Day 30 – September 30th

Job 15:1-18:21; Matthew 20:20-34; Psalm 17:13-15

Ok, so Mrs Zebedee wants her sons to have the top spot when they get to heaven. Quite understandable really, that’s what mum’s do, trying to fuss around to get the best for their kids. And mums of boys seem to fuss more than mums with girls. Probably thinking that lazy boys won’t be able to do it for themselves.

So there is Mrs Z, frustrated that her sons haven’t secured their seats yet and so she steps in. On the one hand you can imagine this bolshie woman demanding the spot for the kids and on the other hand I have to imagine the Oliver moment where he asks for “more”. This is God as man that she is speaking to as she makes her request, surely she must have been a bit nervous. Who knows.

What is important is the answer. “Whoever wants to be great must be your servant” (v26). The last couple of days we have been talking about the magnificent God and here we move to the idea of a servant. To tie the idea of a servant back to God, we worship the servant King, who came to earth in order to serve the people and bring about eternal life through his service. Here in these passages there is a call to model the actions of Christ, the ultimate servant.

Here we also tie in with Job who is going through a whole heap of trouble and life pretty much stinks. Suffering becomes a key bridge between the passages. On the one hand Job, who we know about, and on the other Jesus challenges the brothers, “can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?” Although we may not be destined to die on a cross like Jesus, people may give us a bit of grief because of our faith. We may find some element of suffering for the Gospel.

We need to be ready to serve God through thick and thin, through good times and bad times. We might suffer for Him but just like Job he won’t desert us. And to serve Him is to model the life of Christ. And we must also serve others, because by doing that we honour and serve God.

Is there a friend, or even someone who is not a friend, who needs your help at the moment. To coin a cliché that is sometimes over used – What Would Jesus Do? Now go and do it.