"How To Be Great" (Matt. 20:26-28)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/9/2023 9:53 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                Focus:  “How To Be Great”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                    Reference:  Matt. 20:26-28

 

            Message of the verses:  “26 "It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, 27 and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.’”

 

            What we will be doing in this SD is to look first of all at the introduction to these verses and then over the next few days go over the sub-sections as we look further into these verses.

 

            John MacArthur writes the following short introduction to these verses:  “This simple, clear passage is one of the most beautiful in the gospels.  The principle it teaches needs little explanation, but it is in great need of emulation by those who call Jesus Lord.”  Now I have to say that I am not sure as to what the word emulation means and have been trying to understand it so that I can understand where MacArthur is going with these verses.  The word “emulation” is used two times in the Word of God, in the KJV of the Bible.  Let us look at Galatians 5:20 and then look at the Greek word that is translated “emulation” and what its meaning is.

 

 “2205 ζῆλος zelos dzay’-los

 

from 2204; n m/n; TDNT-2:877,297;  {See TDNT 284 }

 

AV-zeal 6, envying 5, indignation 2, envy 1, fervent mind 1, jealousy 1, emulation 1; 17

 

1) excitement of mind, ardour, fervour of spirit

1a) zeal, ardour in embracing, pursuing, defending anything

1a1) zeal in behalf of, for a person or thing

1a2) the fierceness of indignation, punitive zeal

1b) an envious and contentious rivalry, jealousy

 

The following is a sentence that gives an example of how to use emulation:  “At the commencement of his new career he enriched the academical collection with many memoirs, which excited a noble emulation between him and the Bernoullis, though this did not in any way affect their friendship. It was at this time that he carried the integral calculus to a higher degree of perfection, invented the calculation of sines, reduced analytical operations to a greater simplicity, and threw new light on nearly all parts of pure mathematics.”

 

            I hope that this helps us to see where we are going as we look at these verses.

 

John MacArthur then writes the following:  “First Jesus presents the precept and then the pattern.”

 

            It is my hope to begin to look at “The Precept of True Greatness” in our next SD.

 

5/9/2023 10:19 AM