The Greatest Servant
Read This Week: Matthew 12
Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Holy Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. He will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out till he has brought justice through to victory. In his name, the nations will put their hope. – Matthew 12:18-21 NIV
So much has been written and said about the idea and application of being a servant. We are to be servant leaders at work, serve our spouse and kids, serve the community, and serve faithfully in our church. But where do we go for an example to follow? We have to look no further than Jesus himself, the greatest servant of all time and the one who was able to fulfill the prophecies about his servanthood.
In this passage, we see that God required perfect service from us, but we could not live up to this standard. So Jesus stepped in and took upon himself the nature of man and performed the will of God. Through his life, death, burial, and resurrection, He communicates grace to us as a servant and enables us to love and serve in a manner worthy of Him. Jesus showed us how to be a servant from the highest place of honor.
This same servant, Jesus, shows us that we can lead others without being contentious, complaining, gossiping, or having an ulterior motive. He shows us that we do not need to be loud and braggadocious and seek attention for ourselves. He shows us that we can be bold and speak His word while maintaining our integrity and allowing the truth to take effect. He shows us that we can be strong in the face of adversity and challenge from those who seek trouble, and that discretion is not a sign of weakness but wisdom.
This same servant, Jesus, who humbled himself to the point of death on a cross to bring glory to God and redeem man, is the same Jesus who is all that we need. This same Jesus who didn’t sin but became sin for us so that we might be made right with God through him is the same one who has the authority, grace, and compassion to love us despite our past, our failures, and who we think we are.
This same servant, Jesus, who walked through undeserved, heinous torture, and died with two thieves without protest, is the same one who has the power to heal us, make us whole, and comfort us when we are hurting. This same Jesus who was betrayed by a friend, falsely accused of a crime, illegally put on trial, and forsaken by his people, is the same one who can bring meaning and hope to our lives when they don’t make sense.
This same servant, Jesus, who was at the beginning with God and victoriously raised, is the same one who has the ability, authority, and capacity to save us from an unthinkable, eternal destiny apart from Him. Verse 21 says, in his name, the nations will put their hope. It is in the greatest servant of all time that we find ultimate hope and peace. He alone is worthy of that title and worthy of our emulation in every area of our lives.
I love what you wrote Pastor Jason. You are so in touch with God. We really appreciate you. As I was reading what you wrote, God reminded me of this song that reminds us who Jesus is to us:
https://youtu.be/DbMejWoW1XI
I am so blessed that this post touched you, Ken. Thank you for the kind words and all praise be to God. I love the video and song. That was one of the first worship songs I heard after I became a Christian. It did and will always have such a deep impact on me. Thank you for posting it and for all you do.
Matthew 12:33 says, Either make the tree sound (healthy and good), and its fruit sound (healthy and good), or make the tree rotten (diseased and bad), and its fruit rotten (diseased and bad); for the tree is known and recognized and judged by its fruit.
What I feel like God has been showing me this week is it starts with your heart, to have a willing heart, a desire to first love Father God, and want to learn how to grow in what God put in our heart when we gave Jesus our heart, then share what he is doing in us and through us. This is a beautiful verse to always remember.
In Deuteronomy 6:5 it says, And you shall love the Lord your God with all your [mind and] heart and with your entire being and with all your might. (strength) It all starts with wanting to be a tree that produces good fruit, it all starts with the fruit of love and you continue to grow until you go home to be with Jesus, but you do have to grow, spend time reading your bible and listening to God and then do what He is showing you.
Today is a new day we get to practice growing in the ways of the Lord, learning how we speak to others and loving on others for God, sharing our testimonies as we pass them to help others. These are the fruits that God gave us. Have fun as you learn to grow in them.
Galatians 5:22 says, But the fruit of the [Holy] Spirit [the work which His presence within accomplishes] is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness, gentleness (meekness, humility), self-control (self-restraint, continence). Against such things, there is no law [[f]that can bring a charge].
So much great wisdom and commentary this week in your post, Heidi. You marry those Scriptures so beautifully to point us to bearing fruit (even specific fruit like love) and allowing God to empower us to be His servants that do good things and glorify Him. This section stood out to me:
Today is a new day we get to practice growing in the ways of the Lord, learning how we speak to others and loving on others for God, sharing our testimonies as we pass them to help others. These are the fruits that God gave us. Have fun as you learn to grow in them.
I love the exhortation of daily living with God and serving Him as well as the idea of practice and growth. It is to be something that we work on and toward every day. I also love the way you ended the thought with the encouragement to enjoy our lives of serving God. There is nothing more fulfilling or more fun than serving Jesus and others and seeing the Lord do miracles and unexplainable things in the world, in our lives, and in the lives of those we get to serve.
This was what I got from Matthew 12. My son Jesus is an example to you as a servant. He is much more than that; He is your servant. He serves you with what he has done in the past. He serves you daily through His constant love, care, guidance, and intercession. He serves all of His people more effectively from Heaven You will reach others more by not having an overwhelming personality and loud talk.
I do not deal roughly with your weaknesses and failures. If you trust Me I will restore you gently and with mercy. You will burn brightly for Me again as you are filled with My Holy Spirit. You either stand for Jesus or against Him. Your actions show what you stand for. If you get your heart right with Me, your words about Jesus as you share will also be right. Your words reveal your heart. Repent and turn back to Me and you will be healed. You will be a chosen vessel unto Me and you will truly be able to serve others and be more like Jesus.
What this said to me is that I need to continue serving others, and continue growing in Jesus. I need to make my priority Him and the rest will follow, making me more in His image. God wants to share his light through me. It reminded me of the song If more of you means less of me, take everything.
There is some wonderful insight in your post, Kathy. This particular idea stuck out to me and is one I think believers need to know about serving Jesus and doing so out of our weaknesses and out of the ways we fall short of the glory of God:
I do not deal roughly with your weaknesses and failures. If you trust Me I will restore you gently and with mercy. You will burn brightly for Me again as you are filled with My Holy Spirit.
I love your juxtaposition between being dealt with roughly and being restored gently with mercy. This is how our Father serves us in our lives and how He chooses to use us for his glory and in His power. He reconciled us to Himself through the cross and in our Christian journeys gives us the Holy Spirit in grace and gentleness to in turn serve Him with our lives. What a Savior He is.