Jesus taught to put others first:
Over the last two weeks, Jesus has shown us how to love God with all of our hearts and souls as we obey Him and with all of our hearts and minds as we put God first. That is the first of Jesus’ two great commandments–
Matthew 22:37-40 | Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
But what about that second command? Jesus shows us that loving others, or your neighbor as yourself, is done through an attitude of serving others – looking at them as more important than yourself.
Philippians 2 instructs us to live like Jesus did, or to follow His example. To love like Jesus did, it says–
Philippians 2:3-4 | Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.
Philippians 2 goes on to explain that Jesus did this, loving others as more important than Himself, by giving up Heaven to die a criminal’s death on the cross so we could be saved (Philippians 2:5-8).
Jesus commanded us to live this way too–
John 15:12-13 | This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
Loving others by seeing them as more important than yourself means you consider their needs, not just your own. You’re willing to sacrifice yourself so that their needs can be met, just like Jesus was! But this isn’t easy. In fact, the disciples showed us that we are wired just the opposite.
Mark 10:35-37 | Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came over and spoke to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do us a favor.” “What is your request?” he asked. They replied, “When you sit on your glorious throne, we want to sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left.”
As two of Jesus’ twelve disciples, James and John have walked with Jesus for a few years at this point! They’ve heard Jesus’ teachings, watched His miracles, and saw Him love others. What a blessing! But James and John aren’t thinking like that at all. Instead, they want more! They are focused on their own desires. They want the BEST of Heaven and to be elevated as more important than others when they get there. This makes the other disciples mad (they likely think they deserve this honor), but Jesus corrects them all-
Mark 10:41-45 | When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant. So Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Jesus loved others by serving them – elevating them as more important than Himself, to the point that it cost Him everything He had. He commands us to do the same. We love others when we think about them first, instead of our own desires or glory. We should be willing to sacrifice and serve others, looking out for their interests, not just our own, just like Jesus did. Our Timeless Truth today is: We love others when we put them first. We don’t put them before God, but we do put them before ourselves, just like Jesus did. We love others when we put them first.
What is something that stood out to you about James and John wanting to be the greatest in Heaven?
What honor did James and John want? Why?
How do you relate to James and John? How are you the same or different?
How did Jesus explain His followers should live instead?
How did Jesus live out loving others by putting them first?