倒转过来

“‘愿你叫我这两个儿子在你国里，一个坐在你右边，一个坐在你左边。’” - 太20:21

西庇太儿子的母亲遇见了耶稣。她请耶稣赐特别的荣誉给她的儿子雅各和约翰；耶稣以爱心回应他们三人，但祂却清楚指出，祂所作的他们不明白。

对耶稣和跟从祂的人来说，生命主要的目标不是尊荣，它主要的目标乃是谦卑。后来，耶稣又对祂的门徒说：“谁愿为首，就必作你们的仆人。”

对许多人来说，这是不合常理的，这样是把事情倒转过来了。掌权者和仆人的地位通常是相反的，然而，藉着祂所作的，耶稣改变了这个看法。耶稣是神，耶稣具有天地间所有的能力和权柄，但是，为了要成为一个像我们一样的人，耶稣放下祂的能力，耶稣甚至愿意受苦和死在十架上，为我们偿还罪债。因着神伟大的公义和怜悯，耶稣的谦卑和服事带来奇妙和伟大的结果：世人得到救恩，和死亡战败了。

耶稣正在掌管万有，所以谦卑的服事能带来伟大的成就。这种理解事情的方式，看来似乎被倒转过来了，然而，因着耶稣所作的和祂怎样爱世人，这种看法乃是合情合理的。就让我们接受神的爱，又向世人彰显这奇妙的爱吧。

谦卑又伟大的神，感谢你，因你藉着耶稣对我们的爱，让我们看见服事人的力量。求你帮助我们，以同样的方式彼此相爱。阿们。

20那时，西庇太儿子的母亲同她两个儿子上前来拜耶稣，求他一件事。
21耶稣说：“你要什么呢？”她说：“愿你叫我这两个儿子在你国里，一个坐在你右边，一个坐在你左边。”
22耶稣回答说：“你们不知道所求的是什么。我将要喝的杯，你们能喝吗？”他们说：“我们能。”
23耶稣说：“我所喝的杯，你们必要喝；只是坐在我的左右，不是我可以赐的，乃是我父为谁预备的，就赐给谁。”
24那十个门徒听见，就恼怒他们弟兄二人。
25耶稣叫了他们来，说：“你们知道，外邦人有君王为主治理他们，有大臣操权管束他们。
26只是在你们中间不可这样，你们中间谁愿为大，就必做你们的用人；
27谁愿为首，就必做你们的仆人。
28正如人子来不是要受人的服侍，乃是要服侍人，并且要舍命做多人的赎价。”

Upside Down

“Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.” - Matthew 20:21

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The mother of Zebedee’s sons met Jesus. She wanted Jesus to give special honor to her sons, James and John. Jesus responded with love to all three of them, but he made clear that they had missed the point of what he was doing.

When it comes to Jesus and the people who follow him, the main goal is not honor but humility. A little later Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant.”

To many people, this makes no sense. It seems upside down. Usually the rulers and the servants are opposites. But Jesus changed things by what he himself did. Jesus is God, and Jesus had all the power and authority in the universe. But in order to become human, like us, Jesus gave up that power. Jesus even willingly suffered and died on a cross to pay for our sin. And because of God’s great justice and mercy, Jesus’ humility and service resulted in something amazing and great: the salvation of the world and the defeat of death.

Because Jesus reigns, humble service leads to great success. It seems like an upside-down way of understanding things, but it makes sense because of what Jesus has done and how Jesus has loved the world. Let’s receive the love of God, and let’s show that amazing love to the world.

Prayer

God of humble greatness, thank you for showing us the power of service in the way that Jesus loves us. Help us to love one another the same way. Amen.