Matthew 20-22

Just a few words here:

• The greatest is the one who serves other people! God's leaders are servants, not lords. This is how the love of God is expressed in our leaders and in every believer's life. Jesus gave us this example - "the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." Someone once said, "ask not what your Church family can do for you, but instead ask what can I do for my Church family." Interesting to note that most people choose a Church family and leave a Church family based on how they are "being served." This is the direct opposite of what Jesus teaches in Matthew 20:28.


• Chapter 21, Jesus enters Jerusalem to face His death on the cross. This entry shows how He is "laying His life down", willingly. No man is taking it, He is giving His life as a ransom for many.


• What a day that must have been when Jesus entered the Temple and confronted all the buyers and sellers and money changers! He turned over their tables and drove them out! Jesus was displeased and enraged over how these business men were ripping the people off. They were over-charging and taking advantage of the authority they had been given. They had turned a holy thing - worship - into a business - Temple, Inc. On our trip, Ray Vander Laan said something that really stuck with me - "When God gave His Word to the Hebrews, He gave it as a Story. The Greeks turned it into a philosophy, the Romans turned it into an organization, the Europeans turned it into a culture and the Americans turned it into a business."