We all want to be great; well, not just great but be greater than everyone else. Nothing wrong with that, except that we miss the lesson from the greatest teacher. Who is the greatest among us all? The twelve disciples felt that each one of them was the greatest and today we shall see who is the greatest among us all in the kingdom of God.
The twelve disciples of Jesus felt the pressure. Today, we would have felt the same. They were each important before Jesus. Well, they felt that way. They competed for his attention and none felt bad if you sat closest to Jesus in the High table. Again, nothing wrong with being seated closest to the greatest teacher of all times. But there was a gross misunderstanding on what really constituted 'importance'. In terms of earthly measures, this is the celebrity status, the V.I.P treatment you get by virtue of your financial muscle you wield, the political influence-the works.
CORDON
Back to our story, Jesus had been accompanied by his disciples to a 'meet the people' tour. People thronged to hear Him preach about the kingdom of God. They came forward with their children too. Jesus loved children, a fact that most of his followers were oblivious of. As Jesus went about with his preaching, some of the children surged forward to touch Him. Just imagine your president giving a speech of national importance and then from nowhere, children come forward to the podium, interrupts the speech to greet him or her! The security detail around will cordon the podium and shoo the children away.
Jesus saw his disciples shoo away the excited children and was not impressed. He told them to let the children come to Him, for the kingdom of God belongs to those who humble themselves like little Children. A tough lesson that one. Were the disciples to reduce themselves to the level of children so as to see the kingdom of God? Precisely, that is what Jesus meant. Children are humble, unprejudiced, unblemished, innocent, unbiased and non judgmental. It is that child mentality that Jesus wants from us. He took them to into His arms and blessed them.
Jesus once washed his Disciples feet. Were His disciples in any way greater than Him? Of course not but we know Jesus wanted to teach us something about service to others and being humble. There is nothing wrong with being great, or the greatest of them all; the context of your greatness should however have its basis from the teachings of Jesus.
Who Is the Greatest of Them All?
If you have enjoyed my article you can read the book "The parables of Jesus made simple" for free here in its entirety or just selected parables in chapters at http://www.parables-of-jesus-christ.net/ The book will be published in book form in January 2011
For prophetic counsel, Christian life coaching, Dream interpretation, Christian chat and great Kingdom Teaching come and see us at http://www.kingdomassignments.com.au
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