that what the world tells us will gain us respect? We may say, “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” and we say that “Money can’t buy happiness.” But if we’re honest about it, we’d love to find out for ourselves! We all dream of being “king of the hill.”

The sons of Zebedee were no different than we are. Their ambition got the best of them – just as our ambition has a way of getting the best of us. But Jesus confronts James and John, exposing their thirst for power. And in doing so, he expresses another of the paradoxes of the Christian faith – a teaching that turns worldly wisdom on its head – a teaching that is hard for us to accept because it runs counter to our nature: “If one of you wants to be great, he must be the servant of the rest; and if anyone of you wants to be first, he must be your slave.”

That doesn’t seem quite logical, does it? It’s a paradox – a mystery. But it’s true. You see, TRUE greatness is not found in earthly power, or wealth, or position. The truly great among us, Jesus says, are those who give their lives in service others.

Let me illustrate it like this: The world’s idea of greatness is like a pyramid, a pyramid pointing downward – with the greatest person standing at the peak, with everyone else at the base scrambling to reach the next higher level, where there are fewer and fewer equals and more and more subordinates. But Christ’s idea of greatness is like an inverted pyramid – a pyramid with the peak pointing downward. The nearer to the peak, the greater the burden and the greater the responsibility to support others.

Or as Dwight L. Moody once said, “The measure of a man is NOT how many servants he has, but how many he serves.”

Let me offer this more contemporary illustration: President Jimmy Carter has been much maligned by some historians as not being a very great president. But everyone seems to view Carter as a great person. By worldly measures of greatness, some have said that Carter was a failure. But by Christ’s measure of greatness, Carter is an outstanding success. Why? Because, in his retirement, Jimmy Carter has devoted himself to serving the less fortunate through the work of the Carter Center and Habitat for Humanity. He is a role model for what it means to be a follower of Jesus, and he has set the bar for how former presidents should spend their retirement – by using their influence and status in improving the lives of the less fortunate.

Those who are greatest in God’s sight, Jesus says, are those who dedicate their lives to serving others. It’s a high standard, to be sure – but Jesus doesn’t ask us to do anything he wasn’t willing to do. The life and death of Jesus gives us the role-model to follow. Jesus told his disciples that they must be servants like him, because “the Son of Man… did not come to BE served but to serve, and to give his life to redeem many people.”

And the scriptures give us many examples of Jesus acting more like a “servant” than a “king.” You remember how John’s Gospel describes the meal in the Upper Room – how Jesus became a servant, taking a towel and basin, kneeling before each of his disciples, washing their feet.

And Paul also tells us about the servanthood of Christ in his letter to the Philippians (GNT): “He always had the nature of God, but he did not think that by force he should try to remain equal with God. Instead of this, of his own free will he gave up all he had, and took the nature of a servant.”

But nowhere in the scriptures do we see this paradox of Jesus more beautifully illustrated than we do during Holy Week: He COULD have entered Jerusalem on a stallion as a conqueror, called upon legions of angels, and sat down on a throne. But instead, he rode

humbly on a donkey, and was nailed to a cross. He COULD have been “The Lion of Judah” whom the people had longed for over the centuries. But instead, he became “The Lamb of God” who would be sacrificed for the sins of the world.

The paradox of Jesus is that he COULD have been a king. But instead, he CHOSE to be a servant – a “servant king.” It was his servanthood that was the secret to his greatness.

One time, I heard about a student at a Bible College in The Philippines. Having been taught that “cleanliness is next to godliness,” he was shocked to discover that the men’s room was filthy. So he complained to the principal. Imagine the lesson he learned when later he walked into the men’s room and found the principal himself cleaning the toilets!

Jesus is the prototype of this kind of greatness: As Paul described it in his letter to the Philippians: “He was humble and walked the path of obedience all the way to death – his death on a cross. FOR THIS REASON, (“therefore”) God raised him to the highest place above and gave him the name that is greater than any other name. And so, in honor of the name of Jesus all beings in heaven, on earth, and in the world below will fall on their knees, and all will openly proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

On that glorious Day, you and I will join the angels for Christ’s ultimate triumphal entry into the heavenly New Jerusalem singing our praises to Christ as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, our Servant King.

Play: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0FSZ_iSYO8

Yes, Jesus lived the paradox. He was the humblest of servants, and yet was crowned King of Kings!

During that fateful Holy Week, Jesus, our “Servant King,” gave us the path to follow.

By his life – and his death – Jesus showed us that servanthood was the secret to his greatness.

It is the secret to our greatness, as well.