To Encourage You

Mark 10:42-45 “And Jesus called them to him and said to them, ‘You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’”

You’ve likely seen or heard the acronym, the GOAT. It stands for the “Greatest of All Time.” It’s a term often used by people to give us their opinion of the greatest athletes who have ever lived. It’s a term that marks incredible achievements over the long term. It’s the GOATs among us that set the standards, standards to which many others aspire. We read about them, watch them, and want to know what it took for them to reach the high plateau on which they stand. They’re the stars of the sport, seemingly admired by all.

Of course, this idea of the GOAT can extend beyond just sports. People speak of the greatest scientists, the greatest presidents, the greatest artists, musicians, and Hollywood actors. It goes on and on. People are enthralled by the idea of greatness. It’s the aspiration of many to achieve more, reach higher, advance in various ways in life. It’s a common trait of the human condition.

Interestingly, the Bible has a lot to say about this idea of greatness. Hebrew and Greek terms translated as some form of the word “great” occur 1,081 times in the English Standard Version. Some examples, particularly with reference to people, include the following:

Genesis 12:2 (In God’s words to Abram) “And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.

Job 1:3 (Speaking of Job) “He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east.”

Exodus 11:3 “And the LORD gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people.”

2 Kings 5:1 “Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.”

There are many other examples. But do you know that there’s a GOAT that the Scriptures point to that is the GOAT of GOATs, no matter the field of endeavor. Obviously, this One is Jesus, the omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, and eternal Creator and sustainer of all. And so if we want an example of the greatest of the greatest, it is to Him that we should ultimately look. Many passages throughout the Bible point to God’s and therefore Jesus’ (Who is God) greatness. Some examples include the following:

Psalm 35:27 “Great is the LORD”

Psalm 47:2 “For the LORD, the Most High, is to be feared, a great king over all the earth.”

Psalm 77:13 “Your way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God?”

Matthew 12:6 (Jesus speaking of Himself) “I tell you, something greater than the temple is here.”

Matthew 12:41 (Jesus again speaking of Himself) “The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.”

Matthew 12:42 (Jesus, yet again speaking of Himself) “The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.”

Titus 2:13 “our great God and Savior Jesus Christ”

Another passage that deals with this issue of greatness is found in the passage above from Mark 10. It’s a teaching from the greatest teacher about what it means in His eyes to be truly great. It’s excerpted from a conversation between the apostles James and John, whom Jesus called “the Sons of Thunder” (Mark 3:17). They were obviously pretty great, at least in their own eyes. As they came to Jesus they asked Him to give them great positions of honor in His kingdom. It then says that the other disciples who heard this were indignant, for weren’t they, the rest of the 12 Jesus had chosen, great too?!

And then Jesus explains to them true greatness. It’s not those who seek greatness by seeking exaltation that the GOAT of GOATs calls the truly great. Rather, the great in God’s eyes are those who humble themselves to be servants. It is those who selflessly love God and love others who are the greatest in His sight. And it is here that we see the most awesome display of greatness that the universe has ever known. It is when the One Who alone IS truly the greatest humbled Himself to death on the cross.

Paul speaks of this in Philippians 2:1-10 where he admonishes all believers with these words: “So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

And then Paul states that it is those who follow Christ’s example who are those who “shine as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:15). And isn’t that something that is inherently apparent to us. Aren’t the athletes we truly see as the greatest those who selflessly work to make others on their team the best that they can be. Aren’t we drawn to those who are humble in their attitudes no matter how “great” they might be. And don’t the proud and arrogant detract from their “greatness” by their attitudes about themselves? But the greatest by far of all the greatest was also the humblest in the history of the world. Thus, to follow His path to greatness, we, like Him, must be the servant of all.