The Cost Of Being A Servant

Let’s begin in John 13:1 (Tell who John was)

• Was the son of Zebedee, brother of James and one of the “sons of Thunder”

• Audience was new Christians and searching non-Christians

• Last surviving of the original 12 disciples

• Wrote 5 books in the NT

(read v.1-5) NLT

Service is about action:

v.4

• got up

• removed His outer robe

• wrapped a towel around His waist

• poured water

• He did all those things in preparation to wash the disciples feet

Service is messy

• I was in the full service restaurant business for about 15 years.

• On more than one occasion I removed dirty diapers from tabletops, booths and chairs!

• It’s bad enough taking care of my own kids diapers, let alone a complete stranger!

• Just imagine the condition of peoples' feet when their primary mode of transportation was walking!

• Jesus washed their feet, knowing that in only a matter of hours, he would be hanging on a cross.

• Read v1 again.

• Service is messy y’all and people have junk

• v.2 again

Service is about setting the example:

v.14-15

If we are to teach disciples, we must set the example for them to follow!

Now, let’s go to:

Matthew 20:28

• Main audience were the Jews

• He was a tax collector for the Roman Empire

• Probably not a popular guy.

Let’s start with Matthew 9:9

As Jesus passed from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him,

“follow Me”. So he arose and followed Him.

Last week we examined Matthew 9:13

Let’s begin in v.12- When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick”.

Pharisees couldn’t believe that Jesus was sitting at the table with tax collectors and sinners.

Service is about reaching the lost.

Matthew 9:13

Jesus said “but go and learn what this means ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice”. This was quoting a verse from the OT, and the Hebrew word for mercy is “chesed” which means desiring a love relationship with God.

Jesus is saying I desire a love relationship with you, not a blood sacrifice!

Throughout the gospel, we see examples of Jesus teaching and serving inside the church walls, as well as outside the church walls.

V.12 is an example of serving outside the church walls.

Serving is inside the church building and outside of the church building

Now, let’s look at Matthew 20:28

Jesus gives an amazing parable about the vineyard workers, and then we get to verse 20-21 of chapter 20.

-Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him.

And He said to her “What do you wish?” She said to Him, “Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right and the other of the left, in Your kingdom”.

Isn’t that just like a mom, thinking her sons are THE GREATEST! There’s this ongoing debate in the sports world of who is the GOAT. Greatest of all time, and I can see each of these peoples mom, saying “well of course, my child is the greatest!”

But Jesus’s reply to her is much like His reply to Peter when explaining to Peter why He is washing his feet.

Basically He says, “you don’t know what you are asking”.

Service is about humility

James and John wanted to be the GOATS, but Jesus was teaching it is about humility.

Then when we move on down to v.25-27 in Matthew 20 we see that being a servant-leader is upside down from the worldview

Read v25-27 from my bible

Then v28

Being a Christian servant is upside down from the worldview!