Jesus’ Upside Down Kingdom
Matthew 20:17-28 Now as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, 18 "We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death 19 and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!" 20 Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him. 21 "What is it you want?" he asked. She said, "Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom." 22 "You don't know what you are asking," Jesus said to them. "Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?" "We can," they answered. 23 Jesus said to them, "You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father." 24 When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. 25 Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 26 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave-- 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
If you’ve ever read or watched “Alice in Wonderland,” you realize that it is a story about a ridiculous, topsy-turvy, upside-down kingdom where a girl falls down a rabbit hole, chases a white rabbit who is late, has tea with the Mad Hatter and March Hare, talks with a cat who can disappear, plays croquet with the Queen of Hearts by using flamingos as mallets and hedgehogs and balls. It’s a story that often doesn’t make much sense.
When you look in our world, it, too, often doesn’t seem to make sense. Everything seems upside-down and ridiculous. Charlie Sheen is off the wall with drugs and porn stars, yet is more popular than ever. Adrian Peterson, the running back for the Minnesota Vikings, claims that working for the NFL is slavery, yet Peterson is scheduled to make $10 million next year. On a more serious note, for months people were clamoring for Egypt to get rid of their president. Now the guy who may be the next president appears to have ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, which will be even worse than before.
It just doesn’t make sense.
Jesus’ Kingdom also seems topsy-turvy, ridiculous, upside down. Here Jesus is about to enter Jerusalem for the last time. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. He has the power to drive out demons and raise the dead. But He isn’t talking about triumphal entries, palm branches or loud hosannas. Instead, what is He talking about? “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!”
James and John heard this, but what were they thinking about? Death and resurrection? Betrayal and suffering? Getting caught in the cross fire? No. They’re asking their mom to ask Jesus for a favor. They heard Jesus, but obviously didn’t listen. He’s talking about suffering and dieing. And they’re thinking about what they can get out of their relationship with Jesus. They’re asking about being Jesus’ Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense. Phooey on those other guys, especially Peter, that big-mouthed teacher’s pet. Let them fend for themselves. The Zebedee boys were going for the top rungs of the ladder.
Perhaps it is a bit crass to be asking for positions of power right after Jesus talked about His death, but hey- you don’t get what you don’t ask for. They’re thinking the way the world thinks … the way we think. This seems to be the normal way everything works – no guts, no glory. They named it and claimed it. They believed in their hearts that Jesus would deliver on their demand.
The disciples were thinking the way the world thinks. In order to get ahead, you need to push to the front of the line. When we were little, we acted like bullies on the playground to get our way. We cried and pouted and held our breath to get the presents we wanted from our parents. As teenagers, we dumped a good friend, boyfriend or girlfriend so we could hang out with or go out with the cool guy or the gorgeous girl. It doesn’t get any better as adults when talk trash on athletic field or gossip in meetings or even when we hand in our resumes, making ourselves look better than those around us. And we’re really not any different as Christians. We figure that if we ask for it in Jesus’ name, we should get it. After all, didn’t Jesus say, “Ask and you will receive”? We pray, “My will be done, Lord. Do whatever I ask.” We mentally hand in our resume, letting God know He should bless us because we’ve suffered for Him, sacrificed for Him, supported His ministry and faithfully followed Him all these years. Deep down we think to ourselves, “God owes me one.”
While Jesus is discussing His suffering and death, the two disciples have their mom ask Jesus for a favor. Their mom is just doing what moms do – watching out for her boys; making sure they get ahead in life. “What is it you want?” Jesus asked. She said, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.” “It doesn’t matter who gets which spot. You can decide that, Jesus. They just want to put in their resumes for the top spot when you come into your glory. After all, my boys left dear old dad stand on the Galilean shore three years ago when they left the family business to follow You. That should count for something, right?”
Wrong. But Jesus doesn’t call these two guys knuckleheads or throw up His hands in exasperation or say, “What you talkin’ about, Willis!” He says (probably calmly), “You don’t know what you’re asking.”
Ever patient, ever gentle, ever kind, Jesus tries again to get His disciples to understand what His Kingdom is all about. They’re thinking grandeur. Jesus sees the gory cross. They’re thinking, it’s going to be a short and sweet battle and then the glory – and they want box seats. But Jesus sees that His glory comes through His betrayal, suffering and death. They’re thinking they’ll get to drink the fine wine like Jesus made in Cana. But Jesus knows He’ll be drinking deeply from the cup of God’s wrath.
Ever patient, ever gentle, ever kind, Jesus also teaches knuckleheads like us what His Kingdom is all about. It’s not about personal greatness. It’s not about ruling and lordship. It’s not about trophies and medals, acclaim and accolades. It’s not about getting your fair share of health or what’s coming to you in wealth. It’s not about being the pastor of all pastors, the Christian of all Christians or the servant of all servants. That’s the way the world thinks. Here we have to push our way to the front of the line to get ahead. But Jesus’ Kingdom is different. His Kingdom is about suffering, serving, death and resurrection.
The other disciples were understandably indignant when they found about James and John’s mom and her request for a favor. The nerve of those Zebedee boys! The gall! How could they think of this first?! How come they’re moms weren’t putting a good word in for them?! But Jesus chides all of His disciples. This is how the big shot Gentiles behave. This is how the world exercises authority – in terms of power and control, eat or be eaten, climbing up the corporate ladder while standing on the backs of others. This is the world of business and politics. “Not so with you.”
We need to let those words of Jesus rattle around in our ears and marinate in our minds. “Not so with you.” No power games in Jesus’ Kingdom. No shouting or picketing or boycotting. No attempts to control. If you want to be great in the Kingdom of the crucified King, then you become a servant to all. If you want to be first, you must be a slave to all.
A prime example is Jesus in the upper room on the Thursday evening of Holy Week. He has a lot going on in the next few hours – substituting the Lord’s Supper for the Passover, praying for His disciples, being betrayed, denied, arrested, tried, mocked, flogged and crucified. And yet, what does Jesus do? As Lord of all, the Son of God, He wraps a towel around His waist, gets down on His knees and washes His disciples’ feet. The Lord of all becomes the servant of all. The Master of all becomes the slave of all.
Look at how ridiculous and upside down Jesus’ Kingdom is. The Creator lays down His life for His creation. The Son of Man ransoms Himself for sinful men and women. What has He done to deserve this death? He made the lame run; He gave the blind their sight; but His enemies still cried, “Crucify!” A murderer they save; the Prince of Life they slay.
Jesus doesn’t need our service; we need His. That’s why we call worship “Divine Service.” We don’t rise up to God; He stoops down to us. He baptizes us. He absolves us. He feeds us. He forgives us. He blesses us.
But Jesus is not only our Example; He is our Substitute.
By God’s grace, over the years, we Christians have learned how it works in Jesus’ wonderfully mixed-up, upside down Kingdom. It is totally opposite from the rest of the world. The world wants us to put ourselves first. But we have learned that we are loved by loving others. We are forgiven by forgiving. We are satisfied by serving. We are supported as we sacrifice. We increase our ministry by sharing our wealth. We gain by giving. We are privileged to be persecuted in Christ’s name. We actually receive a glimpse of Jesus’ glory by turning the other cheek, praying for our enemies and carrying our cross. We live by living for Christ.
Early in the course of the Reformation, Martin Luther penned this famous saying on Christian liberty: “A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.” Before God you are free by virtue of what Jesus did for you and the world on the cross. You are free from the lordship of sin; free from the chains of death; and free from the condemnation of the law. And in that freedom, you are free to be a servant, to help the needy neighbor, to obey your parents, to submit to one another as you each submit to Christ, to reach out to others just as Jesus reached down to you.
That’s what greatness looks like in Jesus’ upside-down kingdom where the last are first, the humbled are exalted, sinners are justified before God, and the dead are raised to life. If you want to find greatness in Jesus’ kingdom don’t look high, look low.
When you read “Alice in Wonderland,” you sometimes wonder if the author wasn’t smoking something when he wrote it because so much is illogical and nonsensical. When you look out into the world, you wonder if the whole world has lost its common sense and is going off the deep end. The only thing that makes sense to us as Christians is our Lord who makes absolutely no sense to the rest of the world. His is a gloriously topsy-turvy, upside-down Kingdom where the humble are exalted, sinners are justified and the dead live. It is where Jesus lived and died so we might have life in death. It is where we live and die for Christ so we may die and live for Him in eternity.
It is where greatness is found in the cross and the grave. Greatness is found in the marvelously ridiculous statement, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Amen.
When you look in our world, it, too, often doesn’t seem to make sense. Everything seems upside-down and ridiculous. Charlie Sheen is off the wall with drugs and porn stars, yet is more popular than ever. Adrian Peterson, the running back for the Minnesota Vikings, claims that working for the NFL is slavery, yet Peterson is scheduled to make $10 million next year. On a more serious note, for months people were clamoring for Egypt to get rid of their president. Now the guy who may be the next president appears to have ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, which will be even worse than before.
It just doesn’t make sense.
Jesus’ Kingdom also seems topsy-turvy, ridiculous, upside down. Here Jesus is about to enter Jerusalem for the last time. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. He has the power to drive out demons and raise the dead. But He isn’t talking about triumphal entries, palm branches or loud hosannas. Instead, what is He talking about? “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!”
James and John heard this, but what were they thinking about? Death and resurrection? Betrayal and suffering? Getting caught in the cross fire? No. They’re asking their mom to ask Jesus for a favor. They heard Jesus, but obviously didn’t listen. He’s talking about suffering and dieing. And they’re thinking about what they can get out of their relationship with Jesus. They’re asking about being Jesus’ Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense. Phooey on those other guys, especially Peter, that big-mouthed teacher’s pet. Let them fend for themselves. The Zebedee boys were going for the top rungs of the ladder.
Perhaps it is a bit crass to be asking for positions of power right after Jesus talked about His death, but hey- you don’t get what you don’t ask for. They’re thinking the way the world thinks … the way we think. This seems to be the normal way everything works – no guts, no glory. They named it and claimed it. They believed in their hearts that Jesus would deliver on their demand.
The disciples were thinking the way the world thinks. In order to get ahead, you need to push to the front of the line. When we were little, we acted like bullies on the playground to get our way. We cried and pouted and held our breath to get the presents we wanted from our parents. As teenagers, we dumped a good friend, boyfriend or girlfriend so we could hang out with or go out with the cool guy or the gorgeous girl. It doesn’t get any better as adults when talk trash on athletic field or gossip in meetings or even when we hand in our resumes, making ourselves look better than those around us. And we’re really not any different as Christians. We figure that if we ask for it in Jesus’ name, we should get it. After all, didn’t Jesus say, “Ask and you will receive”? We pray, “My will be done, Lord. Do whatever I ask.” We mentally hand in our resume, letting God know He should bless us because we’ve suffered for Him, sacrificed for Him, supported His ministry and faithfully followed Him all these years. Deep down we think to ourselves, “God owes me one.”
While Jesus is discussing His suffering and death, the two disciples have their mom ask Jesus for a favor. Their mom is just doing what moms do – watching out for her boys; making sure they get ahead in life. “What is it you want?” Jesus asked. She said, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.” “It doesn’t matter who gets which spot. You can decide that, Jesus. They just want to put in their resumes for the top spot when you come into your glory. After all, my boys left dear old dad stand on the Galilean shore three years ago when they left the family business to follow You. That should count for something, right?”
Wrong. But Jesus doesn’t call these two guys knuckleheads or throw up His hands in exasperation or say, “What you talkin’ about, Willis!” He says (probably calmly), “You don’t know what you’re asking.”
Ever patient, ever gentle, ever kind, Jesus tries again to get His disciples to understand what His Kingdom is all about. They’re thinking grandeur. Jesus sees the gory cross. They’re thinking, it’s going to be a short and sweet battle and then the glory – and they want box seats. But Jesus sees that His glory comes through His betrayal, suffering and death. They’re thinking they’ll get to drink the fine wine like Jesus made in Cana. But Jesus knows He’ll be drinking deeply from the cup of God’s wrath.
Ever patient, ever gentle, ever kind, Jesus also teaches knuckleheads like us what His Kingdom is all about. It’s not about personal greatness. It’s not about ruling and lordship. It’s not about trophies and medals, acclaim and accolades. It’s not about getting your fair share of health or what’s coming to you in wealth. It’s not about being the pastor of all pastors, the Christian of all Christians or the servant of all servants. That’s the way the world thinks. Here we have to push our way to the front of the line to get ahead. But Jesus’ Kingdom is different. His Kingdom is about suffering, serving, death and resurrection.
The other disciples were understandably indignant when they found about James and John’s mom and her request for a favor. The nerve of those Zebedee boys! The gall! How could they think of this first?! How come they’re moms weren’t putting a good word in for them?! But Jesus chides all of His disciples. This is how the big shot Gentiles behave. This is how the world exercises authority – in terms of power and control, eat or be eaten, climbing up the corporate ladder while standing on the backs of others. This is the world of business and politics. “Not so with you.”
We need to let those words of Jesus rattle around in our ears and marinate in our minds. “Not so with you.” No power games in Jesus’ Kingdom. No shouting or picketing or boycotting. No attempts to control. If you want to be great in the Kingdom of the crucified King, then you become a servant to all. If you want to be first, you must be a slave to all.
A prime example is Jesus in the upper room on the Thursday evening of Holy Week. He has a lot going on in the next few hours – substituting the Lord’s Supper for the Passover, praying for His disciples, being betrayed, denied, arrested, tried, mocked, flogged and crucified. And yet, what does Jesus do? As Lord of all, the Son of God, He wraps a towel around His waist, gets down on His knees and washes His disciples’ feet. The Lord of all becomes the servant of all. The Master of all becomes the slave of all.
Look at how ridiculous and upside down Jesus’ Kingdom is. The Creator lays down His life for His creation. The Son of Man ransoms Himself for sinful men and women. What has He done to deserve this death? He made the lame run; He gave the blind their sight; but His enemies still cried, “Crucify!” A murderer they save; the Prince of Life they slay.
Jesus doesn’t need our service; we need His. That’s why we call worship “Divine Service.” We don’t rise up to God; He stoops down to us. He baptizes us. He absolves us. He feeds us. He forgives us. He blesses us.
But Jesus is not only our Example; He is our Substitute.
By God’s grace, over the years, we Christians have learned how it works in Jesus’ wonderfully mixed-up, upside down Kingdom. It is totally opposite from the rest of the world. The world wants us to put ourselves first. But we have learned that we are loved by loving others. We are forgiven by forgiving. We are satisfied by serving. We are supported as we sacrifice. We increase our ministry by sharing our wealth. We gain by giving. We are privileged to be persecuted in Christ’s name. We actually receive a glimpse of Jesus’ glory by turning the other cheek, praying for our enemies and carrying our cross. We live by living for Christ.
Early in the course of the Reformation, Martin Luther penned this famous saying on Christian liberty: “A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.” Before God you are free by virtue of what Jesus did for you and the world on the cross. You are free from the lordship of sin; free from the chains of death; and free from the condemnation of the law. And in that freedom, you are free to be a servant, to help the needy neighbor, to obey your parents, to submit to one another as you each submit to Christ, to reach out to others just as Jesus reached down to you.
That’s what greatness looks like in Jesus’ upside-down kingdom where the last are first, the humbled are exalted, sinners are justified before God, and the dead are raised to life. If you want to find greatness in Jesus’ kingdom don’t look high, look low.
When you read “Alice in Wonderland,” you sometimes wonder if the author wasn’t smoking something when he wrote it because so much is illogical and nonsensical. When you look out into the world, you wonder if the whole world has lost its common sense and is going off the deep end. The only thing that makes sense to us as Christians is our Lord who makes absolutely no sense to the rest of the world. His is a gloriously topsy-turvy, upside-down Kingdom where the humble are exalted, sinners are justified and the dead live. It is where Jesus lived and died so we might have life in death. It is where we live and die for Christ so we may die and live for Him in eternity.
It is where greatness is found in the cross and the grave. Greatness is found in the marvelously ridiculous statement, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Amen.
4th Sunday in Lent at Epiphany on April 3, 2011
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