It’s such a playground argument. Who is the greatest?
But of course there’s a bigger lesson to be learned for a group of people who seemed to have learned very little.
You have no idea what greatness even is!
Everything you think greatness is made up of… it isn’t. Everything you think is the opposite of greatness is actually what greatness really is.
And the lesson continues.
You’ve stood by me… but you won’t.
I sent you out with nothing and you had all that you needed, but you still crave more.
This upside down Kingdom stuff is hard, even for those who spent all their time with Jesus. But then they knew they were not Jesus, so how could the be like Jesus? They were just people. Women and men who watched and wondered but never quite grasped, who listened but never quite understood, who imitated but never quite became.
Soon it will be your turn.
Yes… you.
With all your faults and failings, all our pettiness and jealousies, all your aspiration and ambition.
Even the swords are there to make the point (pardon the pun!) that the way you think power works isn’t how it actually works with God.
The be great you must be less. To lead you must serve. To be trusted by others you must trust completely in God.