At Your Service!
God never wanted the nation of Israel to have human kings like other nations. He wanted them to want Him to be their king. He knew what a human king would do and the negative impact it would have on the Israelites way of life. But they stubbornly insisted and God told the prophet Samuel, who was extremely angry with them for their hard hearts, to give them one but to warn them what they were going to experience. So he did. “This is how a king will reign over you,” Samuel said. “The king will draft your sons and assign them to his chariots and his charioteers, making them run before his chariots. Some will be generals and captains in his army, some will be forced to plow in his fields and harvest his crops, and some will make his weapons and chariot equipment. The king will take your daughters from you and force them to cook and bake and make perfumes for him. He will take away the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his own officials. He will take a tenth of your grain and your grape harvest and distribute it among his officers and attendants. He will take your male and female slaves and demand the finest of your cattle and donkeys for his own use. He will demand a tenth of your flocks, and you will be his slaves. When that day comes, you will beg for relief from this king you are demanding, but then the Lord will not help you.” [I Samuel 8:11-18]
Jesus spoke about this with His disciples when He taught them about the importance of service. “But Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” [Matthew 20:25-28]
Jesus frequently turned commonly accepted religious practices and cultural traditions a thousand years old right on their heads. And it usually left the disciples incredulous. Honor and status were very important to Middle Easterners. Jesus’ disciples often discussed which of them would be the greatest in God’s kingdom. Jesus’ reply in the Matthew chapter 20 verses above was in response to the mother of James and John asking Jesus if He would seat her two boys on His immediate left and right – seats of the highest honor – in His kingdom. The closer one sat to the most important person at an event, such as a banquet, communicated to others their relative level of importance and status. Jesus used this cultural practice as a parable setting to teach the spiritual principle of humility: “When Jesus noticed that all who had come to the dinner were trying to sit in the seats of honor near the head of the table, he gave them this advice: “When you are invited to a wedding feast, don’t sit in the seat of honor. What if someone who is more distinguished than you has also been invited? The host will come and say, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then you will be embarrassed, and you will have to take whatever seat is left at the foot of the table! “Instead, take the lowest place at the foot of the table. Then when your host sees you, he will come and say, ‘Friend, we have a better place for you!’ Then you will be honored in front of all the other guests. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” [Luke14:7-14]
Next Entry: More on the importance of service.
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