Matthew 20:26 - Printer Friendly

ESV: It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,

NIV: Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,

NASB: It is not this way among you, but whoever wants to become prominent among you shall be your servant,

CSB: It must not be like that among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,

NLT: But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant,

KJV: But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;

NKJV: Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.

The disciples were in conflict about who among them would be the greatest in Jesus' kingdom. Peter may have seemed to have the inside track (Matthew 16:17), but James and John had just made a play for the top spots in the organization (Matthew 20:20–23). Everyone else was fuming (Matthew 20:24).

Jesus has pointed out that this is a very Gentile-style attitude toward power and authority. That's partly a use of the disciples' Jewish sense of spirituality, as well as a statement of fact. Roman rulers, especially, demanded their right to be served and respected by those under their command. They flaunted their superior status. Jesus now says this won't work for His disciples. Power struggles are not the way of the kingdom of heaven (Philippians 2:3).

What's fascinating, though, is that Jesus does not tell His disciples to give up on the ambition to be great. He does not even tell them to stop competing for the position of "greatest." Instead, Jesus tells them how to win—He gives practical advice on how to excel in this godly "race" (1 Corinthians 9:24). If you want to be great, Jesus says you must become a servant (John 13:12–17).

Of course, this would have sounded like nonsense to first-century ears. Servants were, by definition, the opposite of great. In this culture, humility was not a virtue; it was the result of weakness. The Greek word for servant, diakonos, usually referred to a hired worker, especially one who helped to maintain another person's household. Servants received commands from greater men; they didn't give them. Servants might be nice people, but they were nobodies. In fact, in the ancient world, it was assumed that rulers and royalty were literally better people than servants and subjects, and that's why each was born into that status.

Rather than clarifying this startling declaration, Jesus simply reemphasizes it in the following verse.

Matthew 20:20–28 follows Jesus' clear description of His impending death with a poorly timed request from James and John, through their mother. Their desire is for the two sons to be given the powerful positions of being seated on Jesus' left and right hand in His kingdom. Jesus makes an obscure reference to His upcoming suffering, asking if they can "drink the cup" ahead of Him. He then notes they will experience their own persecution and suffering, yet greatness in His kingdom won't look like the flaunted authority of the Gentile rulers. The greatest of all will be the one who serves the others as a slave. Jesus, too, has come to serve and not to be served.

Jesus illustrates His earlier comments about how some of the "first will be last, and the last first" (Matthew 19:30) with a parable about hired workers. He then clearly tells His disciples about His impending death and resurrection. The mother of James and John asks Jesus to make her sons number two and three in His kingdom. Jesus tells the disciples that true greatness won't come by flaunting authority as the Gentile leaders do. Instead, they will become great by serving each other, even as a slave does, as Jesus Himself has done. He then heals two blind men immediately before entering Jerusalem.

Matthew 20 begins with a parable that illustrates Jesus' statement at the end of Matthew 19: In His kingdom, some of the first will be last and the last first. Still on their way to Jerusalem, Jesus tells the disciples for the third time that He will be killed and then raised on the third day. When asked, Jesus explains that it is not up to Him to grant the seats on His right and left hand in the kingdom and that His disciples will not become great in the way of Gentiles. Instead, they will find greatness by serving each other. A healing of two blind men leads into the triumphal entry, the first event in the last earthly week of Jesus' ministry.

The Gospel of Matthew clearly shows the influence of its writer's background, and his effort to reach a specific audience. Matthew was one of Jesus' twelve disciples, a Jewish man, and a former tax collector. This profession would have required literacy, and Matthew may have transcribed some of Jesus' words as they were spoken. This book is filled with references to the Old Testament, demonstrating to Israel that Jesus is the Promised One. Matthew also includes many references to coins, likely due to his former profession. Matthew records extensive accounts of Jesus' teaching, more than the other three Gospels.