March 23, 2021 (Tuesday)
The blogs this week are about the last journey Jesus made to Jerusalem. They are a prelude to the week we know as “Holy Week,” during which Jesus was crucified and resurrected.
As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside [again] and spoke to them privately, as they walked along. “Listen,” he told them, “we are going up to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the teachers of the Law. They will condemn him to death and then hand him over to the Gentiles, who will make fun of him, whip him, and crucify him; but three days later he will be raised to life.” Then the wife of Zebedee came to Jesus with her two sons, bowed before him, and asked him for a favor. “What do you want?” Jesus asked her. She answered, “Promise me that these two sons of mine will sit at your right and your left when you are King.” “You don’t know what you are asking for,” Jesus answered the sons. “Can you drink the cup of suffering that I am about to drink?” “We can,” they answered. “You will indeed drink from my cup,” Jesus told them, “but I do not have the right to choose who will sit at my right and my left. These places belong to those for whom my Father has prepared them.” When the other ten disciples heard about this, they became angry with the two brothers. So Jesus called them all together and said, “You know that the rulers of the heathen have power over them, and the leaders have complete authority. This, however, is not the way it shall be among you. If one of you wants to be great, you must be the servant of the rest; and if one of you wants to be first, you must be the slave of the others—like the Son of Man, who did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life to redeem many people” (Matthew 20:7-28).
Jesus had told his disciples over and over that He would be put to death after they arrived at Jerusalem. But they (and, evidently, their families) were clinging to a belief that Jesus would become their king and throw off the yoke of Rome. At the beginning of their journey, He had taught them that the Kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom, existing in our hearts as believers in Him as our Messiah. His followers must not think of themselves as lords over others, but as servants. Sadly, many of us have yet to consider the role of a servant under the lordship of Christ. The genuine Christian is one who loves and serves others.
https://youtu.be/KP7ebuH7pAg
OTHERS
Words: Charles D. Meigs, 1902
Music: William E. M. Hackleman, 1915
1902, 1915
Lord, help me live from day to day
In such a self-forgetful way
That even when I kneel to pray
My prayer shall be for others.
Refrain:
Yes, others, Lord, yes, others,
Let this my motto be;
Help me to live for others,
Help me to live for others,
That I may live like Thee,
That I may live like Thee.
Help me in all the work I do
To ever be sincere and true,
And know that all I’d do for You
Must needs be done for others.
Refrain
Let “Self” be crucified and slain
And buried deep: and all in vain
May efforts be to rise again,
Except to live for others.
Refrain
So when my work on earth is done,
And my new work in heav’n’s begun,
I’ll praise You for the crown I’ve won,
But praise You more for others.
Refrain