Not Greatness But Lowliness
(Message delivered by Pastor at the RELC 10.30 am Service, Nov 23, 03)
Text: Matt. 20:17-28
“Then came to him the mother of Zebedee’s children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him. And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom. But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able.” (Matt 20:20-22)
The desire to dominate over others, to be great, is the way of the sinful world. It gives one more pay, power and prestige. This desire invades the Church, for though we are saved we still have the old sinful nature. We see this in Mrs Zebedee the mother of James and John. The mother of James and John asked of Jesus that her two sons might sit one on the right and the other on the left in His Kingdom. When the rest of the apostles heard it they were filled with indignation.
This rivalry for leadership went on unabated. In Luke 22:24-27 it is recorded, “And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest. And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve. For whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? is not he that sitteth at meat? but I am among you as he that serveth.”
Returning to our main text where the apostles were angry with James and John seeking dominance over them, Jesus answered them saying, Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with, i.e. to die with me?” They rashly said “Yes.”
Jesus reply, “Ye shall drink indeed of my cup and be baptized with the baptism.” This prediction is first fulfilled by James and is recorded in Acts 12:1,2, “Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. And he killed James the brother of John with the sword.” This was the first martyrdom. The martyrdom of Peter and Paul are also predicted, and according to tradition the rest of the apostles suffered the same death. The last happened to John after his imprisonment on the Isle of Patmos.
To sit one on the right and the other on the left for James and John was not for Christ to give, but to die for His sake was God’s appointment. And not only for the apostles, but also for us!
For in Matt. 16:24-25 Jesus said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.” This statement does not apply to the apostles only but everyone, including me and you. To take up his cross, as Jesus carried the cross to Golgotha, means death. We must be prepared to die with Jesus and suffer martyrdom like the twelve apostles, “and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.” It was appointed unto the apostles in their generation to die for Christ and if it is also appointed for you and me in our present day, are you willing?
In the Boxer Rebellion of 1900, 188 missionaries including 53 children were beheaded by the Manchu authorities. The Chinese Christians had 50,000 executed. Clergy and laymen suffered the same fate.
Do not forget there is a price to pay for our salvation. The everlasting life God gives has been achieved for us at a much higher price. Jesus our Saviour could not do less than dying on the cross to pay for the penalty for our sins. He requires no less from any who wants to be delivered from hell in order to go to heaven.
In actual fact God does not put us through death but only in our willingness or not to pay the price. In Matt. 19:27 Peter said to Jesus, “Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?” Jesus replied, “Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.”
Whether ordinary believer or apostle we will have more than sufficient for this life and inherit everlasting life! That is great gain for me. I am so happy I am secure in this life and the next. Observe members who come to church every Lord’s Day how different they are from people of the world. The people of the world are miserable looking, though they own big houses and cars but life’s problems not God’s peace, have overtaken them. Be they financial, marital, family, children, and every secret ambition and desire. “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Not Greatness, but Lowliness.
HOW JESUS TAKETH PUNY MEN IN THEIR OWN CRAFTINESS
XXIV. “He that is not with me is against me” (Matt. 12:36)
(Why I sayWestcott and Hort taking out of the Bible the passage of the Woman taken in the Act of Adultery (Jn 7:53-8:11) is accursed)
The scribes and Pharisees were Jesus’ enemies whom our Lord declared were a wicked generation (Matt. 12:45). In Jn 8:3-5 it is recorded: “And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?” These crooked theologians and high churchmen of the Jews, while trying to catch Jesus were caught themselves. Puny man vying with the Son of God. “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her” (Jn 8:7). “And they which heard it, being convicted by their own
conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more” (Jn 8:9-11).
This most magnanimous magnanimity in the life and work of the Son of God is thrown out of the Bible by the scribes and Pharisees of today and if you are for our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ what will you say? “We must love our enemies!” This is the Devil quoting Scripture. Jesus has declared the Pharisees who withstood Him had blasphemed against the Holy Spirit and those who take away Jesus from the centre of the Bible have done it also blasphemously. To take away God’s Word is death.
If you have a copy of the NIV you will find the passage on the woman taken in adultery in truncated form, two lines separating the passage from the main text with this notation. “(The earliest and most reliable manuscripts and other ancient witnesses do not have John 7:53-8:11.)” Hypocrites! Then why do the publishers still put the same passage in? The NIV knows full well, if it is totally taken out, nobody will buy their publication.
Who are Westcott and Hort?
For 300 years the King James Bible (Authorised Version) reigned supreme until two Cambridge Greek scholars, Westcott and Hort, arose to challenge it in 1870. As a result of their machinations, they got it revised in 1881. So a new version, the Revised Version was produced, which changed ten thousands of the sacred text. (But the Revised Version, while it enjoyed a good sale at first, has for long died a diseased death.) Nevertheless, Westcott and Hort enjoyed the full confidence of the Church and their word was law. They took away the account of Jesus pardoning the woman taken in adultery (Jn 7:53-8:11) as no part of John’s Gospel but a later interpolation (insertion by another hand). They cut away the last 12 verses of Mark and the Johannine Comma, where the Trinity is taught (I Jn 5:7,8). These are three glaring examples.
