Matthew 20:25 - Forerunner Commentary

Matthew 20:25

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Articles, Bible studies, and sermons that contain The Gospel According to Matthew 20:25:

Matthew 20:25-26
Excerpted from: Self-Government and Responsibility (Part One)

Obviously Jesus intends something different for His church. Something different for the Family of God, something different from the way mankind normally exercises rule. So mankind's approach is different from God's. It is based on the external applying of force to produce submission, fear of the law, fear of the police, and fear of the penalty.

It is interesting that in Luke's account of this same episode that Jesus said that these Gentile rulers, who exercise lordship and authority, are called benefactors. I do not know why, but my guess is because they probably bring a measure of order out of what could be a very chaotic situation. I mean absolute anarchy, because remember the carnal mind will not subject itself to the law of God and it is the law of God that is the model for all of the laws of mankind.

So unless one has the Spirit of God, they cannot exercise the right kind of internal controls to submit themselves to the government of God. Without that Spirit being there, then mankind is going to run amok and so a strong man comes along and he applies external pressure, whips the people into line, and therefore brings about at least a modicum of order and people say, "Great, we now have peace."

So I can understand why they would be called benefactors, but with God's Family, that should not have to occur. People should not have to be whipped into line and made externally to obey the law, the government of God, because Jesus clearly says here, "it shall not be so among you."

Matthew 20:22-28
Excerpted from: Peace, Peace (Part One): Peace with God

Do you really understand what all of that entails, all the grief and the sorrow and the pain, the agony of what He was going through? Do you really, really understand what it takes to sit on the right and the left side of Jesus? How do you get to that position?

This is another one of those very clear statements about His purpose. It may be the most direct statement of His redemptive purpose in the Gospels. What He does here in this passage, and that is why I read all of that from verse 20 on, is He connects high position, or leadership we might say, with service and sacrifice, using His own example of giving His life for a ransom of many as the prime illustration of what that looks like. It is far more than kneeling down and washing your brothers' feet. Jesus served and sacrificed, showing His leadership by dying the most despicable, bloody, agonizing death that you can imagine.

Matthew 20:24-28
Excerpted from: Government (Part Five)

We have a contrast here between what is normal for the world—that is, abuse of rulership—and also what is normal for the Kingdom of God. What we see for the Kingdom of God is an entirely different attitude in the ruler. The one uses his power, to its fullest extent, to serve himself. The other uses his power first to serve God, and in serving God, he becomes the servant of the governed. That is not directly stated, but it is implied.

Articles
All About Edom (Part One)
From Sheriff to Shepherd: Are We Willing to Be Defrauded?
Living by Faith and Humility
Servant Leadership: Practical Meekness
The Defense Against Offense
Who Are the 'Guests at the Wedding'?

Bible Studies
The Parables of Matthew 13 (Part Five): The Parable of the Leaven

Essays
Anarchy in God's Church? (Part Two)
Many Princes

Sermons
Marriage and the Bride of Christ (Part 3)
God and Self-Government
What's Wrong with Leadership Today?
Wonderful Women
Who Then Is In The Kingdom Of Heaven?
Life Is Service (Part One)
Control and Self-Control
Principles of Church Leadership
A Clean, Well-Lighted Place
Matthew (Part Twenty-Six)
Eternal Servant Leadership
Living By Faith: Humility
The Father's Promise of Power!
Marriage and the Bride of Christ (Part 1)
Portrait of a King
Is the United States a Christian Nation? (Part 3)
Dating (Part 1): The Purposes of Dating
John (Part 14)
The Role of Women
Self-Government: Overcoming
WHAT?! Me Submit to Someone Else?
Character and Leadership

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