Commentaries:
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Matthew 20:20-28
Here, the disciples show they understood what Christ was doing, but they immediately let the idea of such awesome power go to their heads by vying for the very top positions. Christ explains that His disciples must use authority in a godly fashion, not for self-aggrandizement as the Gentiles had used it.
Staff
Who Are the 'Guests at the Wedding'?Related Topics: Abuse of Authority | Authority | Competition | Competitive Spirit | Competitiveness | Gentile Leadership | Leadership | Leadership, God's Pattern of | Lording it over Others | Positions of Authority | Power Corrupts | Power, Abuse of | Self Aggrandizement | Servant Attitude | Servant Leadership | Tyrannical Leadership
Matthew 20:25
The term "Nanny State" has come to describe a government that insists on over-regulating the individual to force him to act according to the government's wishes, rather than allowing the individual to make his own choices. Such a government is essentially trying to create a self-defined utopia via legislation. Men believe the answer is more laws, better enforcement, or a more comprehensive government plan. However, the true answer is to change the heart. Since human governments cannot do that, they must resort to controlling their citizens' behaviors.
On the other side of this coin, we have the expectations and responses of those being governed. As they see a nation spiraling out of control, they begin demanding that the leadership "do something." So they elect leaders who promise "change," who promise to fix this or that financial or social problem through legislation, and bit by bit, everybody's freedoms are curtailed. Political leaders soon become the arbiters of how every citizen should live. It all starts with the people demanding that the leaders "do something."
Along with this are those who believe the government exists to take care of them. Many people want—even demand—government programs, benefits, and all manner of largesse to protect them from the vagaries of life. They begin believing that it is the government's job to give them healthcare, childcare, retirement, and education; to fund obscene art exhibits; and to stop hurricanes. They want a Nanny State, so it will take care of them.
Thus, the government begins policies of redistribution—also known as "communism," or "socialism" in its soft form—where it takes what is produced and doles it out according to what it judges to be "fair." Even though communism was clearly a failed experiment, many people still favor a form of it because it means that they do not have to be responsible—that someone else will take care of them.
Wherever governments of men are in place, pressures will mount for the responsibilities of the governor to expand and the responsibilities of the governed to contract.
David C. Grabbe
The Nanny Church (Part One)Related Topics: Assuming Responsibility | Childcare | Communism | Healthcare | Individual Responsibility | Nanny Church | Nanny State | Nannyism | Redistribution of Wealth | Retirement | Socialism | Socialist Welfare Policies | Victim Mentality | Welfare System
Matthew 20:25-28
Meekness, a tolerant, yielding spirit, represents having the right of way but not insisting on it. Jesus Christ sets the tone of this approach in His discussion with the sons of Zebedee and the other disciples. Many have looked upon meekness, lowliness of spirit, or the willingness to yield, with suspicion and perhaps even loathing. Meekness—or its common perception—may seem too much like weakness, wimpiness, or timidity.
Some have taken Matthew 7:29 out of context to sanction a pompous, brittle, authoritarian approach, stating Jesus "taught . . . as one who had authority, and not as the scribes." Such people assume that this gives license to higher decibels and dogmatic manhandling of the audience, but they seriously misunderstand its intended meaning. Jesus could speak with authority because He possessed an unlimited reservoir of experience. He personified the Word of God, while the scribes and Pharisees could only quibble about the bits and pieces they had studied. Even though Jesus spoke with authority, the Gospels show His manner to be peaceable and yielding in most situations.
David F. Maas
Servant Leadership: Practical MeeknessRelated Topics: Humility | Lowliness | Lowliness of Heart | Lowliness of Mind | Lowliness of Spirit | Meekness | Meekness of Christ | Meekness, Practical | Peace | Peace Maker | Peace Making | Poor in Spirit | Poor of Spirit | Practicality of Meekness | Servant Leadership | Timidity | Yieldedness | Yielding to God | Yielding to God's WillOther Forerunner Commentary entries containing Matthew 20:25:
Proverbs 28:2
Matthew 13:33
Luke 13:21
1 Corinthians 12:27-29
Colossians 3:12
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What Does Matthew 20:25 Mean?
Human governments, unable to change the heart, resort to controlling behavior through over-regulation, creating a Nanny State that lords authority over citizens. As nations spiral out of control, people demand that leaders "do something," electing those who promise change through legislation. Bit by bit, freedoms are curtailed as political leaders become arbiters of how everyone should live. Many demand programs and benefits, believing government exists to care for them, leading to redistribution schemes. Wherever men govern, the governor's responsibilities expand while the governed's contract. In contrast, Jesus models meekness, a tolerant, yielding spirit that has the right of way but does not insist on it. Though He spoke with genuine authority born of unlimited experience, His manner remained peaceable and yielding, unlike domineering rulers.