John 13:1-17
I always found Palm Sunday interesting – one of the most classically misunderstood days on the calendar – Palm Sunday – they day countless people praised Jesus as He triumphantly entered Jerusalem – only to cheer a few days later while He gave up His life at the cross. The people at those events seemed to seriously misunderstand Jesus’ teaching on the Kingdom. They were looking for a powerful and popular leader who would take over the Rome and deal with Herod, but instead they received a suffering servant who gave Himself up for their sins.
Sometimes, what makes sense to us logically (or to the world) is actually intended to be the opposite, so over these next few weeks we are going to look at some topics in Jesus’ life that seem one way, but according to Him are actually the opposite. Most people look at the idea of leadership at a chance to enjoy power and prestige, and people back in Jesus’ day saw it similarly. Let’s look how people tend to see leadership and compare that to how Jesus saw it.
Leadership as a Pathway to Power
Judas, known to be a zealot and expecting Jesus to take Israel back by force, misunderstood Jesus to be a military victor over Rome, but once he realized Jesus’ plan was to die, he was set on betrayal (see Mark 14:6-10). Once he fully realized that Jesus was shunning the idea of war and focused on salvation for others, he made the choice to go and betray Him. That event with the woman who anointed Jesus seemed to be the final straw in Judas’ expectations. A misunderstanding of leadership as power ultimately brings a person to corruption as they chase after their own selfish desires as opposed the needs of those they are leading.
Leadership as a Road to Prestige
James and John liked fame and glory, misunderstanding Jesus’ mission as a chance for fame, such as when they asked to be seated in high honor in heaven (Mark 10:35-45). Misunderstanding leadership as a chance to gain prestige pulls a person to dishonesty/manipulation keep their image clean, leading down a dark hole of secrets and lies. Lex Luthor is a fun example of this concept (though he could have fit into either category technically) – he always works to keep his public face clean, meaning that he gets others to do the dirty work. His focus on fame and whatever manipulation he has to do to achieve it or hold onto it drives his behavior and leads him down a corrupted path.
Leadership is Sacrifice and Service
Jesus was aware of Judas’ betrayal (v10-11) but washed his feet anyway. He met a person’s desire for power with service. He sees leadership as an opportunity to serve. Jesus also knew the draw prestige had on everyone and taught against pushing yourself into the limelight (Luke 14:7-11). Jesus sees leadership as sacrifice, not gain.
I began to finally see the power of servant leadership (and its effect on me internally) about fifteen years ago, thanks to a referral group from the Omaha Chamber of Commerce. Instead of seeking leadership (as I was always prone to do), I chose then to instead be the best servant (referral giver) I could be. Eventually that led to them asking me to lead and it became a positive for everyone involved. I learned from that and continued living as a servant towards others and waited for an invitation to lead from that servanthood.
Simply and quietly, Jesus gave one of the most impactful lessons at the time people were expecting the exact opposite from him. They wanted Jesus to pick up the sword and take the throne. Instead, He picked up the pitcher and the towel to model service.
SO WHAT?
The challenge for today is simple – we are to do as Jesus modeled in this example. If we want to lead, we can’t seek power or prestige, but only use it as a chance to serve – meaning we must pick up the pitcher and towel and go and do likewise.
Comments are closed