Tag: greatest

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

The Goat

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Florian van Duyn on Unsplash

Some “through the bible” thoughts from Matthew 18.

At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” (Matthew 18:1)

I don’t have to look far or listen very long to find a discussion about who is the greatest. From “Who’s the greatest baseball (feel free to substitute your sport of choice here) player of all time?” to “Who was the greatest United States president?” we love to debate greatness.

The Sweet Bite is a gormet cookie shop in down town Bar Harbor, Maine. All they sell is a selection of eight large cookies for $7 or $8 a piece. As purveyors of custom iced sugar cookies, we were curious, “What’s your best selling cookie?” The owner, taking a fresh batch out of the oven told us, “By far, chocolate chip.” Interesting. While red velvet white walnut and white chocolate pistache sound fancy, I’ve never considered chocolate chip to be “gourmet.” By the same token, I’ve wondered vanilla would be the most ordered ice cream flavor, when there are so many others to choose from.

There’s nothing like a little competition among friends, right? Of course the disciples debated who was the greatest. Here they bring the matter to Jesus. He doesn’t really answer the question. (He rarely does.) Instead, he calls their attention to a child. “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (18:4).

Jesus could have easily pointed them to himself. “Hey, guys, I’m sitting right here.” Instead he focuses on a child, who in the culture had little status, value, or influence. But in God’s kingdom, they are the most significant.

Unless we grasp the humility of Jesus, we’ll never understand true greatness. He was born as a child. He emptied himself of divine status to become a servant. A relationship with God begins with understanding that he is our Father and we are his children.

Rather than constantly comparing ourselves to others, hoping to move up a few spots on the greatness list, we do better to recognize the greatness of the “least.”

The apostle Paul described himself as the least of the apostles and the least of all the saints. He considered himself the chief of sinners. That was the only place he truly excelled. Someone’s got to finish at the bottom of the class, right? Imagine applying to college and having to list your class rank as 838 out of 838?

But that’s the point. In God’s eyes you are great because of his love not your performance. If he truly is the King of kings and Lord of lords, there’s no question who is the greatest. And if he’s willing to give up his life for you, there’s no question how much you mean to him.

Posted in 2022 Lent Devotions

The greatest

Posted on by William Douthwaite

“Mirror of the Passion” Lent devotion for March 9, 2022. Photo by Giorgio Trovato on Unsplash

“A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest.” (Luke 22:24)

This one’s a cinch. It is easy to see myself in this mirror, right there among the disciples who got into a discussion about who was the greatest. They had done this before. They had this argument right after Jesus’ transfiguration. Right after his brief moment of glory. And they still didn’t get it.

Neither do we. Ours is a world of comparisons, and we constantly jockey for position. Who’s happier? Who’s prettier? Who’s got more money? Who has more fun? Who’s got a bigger church? Who makes better food? Who’s smarter? Who’s kids are smarter? Who’s in better shape?

Which disciple was the greatest? The first one Jesus called? The one he handed the bread to first? The ones sitting closest to him? The ones who gave up their businesses to follow him? The strongest one? The ones with the loudest voices?

That’s our world. Everything is a competition. “I was first.” “I won.” “Shotgun!” “I beat you.” “You lose!” Employee of the month. MVP. “Mom always liked you more.” “I’m taller than you.”

Why is that? Why is it so important to be the best? That’s who gets the prize. You’ve got to place in the top three or you get nothing (except maybe an honorable mention certificate). If you can’t make it to the podium, you could have just stayed home.

When one of my daughters did competitive cheerleading, the coaches had a strategy for making sure the team brought home a first place trophy. They would enter the team into a division that no one else was in. Something like “Small Coed Novice under-12 over-11.” Guess what? They always finished first. They got to hang up another championship banner at the gym.

Jesus has to straighten out the disciples and us. True, in the non-believing world you’ve got to come out on top. But that’s not the way we do it around here. The one who serves is the greatest. That’s exactly what Jesus has done for them. He has just served them a Passover meal. Like a server at a restaurant. The path to the top means becoming the least. Just like Jesus, who humbled himself and became everybody’s servant and everybody’s savior.

I don’t have to be the greatest. Jesus doesn’t love me because I’m the best. He just loves me.

You’re the greatest Jesus. Amen.