The Greatest Among You

In today’s Gospel, Jesus has to do some behavior management. First of all, the mother of the sons of Zebedee comes up to Jesus with an audacious request-seats next to the throne of God in the heavenly kingdom. Wow. At least she believes Jesus is the Son of God, let’s give her that. Ever notice how James and John are almost constantly referred to as sons of Zebedee? He apparently was a man of influence and therefore power if the Gospel writers assume that everyone knows who Zebedee is. That may very well be why the mother of James and John made such an arrogant request because being married to a man of power, she perhaps had a sense of entitlement, being used to getting her way. The woman’s name is Salome by the way.

Anyway, while Jesus is calmly explaining why He can’t grant Salome’s request, the disciples, who are within earshot of this exchange, become indignant at the fact that these two are even being considered for sitting at the throne of the Almighty. I can even imagine an argument among them as to which among them REALLY belongs on that throne. Alas, Team Jesus is coming apart at the seams.

Like a good coach, Jesus then calls a timeout, gathers all the apostles on the sideline, and uses a literary element of comparison/contrast. “You know how the Pharisees are- always lording their power over everyone and expecting everyone to bow down before them! You don’t want to be like them, do you?” Then Jesus uses a behavioral management tool that we in the special ed biz like to call a replacement behavior- “the greatest among you must serve the rest!”

This was probably a shock to the disciples. When thinking of greatness, they probably envisioned people in important positions, people to whom others looked up to or even bowed down to, like King Herod or the Pharisees or even Zebedee, who was a noted fisherman and even owned a fishing business where he had many people working for him. They never envisioned greatness being equated with serving others.

Alas, 2,000 years later, it seems our society still has the same vision of greatness that the society in today’s Gospel had: if you want to be great, you must work your way up the ladder and have others look up to you and serve you. Think about it: when you see a limousine pull up, don’t you find yourself thinking, “There must be someone important in there.” Jesus still throws us the same curveball- greatness has to do with serving others.

So, here’s where we have to be careful. We can easily go about this “serving others” thing the wrong way where we serve well but in a way where a spotlight is shone upon us. Ever notice how at a church fair where people are encouraged to volunteer that on the sign-up sheet, the committee that has the least number of signatures is the cleanup committee? In remembering what Jesus said, it is tempting to be serving in a way that is noticed, OR, we serve in many ministries because it makes us feel better. You know-the more ministries we’re involved in the holier we are?

It is counterproductive to not proceed in service until we are sure our motives are pure, because we are always operating from a mixed bag of emotions and motivations. I think it is better to simply be aware of how we can serve others in even the simplest ways; even Mother Theresa once said, “I may not be able to do great things, but I can do small things in a great way.” Perhaps service this Lent can start with your interactions with others, perhaps especially with those within your own family. Perhaps the greatest service you can offer to the Lord is letting go of your expectations of others and truly commending them to the Lord and embracing them for who they are, not for what you wish them to be. Or, if you are like me, perhaps a simple way of service is to stop insisting that things be done a certain way, and maybe even stop to truly listen to others’ suggestions.

“The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve. The greatest among you must serve the rest.” May the Lord continue to guide you this Lent in how you can serve, especially in so many quiet and hidden ways. May He even show you how you already are doing so.

And when you’re walking through the hallways and bathrooms of the BC campus or any public space, perhaps take a moment to thank the janitors for what they are doing and that you appreciate them. I mean, if they went on strike for a couple of months, after two weeks you’d REALLY have an appreciation for whom the greatest among us are.

The greatest among you must serve the rest.

And may God bless us, every one. 

Jim Macika is a member of the C21 Center's Pray It Forward community. He offered the above reflection on Wednesday, March 4, 2026. It is shared with his permission. 

Learn more about Pray It Forward here.