A Dispute Arose Among Them

Preached by Benjamin Vrbicek

March 31, 2019

If you have a Bible, please turnwith me to Luke 22. We’ll be picking up right where Pastor Jason left off lastweek. As you’re turning there, let me mention the context. Jesus is in an upperroom of a home with his disciples. He’s washed the feet of his disciples, andthey’ve just shared the Passover meal together. Jesus indicated the Passovermeal was now to be understood as a pointer to his own death as the ultimatePassover Lamb. Just as God rescued his people in Egypt from the oppression of Pharaoh,so now Jesus, through his costly death, rescues God’s people from the oppressionof sin. After the meal, Jesus mentions that one of the disciples would betrayhim. And it’s this statement about who is the worst disciple that sparks anargument about who is the greatest disciple.

Luke 22: 24-34

Follow along with me as I readfrom Luke 22:24–34, and then we’ll pray that God would be our teacher.

24 A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. 25 And he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. 26 But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves.27 For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves.

28 “You are those who have stayedwith me in my trials, 29 and I assign toyou, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, 30 thatyou may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thronesjudging the twelve tribes of Israel.

31 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satandemanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, 32 but Ihave prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turnedagain, strengthen your brothers.”33 Peter said tohim, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and todeath.” 34 Jesus said, “I tell you, Peter, therooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me.”

Introduction

Most weeks the pastor who ispreaching checks in with the person leading worship to discuss the Sundayservice. The worship leader and the preaching pastor often talk about thepassage, themes that might come up in the sermon, songs that might be sung throughoutthe service, and additional passages that might be read.

This week, I did something I’venever before done during that quick check-in. We talked about all that otherstuff, but I also mentioned two songs that we probably shouldn’t sing this morning.I don’t think in five years here I’ve ever said let’s not sing a certain songon a certain Sunday, especially when the two songs I was thinking of are goodsongs that we already sing here from time to time. Both songs are aboutfollowing Jesus, which is a good thing, right?

The chorus from one song goeslike this: “Where you go, I’ll go / where you stay, I’ll stay / where you move,I’ll move / I will follow.” Two of the verses in the other song go like this:“When the sea is calm and all is right / When I feel Your favor flood my life /Even in the good, I’ll follow You... / When the boat is tossed upon the waves /When I wonder if You’ll keep me safe / Even in the storms, I’ll follow You...”

These are good songs with goodlyrics that call us onward and upward as we follow Jesus. Where Jesus says go,let’s go. But it didn’t feel right to sing those this morning. In the passage,Peter says he’ll follow Jesus through the storm of imprisonment and death. AndJesus says, “No you won’t.”

So this isn’t a passage weshould use to preach a new mission-vision statement. It’s not a Sunday to say,“We’re going to take this hill and storm that castle.” But it is a passage todelight in all that Jesus is for us in the gospel.

1. The bad news of our depravity

Thefirst thing we’re confronted with in the passage is the bad news of humandepravity. Look again at v. 24.

24 A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. 

Noticethe words “to be regard as the greatest.” The New International Version of theBible translates it as “be considered the greatest.” Both translations get atthe idea of perception. That’s the thing about depravity, isn’t it? We tend tobe less concerned with being great and more concerned with being regarded asgreat. We don’t want to be rich; we want to be more rich than the next guy. Wedon’t want to be handsome or beautiful, just more handsome or beautiful thanothers. Into this context, Jesus puts forward his vision of servant leadership.

Servantleadership means that there shouldn’t be any act of service that you are above.You might generally do one thing or another in church or at work or at home,but having a general role or job description shouldn’t be taken to mean thatdoing some tasks is beneath you. You might not ordinarily be the one who picksup trash, but that’s not because the job is beneath you.

Thisvision of servant leadership is certainly “countercultural.” But to just call servantleadership countercultural is misleading. Jesus’s vision of servant leadershipisn’t merely countercultural, as though the problem is only out there somewherein culture. The reality is that wanting to appear great is counter to our heart.

Though inthis passage wanting to be considered great isn’t necessarily the deepest problem.The deeper problem with our depravity is that we don’t know what makes for truegreatness. The disciples are in the presence of Jesus, and they want to argueabout which of them is the most awesome. When the contrast is so significantbetween the greatness of Jesus and the greatness of the disciples, they reallyought not to be having this dispute.

When Iwas in high school, I did the triple jump on our school’s track and field team.I was okay at it. I even made it to the state track and field meet in theevent. But I also remember my greatest triple jump, was not all that great. Duringone meet our coach had filmed some of our jumps, and a few days later he gave usthe tapes to take home and watch. This process was a little more involved inthe days before smartphones. So I took the VHS tape home, put it in the VCR,and watched. I even called my mom over to look at the film. Also on the tape,Coach had included some footage of Jonathan Edwards, the greatest triple jumperever. Look at thisvideo.

After wewatched Edward’s world record jumps, my mom and I watched my triple jump. Justfor comparison, where Edwards landed after two jumps is about the length of mythree jumps. I distinctively remember my own mother not being so impressed withher son’s jumping abilities when compared to true greatness.

One ofthe ways human depravity shows up is that when humility is most required, we boastof our self-sufficiency and our own greatness. We want to walk a Smithsonian galleryof sculptures while also showing off what we made with Play-doh. We want to helpEinstein out with some long division. We worry about our own greatness in thepresence of Jesus.

Thisdispute the disciples had about who was the greatest, actually shows up severaltimes in the gospels. In Mark’s gospel we read,  

33 And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” 34 But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. (Mark 9:33–34)

Giventhe context, this argument by the disciples is quite possibly the dumbest argumentever. If we had been living Mark 9 in context, we’d have seen these things: Jesusrevealed his glory on the mountain, showing he’s not weak and feeble but strongand glorious. We call this passage his transfiguration. And Jesus then receivedthe stamp of approval from God the Father and was highlighted as far greater thanMoses and Elijah, two great Old Testament prophets. Then we come down themountain, and Jesus battled a demon victoriously, a demon who had previouslydefeated us when we tried to cast it out. Then we heard Jesus promised to risefrom the dead, invoking imagery of himself as the exalted “Son of Man” figure prophesiedabout in Daniel 7:9–14.

Andthat’s just the near context of Mark 9, which does not consider prior miracleslike calming the storm, feeding of the five thousand, and many others. In themoments when humility and trust in the Lord are most appropriate, disciples oftendrift toward pride and self-sufficiency.

In thenext chapter in Mark’s gospel we read of two disciples asking to sit on thronesto the right and left of Jesus when he comes in his glory. Just before theirrequest, Jesus told them that he was going to Jerusalem to serve us bysuffering and dying. And then they ask to sit on his left and right. They areso caught up in visions of glory it’s like they don’t even hear the sufferingpart. And my impression of their request to sit at the Messiah’s right and lefthad little to do with being close to Jesus and more to do with being seen orregarded as being close to Jesus.

Let’scome back to our passage in Luke. At the beginning of the passage we see themarguing in pride. We see this same pride show up at the end of the passage. Jesusmentions to Peter that Satan has desired to sift them as wheat. I’ll talk moreabout that later. Jesus mentions to Peter that everything will be okay, notbecause Peter is a rock, but because Jesus, who is the rock that Peter isstanding on, has prayed for him. To this Peter says, “No, no, no. Don’t worryabout me. I’ll go the distance. I’ll be there with you through thick and thin,even through imprisonment and death. . . Where you go, I’ll go. Evenin the storm I’ll follow you.” To which Jesus says, before the alarm clockrings, three times you’ll deny even knowing me.

It’s onething for Peter to assert his self-sufficiency among friends over a meal. It’sanother thing, Jesus says, to stay loyal to him when it might mean making enemieswith trained Roman soldiers. And it’s the relative soon-ness of Peter’s denialsafter his confident assertion that is so crushing. It’s a terrible thing in amarriage when one spouse has an affair, but if a groom starts flirting withbridesmaids at the wedding reception, it feels doubly wrong.

This isthe bad news of our depravity. When humility and trust are most required, we oftenboast of our self-sufficiency and argue about our own greatness.

2. The good news of Christianity

But thispassage isn’t all bad news. In fact, I’d say is there is far more good news herethan bad. Let’s consider Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.

The goodnews of Christianity is that Jesus is not above the lowest act of service.This is amazing to me. Look at vv. 26b–27.

Let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves.27 For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves.

Thinkabout that. Walking on water; turning water to wine; giving living water tothose who thirst; healing the blind; healing the deaf; healing the paralyzed; battlingthe spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms; speaking truth thatpenetrates to the souls of the most hardened of sinners; turning over thetables of the money changers unswayed by the supposed greatness of thereligious leaders, this one—the greatest one, the Messiah, the Lamb who takesaway the sins of the world, the one who was and is and is to come—this one notonly endures with great patience the arrogance of his followers, but the secondperson of the Trinity puts on a servants towel to wash the dirt between their toes.Church, behold your savior among us as one who serves. Our savior is not abovethe lowest of tasks, including taking our sins to himself like a sponge toabsorb the wrath of God against us. And that’s not all...

The goodnews of Christianity is that Jesus shares his leadership with those whodo not deserve it. Look again at v. 29.

I assign to you, as my Father assigned tome, a kingdom.

Thinkabout it. That Jesus even has disciples and co-rulers should be amazing. There’sonly one thing Jesus can do something better with us. Don’t get prideful aboutthat. Let me tell you what. Through his disciples, Jesus shows the world that oneof the reasons he’s so great is because he allows people to take part in hiskingdom when they don’t deserve it.

Did youever think about your role in ministry like that? We want to be great, and wewant to do all sorts of things to show the world how awesome Jesus is, whenit’s very much the case that Peter and the other disciples—and you and I—domake Jesus look great, but the way we make him look great is by not being allthat great ourselves and yet he continues to love us. Jesus is a patient andgracious savior. Jesus shares his leadership with those who do not deserve it. Andthat’s not all...

The goodnews of Christianity is that Jesus not only makes us workers anddisciples, but he makes us his friends. In v. 30 we read that we sitwith him at his table and in his kingdom. We have a Sunday school class rightnow about hospitality, and one of the things that jumped out to me is how oftenwe see God welcoming us into a relationship with him. The gospel is aboutdivine hospitality. God is holy and powerful and sovereign and just. But he’salso tender and a friend of sinners. He really cares about you. He wants you athis table. He wants to share with you his best food. He wants to share with youhis best drink. And that’s not all...

The goodnews of Christianity is that Jesus is stronger than our worst enemy,Satan. Look again at vv. 31–32,

31 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, 32 but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”

Thinkabout that. We’ll slow down on this one for a minute. Jesus says that Satandemanded. That’s a forceful request. Satan wants to sift Peter and thedisciples in the same way he wanted to sift Job in the Old Testament.

Let meexplain the phrase sifted as wheat. To sift wheat is to break up wheat toseparate the edible parts of the wheat from the non-edible parts. It’s likeSatan has this square, wooden frame. And stretched between the edges of the frameare strands of wire that make a wire mesh. What falls through the mesh are unbelievers.Satan wants to take the disciples and sift them.[1]He wants to toss us about, rough us up, and see if he can shake our faith lose fromus. Some of you have been through seasons where you have felt these kinds oftrials, this kind of shaking. It seemed like everything conspired against you.Some of you are in that kind of season right now. Be encouraged, church: Jesusprays for your faith. He intercedes for your faith. And the prayers of Jesus arestronger than then the demands of Satan.

Onepastor pointed out that while Satan wants to sift Peter, in the end, he onlysifts his pride.

Church,if you have placed your trust in Jesus, then the world, the flesh, and thedevil, will conspire against you and your faith. But take heart, Jesus hasovercome them all. In one of the letters to a church in the New Testament, Paulwrites that not only did Jesus cancel the debt of our sin, but through hisdeath and resurrection Jesus has also disarmed the spiritual rulers and authoritiesputting them to open shame (Colossians 2:13–15). As well, in John 10, we readthat Jesus is the great shepherd who protects all his sheep, and no one canever snatch us out of his hands (John 10:28). Be encouraged that if you are inJesus’s hands, you are unsiftable. Butthat’s not all. Let me close with one more...

The goodnews of Christianity is that Jesus calls us to a greatness that is notexhausting. This one might not be as obvious at first, but I think it’scertainly there.Think about the beginningof the passage. We read that a “dispute also arose among them.” Do you wonder exactlyhow that dispute begin? Here’s what I think. I think they fell into thisdispute here at the first Lord’s Supper (and right after the Transfiguration,and a few other times in the Gospels) because longing to be regarded as great wasnever too far from their minds. They were constantly busy with the exhaustingtask of their own image management.

You’veprobably all heard of the game musical chairs, and likely most of us haveplayed it. Let’s say there are 12 of us playing. Well, then there are only 11chairs. The music begins and so does our march around the chairs. As we march,we have one eye on the chairs and another eye on our competition. We’re lookingto see who is the weakest, who is the slowest, who could we most easily pushout of the way to get a chair. Then the music stops. We throw our bottoms inthe direction of the closest chair. And someone was too slow. Now there are 11people with 10 chairs. And on it goes until you find out who is the greatest.

It’s afine game, I suppose. It’s fun. People laugh and play. Maybe if you played withall high school boys it’s possible one person will get pushed too hard and a scufflewill break out. But it’s a game. It has a beginning and an ending.

But whenyou live life like one giant game of musical chairs, it’s not a game. And it neverends. And it’s exhausting. At work you keep one eye on your project, and youkeep one eye on your co-workers to see who will get the promotion. At schoolyou keep one eye on your studies, and you keep one eye on your classmates. Atthe gym you keep one eye on the weights, and you keep another on everyone else.You look at your bathroom scale, but you also look at the other ladies you hangout with. You come to church, but you also have to gossip. You have children, butyou also need them to be perfect children. The apostle Paul says in one of hisletters that when we measure ourselves by ourselves, we are not wise (2Corinthians 10:12, NIV). And not only is it not wise, but it’s also exhausting.And it’s not the way it’s supposed to be.

The goodnews of Christianity is that Jesus has the solution to our heart problem, thesolution for our depravity, the solution for our exhausting lust to be regardedas great. Luke 22 might not have been a passage to preach about how great weare at following Jesus. But it is a passage to delight in all thatJesus is for us in the gospel. And now, may we, the followers of Jesus, be likehim in our service. May he free us from the exhausting task of imagemanagement. And may he free us to be servants.

[1] Iwas helped to see this in John Piper’s sermon, “The Sifting of Simon Peter,” Desiring God, April 26, 1981, https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/the-sifting-of-simon-peter.