What does Matthew 20:27 mean?
The disciples have continued to show that they simply do not understand the nature of Jesus' coming kingdom. They are expecting that at some point, the Messiah will use His miraculous powers to overthrow Israel's oppressors and establish His own political kingdom on earth. The disciples have begun to compete for the top positions in that kingdom, the ones that will give them the most power and authority and status (Matthew 20:20–24).Jesus has described this as a Gentile approach to power and position (Matthew 20:25). It's how Roman leaders exercise and flaunt their authority. He told His disciples it won't work that way for them. He did not tell them to stop wanting to be great in His kingdom, though. Instead He has described a different path to greatness.
He said that whoever would be great among them must be a servant to the others (Matthew 20:26). Now He adds that whoever would be first among them must be their slave. Jesus uses two different Greek words; He has already said the path to greatness for the disciples comes by being a servant, diakonos, to others.
Here, He says the route to number one status comes by being a slave, from the Greek word doulos. A servant agrees to meet the needs of others in exchange for money, or as an act of friendship. A slave acts under threat or obligation. Slaves and servants were two of the least powerful classes in the ancient world.
Jesus often said hard-to-understand things to the disciples. This, however, was exactly backward of their experience. Ancient wisdom equated nobility, status, and power with value; such people were assumed to be essentially better than those who were poor or unknown. Great men gave orders. They made important decisions. They received service from lesser men. Jesus, though, describes true greatness in His kingdom as belong to those who serve others and the very top spot as belong to the one who lives as a slave to those he serves.
Notice again that Jesus is not commanding His disciples to stop competing for greatness. He is describing to them how to find it. It will not come by having Roman-style power, position, or authority. It will come by meeting each other's needs as servants and slaves meet the needs of their masters. This is a lesson Jesus will eventually demonstrate in a personal way when He washes the feet of the disciples at the Last Supper (John 13:12–17).
Who would voluntarily live in such a way? Jesus insists in the following verse that is exactly the life He has chosen among them.
