Luke 22:24-30--Who Is the Greatest?

Luke 22:24-30
English Standard Version

Who Is the Greatest?
24 A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. 25 And he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. 26 But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. 27 For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves.

​28 “You are those who have stayed with me in my trials, 29 and I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, 30 that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

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Jesus is trying to get His disciples prepared, that is as prepared as they are able to be, for His arrest, trial, crucifixion, and burial.  It's going to be very hard on them for three days, and it was hard on Jesus to have to leave them for even a few days, for He had been with them day and night for the past three years.  He's also trying to get them ready for when He returns to the Father's house in about 40 days from now.  He doesn't have that much time left with them, and of all the things they could be talking about in response to Him talking about being betrayed and handed over into the hands of the chief priests and the Gentiles and suffering many things, they have an argument that is very much based in the flesh that they have had in the past.  They want to know who will be the greatest in the Kingdom (who gets to boss everyone else around?).

This could have been them hearing that He was going away and then thinking, "Who will He leave in charge while He's away?" or it could have been more of the typical "When you come into your kingdom, who will sit at your right hand and who will sit at your left hand?" that we've already seen from them.  Even the mother of James and John (the "Sons of Thunder") got involved in this.

Jesus tells His disciples, probably for the last time, that their question reveals that their hearts are in the wrong place and they are thinking like the Gentiles about who they can have authority over and boss around, and who will pay tribute to them.  In the Kingdom of God, it is the one who is the servant of all who is the greatest, and Jesus would model this for His disciples by washing their feet at the Last Supper (not recorded as part of Luke's gospel, but it probably happened right around here in response to this very conversation).   Let's take a moment to view those verses from the Gospel of John in conjunction with this passage and see how Jesus doesn't just tell them an answer, but demonstrates it for them.


John 13:1-17
New International Version
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Jesus Washes His Disciples’ Feet
13 It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

2 The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

7 Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

8 “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

9 “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

10 Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” 11 For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.

12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

Jesus says to let the greatest among them be the one that was as the youngest (with much to learn and with no status, honor or privilege, and one awaiting their inheritance some day), and the one who is called a leader is to be known as a servant.  This is what we call servant leadership and while it is backwards to the world, it works as God designed it in the Church and everywhere else where God's people who are called into leadership roles do so not as lords, but as servants.

Then Jesus answers their question with a question.  "Who is greater, the man who reclines at the table, or the one who serves him?"  Clearly everyone in that culture thought that it was the one who reclined at the table because he was the master or lord of the house and he had servants to serve him, but Jesus knowing that they recognize Him as their Master tells them to look at how He is serving them (that's why I think He washes their feet here) and if they are not greater than Him, then they must also be a servant to all.

Jesus then gives them a blessing which He does not speak over Judas who is gone at this point.  Jesus says that the Eleven will have a kingdom given to them by Christ in a similar way to how the Father is going to give His Kingdom to the Son.  I can only assume that this means that Jesus is going to leave the apostles in charge of His Church (with the leading of the Holy Spirit), which will become more clear in some of the other things Jesus is going to say to them in His final hours and between His resurrection and ascension.  They would sit at the King's table as part of His Cabinet and He would specifically give them charge over the twelve tribes of Israel.  This is an important role and somewhat answers their question--they will all be important, but they also seem like they all will be equal to one another and have limited governance.  While these men were not yet ready for the task that was ahead of them, Jesus knew what He was doing choosing each and every one of them to lead His people, but like their Master, they would be called to suffer many things and many would be called to die for the sake of the gospel (we only have biblical accounts for what happened to a couple of them as we know what happened to James and Jesus told us what would happen to Peter, and there are some hints about what was going to happen to Paul.  I don't wish to add more to that from Church history at this time).  We too are not greater than our Master and we too are called to suffer many things and die for the sake of the gospel if necessary, but it is not just how we die that is important, but how we live, and how we handle what we have been entrusted with--especially if we are those with whom Jesus has entrusted with leadership over His Church (deacons, elders, and pastors for example).  We must also remember that this lesson is for us and we are not to fight amongst ourselves about who is the greatest church leader (often measured by "butts, baptisms, and bucks," that is church attendance, decisions made that result in conversion, baptism, and likely new church members, and finally the average offering given on a weekly basis and any special offerings or how much money is given to missions and so on.  There are the types of things pastors are still tempted to talk about when they get together with each other.  It is a challenge to remember that those called to be leaders in the church are to do so by being a servant to all.