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We are in the Upper Room, and reading from Luke Chapter 22. It is the night before Jesus Christ is crucified on Calvary’s Cross, and He and His disciples are celebrating the Passover. Jesus has just given new profound meaning to the bread and the wine.

A dispute breaks out among the disciples as to who is the greatest. It is almost unbelievable that that should occur at this moment. These disciples of Jesus, this group of proud men are arguing and squabbling among themselves as to which of them was to be considered the greatest. They are jockeying for position.

They are after what might be considered the best jobs in The Kingdom, which they believed Jesus was about to usher in, and some wanted a higher place and position and rank in the Kingdom of God than some of the other brothers. And, the Bible doesn't hide this.

There is such self-seeking here, which must have made them somewhat insensitive to the battle that was really going on. Self-interest had blinded them to the actual situation. This can creep in to any of us at times.

"What can I get out of it? What is in it for me? How well will I emerge from all this?" It is all there. And the only cure for this is DEATH. Self has to die. Personal ambition has to go. This is supposed to be dealt with when we are baptised in water. Self has to be buried. Self has to be crucified, dead and buried. That is not easy. Even these men who were so close to Jesus had difficulty with this area in their lives.

They are sitting next to Jesus, and receiving from Jesus all that they needed, and yet, there is this struggle for prominence and position and placement and recognition.

This is sin.

Jesus looks at His chosen men. These men in whom He has invested three years of His Perfect Ministry, and this was it. Speak about success? "Your conversation is the sort of thing you hear in the world."

Verse 26. You are not to be like that. Don't be like the world. We so need to hear this repeatedly. Jesus, come and remind us.

What is the world? The world is the society of the human race which rejects the righteous government of God. Jesus is saying, Don't be like the world. Don't reject the righteous government of God in your life.

The world is in rebellion against God. You can meet nice people, but underneath the nice cloak there can appear rebellion, and the people of God cannot be part of that, and must not be part of that.

This is something to which we have to die. Crucify it. Bury it. Jesus Christ calls us out of all that to be the Church, with different values, and with different aims and goals and ambitions and priorities and desires, and we are separated unto God to serve Him.

In The Church of Jesus Christ and in the Kingdom of God, so many things are reversed.

There is nothing wrong with ruling, with being a leader and leading. Rulers in the Church are called to rule, but to rule by serving, and these people were soon to discover that. It takes time. We do not learn all the necessary lessons the first week, or even the first year.

Some of us take thirty or forty years just to begin to see the fundamentals. Never mind, learn all the vital lessons. Jesus had just washed these disciples’ feet. Jesus had served them in that lowly way, and He lost nothing by doing it. He lost nothing by doing the job which nobody else would do. Jesus sets the example and then says, "Follow Me".

"Today's Little Lift" from Jim Bullington

No Harm, No Foul (12-17-10)