one step: Matthew 20.3

But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Jesus lived all of His days in humble obscurity as a servant to all.* Think about that for a minute. From this place of lowliness, His life story came to a climax in being murdered in the most heinous of ways. This is not the campaign strategy of any politician or world leader in history. What made the difference? Many obscure men had lived and died on a cross during the reign of the Roman empire.

Fully God and fully man, Jesus lived the perfect life and rose to life again after His death, thus paying the price for our sins. These feats were not done by the effort of a man, but by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Despite the example, words, and repetition of Jesus, the disciples did not understand the work of Jesus in the way that they later came to understand it. Later they would see how low they must go and how much of the Holy Spirit they needed to empower them as witnesses.

Honestly, as we look at Jesus and allow Him to challenge our concept of leadership and discipleship, I do not always know what that looks like in my life. What does a life in our culture look like that seeks to serve all to the point of no credit and no reward?* Does it look like accountants, teachers, and politicians quitting their jobs and disappearing into obscurity? I don’t think so. Jesus took fishermen and made them fishers of men. Could God take accountants of numbers and make them accountants of men? What would that look like?

What does it look like for you to serve as a servant to all in the context in which God has placed you, seeking obscurity of self and the fame of Jesus?

Today, take a step.

Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to ask God to remind you of why He called you into the space you are in. Perhaps God wants to remind you of the powerful and beautiful lowliness He desires for you. Maybe God wants to show you someone to serve today.

Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.

Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus. Take a step today… just one is fine.

Feel free to comment at the bottom of this page! We would love to hear from you!

*Leon, Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew. Pillar New Testament Commentary (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1992), 508–513, and Keener, C. S., Matthew (Vol. 1, Mt 20:20-28) (InterVarsity Press, 1997).

one step: Matthew 20.2

And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”

In Matthew 20, many people were heading up to Jerusalem for passover.* I imagine the streets full of people ascending to the great city of David. Carts and mules and people on foot walking up the streets. Their excitement for the holiday increasing with each step closer to the holy city. It is in this context of hustle and bustle, heading to Jerusalem with many others to celebrate the angel of death passing over the people of God in Exodus, that Jesus pulls the disciples aside and out of the flow of traffic. On the way to the city of peace, Jesus tells them that He will die.

This is not the first time that Scripture tells us that Jesus told them that He would die, but this sacred backdrop gives us an idea of how difficult it must have been for the disciples to receive His words. Surely, a man who heals, transfigures, multiplies food, knows what people are thinking, speaks in parables, is uniquely and totally divine, is the Messiah, and is one with God must mean something else with these words. Surely, walking up to celebrate the passing over of the angel of death, Jesus must mean for them to assume that death will pass over Him. Surely, the religious leaders of their day that cannot out-think, out-talk, or capture Him cannot possibly ever overcome Him. Surely, Jesus is the overcomer.

With this context, the disciples once again miss the words of Jesus (we know this because later they are grieving sullen because of His death). They did not even ask Him to explain it. It’s almost as if their silence says, “Sure Jesus. Sure thing. Let’s continue our journey.”

How often do we miss the meaning of the words of Jesus because of our context? How often do we hear Jesus ask us to give, and we just think of money? How often does He ask us to pray for someone and we think He means worry about them? How often does Jesus ask us to pick up our cross and we think that He means go to a building every Sunday? How often does He tell us we will influence the world for Him and we think that means we should be famous?

I can tell you that in my life, I thought that for a long time that the call of God on my life to tell others about Him through the sport of soccer meant that I would be famous. I spent years using my own fame as a filter for His words to me. It took me a long time to come to a place where I would hear His words for how He meant them. When I did, it changed my life for the better.

Pausing long enough to ask Jesus what He means is crucial. We must allow Christ to define Himself and His words; we must not attempt to do it for Him. We see in part; He sees all. We must do this when He speaks something to our hearts, and we must do this while reading His Word. “What does this mean to me?” is a dangerous question to answer out of our own understanding. “What does this mean to You, God?” is a question of disciples.

When we do not believe or understand words of Jesus like, “I will be crucified,” we miss words of Jesus like, “I will then be resurrected.” To understand the power of resurrection, we must understand the devastation of crucifixion.

There are things that Jesus wants to say to you tomorrow that requires you to hear what He is saying today. Jesus will faithfully speak to us. He will tell us of today, and He will tell us of tomorrow. The questions remain, will we hear Him? Will we understand from His perspective?

Today, take a step.

Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to hear the words of Jesus through His perspective. Perhaps God would have you revisit something He spoke to you that you either did not think came true, or is not going as you planned. Maybe God wants to help you to see as He sees. Perhaps God wants you to pause on the journey up to the next big thing to hear His words. Maybe God wants you to abandon the habit of assigning meaning to His words for Him.

Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.

Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus. Take a step today… just one is fine.

Feel free to comment at the bottom of this page! We would love to hear from you!

*Leon, Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew. Pillar New Testament Commentary (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1992), 505–508, and Keener, C. S., Matthew (Vol. 1, Mt 20:17–19) (InterVarsity Press, 1997).

one step: Matthew 20.1

So the last will be first, and the first last.

As a young kid, I would use this verse to feel good about having to stand in the back of the line at school. As the other kids fought for the first place in the line to drink from the water fountain, I smugly went to the back. I felt good knowing that somehow this move would actually place me first. As the confident little person that I was, I would obnoxiously announce, “the last will be first, and the first will be last!” I wanted everyone to know that while it appeared as though I was last, I was actually first. I was winning.

I think eventually over time my announcements and actions resulted in a daily fight to get to the back of the drinking fountain. I think we missed the point.

When Jesus shares this kingdom concept as a part of a parable, He takes yet another opportunity to share with us the surprises that await us when we come to the place where we can see the kingdom in its fullness. The dynamics of the Kingdom of Heaven uproot and flow against what we think makes sense.

We think of God’s actions of grace through the filter of our own human understanding and experiences. This filter often times looks like earning. We have to earn our wages. We have to earn respect. We have to earn our grades in school. We have to earn a spot on the sports team. Earning is a part of the worldly economy.

A glimpse of heaven occurs when someone gets some good that they do not deserve. In the parable of Jesus, the workers who worked the longest days of all got exactly what was agreed upon: a full day’s wage. The justice of the vineyard owner could not be questioned. When the workers who worked less than a day’s work also got a full day’s wage, justice was still maintained for no agreement was made with these workers; they were subject to the property owner’s view of what was right. The act of the property owner was not an effort to be unfair (for justice was maintained). The property owner paid the workers according to his heart of grace to give them what they needed to survive one more day.*

As followers of Jesus, it’s easy to look at what God has done for someone else and think, “I’ve been waiting and working more faithfully and longer than them, and look what God has done for them! That’s not fair!” God’s grace is hard to understand through the filter of earning. If we are able to look at our own lives and the lives of others through the kingdom filter of His love for others and His desire for them to make it one more day and when we see that none of us deserve or can earn the salvation which we enjoy, then we will have that same grace and desire to share it with ourselves and others.

The first will be last, and the last first had more to do with God’s grace toward all than it does about our earning. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter who was first or last; God’s grace is for all who would receive it.

Today, take a step.

Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to give more grace to yourself and others. Perhaps He wants you to take off the filter of earning and look at the world and those around you with grace. Maybe He wants to welcome you in to His field for blessing and He wants you to be okay not having to earn it.

Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.

Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus. Take a step today… just one is fine.

Feel free to comment at the bottom of this page! We would love to hear from you!

*Leon, Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew. Pillar New Testament Commentary (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1992), 498–505, and Keener, C. S., Matthew (Vol. 1, Mt 19:30–20:16) (InterVarsity Press, 1997).

one step: Matthew 19.4

Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?”

The prevailing belief in the days of Jesus amongst the Jewish people was that if God was pleased with you, then He would bless your business. To see someone with wealth meant to see someone with whom God was pleased and had determined to bless. In this cultural dynamic, followers of God desired wealth as a symbol of right standing with God. Though John the Baptist had little and was largely seen as a holy man, he was an exception to the rule and did not demolish it. To the disciples, the words of Jesus that a rich person could have difficulty entering into the kingdom of God challenged their entire belief construct.*

If rich people, who were presumed to be in good standing with God, could only enter the kingdom of God with difficulty, what did that mean for the poor? What did that mean for the disciples who gave all they had away to follow Christ?* What hope could they have?

This mentality does not seem to escape our American Christian culture. While God can and does cause businesses and finances to prosper for His purposes, financial security, material abundance, and success do not equate to right standing with God. In fact, Jesus turns the cultural beliefs of His time upside down by saying that those with much need extra help getting into heaven. Why?

Entrance into the kingdom of God is impossible for all. None can earn it. All who would enter need to rely wholly on Christ for salvation. Christ is sharing that those who have much have much to set aside in their hearts if they are to trust on God fully; this is not easy task. The poor have little to lean on for comfort, safety, or pleasure. Why would Jesus focus on wealth as stumbling block when other stumbling blocks can exist? Because that was the one in this young man’s life, and Jesus was addressing him in his journey. What does God want to address in us?

In our day and age, Americans, even those who do not seem to have much, are some of the richest in the history of the world.* We cannot earn our way into the kingdom, and giving away all we have will not pay for admission in His presence. God calls us all to be willing to set all aside if He asks; God calls us to rely totally on Him. Jesus is to be our Lord.

What are you holding onto today that you would say, “I cannot give that up!” This thing that you hold so closely to may stand in the way of serving Him; it may even be an idol in your life. He may not ask you to give it to Him, but He is asking you to be willing to.

Following Jesus may not feel easy. It can feel as difficult as giving up those things most dear to you. Jesus tells us though that the treasures awaiting those who give all for Him far outweigh what we have experienced here on earth.

Today, take a step.

Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to evaluate what you hold most dear. Perhaps God is asking you to release something or someone to Him. Maybe today it’s time to say, “I surrender all.”

Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.

Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus. Take a step today… just one is fine.

Feel free to comment at the bottom of this page! We would love to hear from you!

*Leon, Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew. Pillar New Testament Commentary (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1992), 492–497, and Keener, C. S., Matthew (Vol. 1, Mt 19:23–30) (InterVarsity Press, 1997).

one step: Matthew 19.3

“Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?”

This short question holds the essence of the human solution to heaven. “We just need to love more.” “Be kind.” “Pay it forward.” Phrases such as these reflect attempts to create heaven here on earth through human determination. They are attempts to do something to have eternal life. These efforts are not enough because people do not have enough. You and I, sourcing from our own will and strength, do not have enough to create the heaven for which we desire here on this earth.

Jesus can serve as the gate to the Kingdom because He is eternal. His will and strength are where we must source our own. We must turn to Him and depend upon Him for eternal life.

The rich young ruler, though he claimed that he obeyed each of the commandments his entire life, recognized through his questioning Jesus that attempting to enter heaven via his own strength was not enough. Effectively, he was asking “what else must I do?”

The simplicity of the answer of Jesus came as a disappointment to the young man not because Jesus’s answer was too simple, but because it challenged the man at his core.* Jesus told the man to love His neighbor as himself, and the man claimed that he accomplished this. When challenged with action, however, the man realized that something stood in the way.* Jesus challenged the man to express his love for his neighbors completely by giving his neighbors the same luxury that he enjoyed: met needs. And Jesus asked Him to give it all.

In this moment, the rich young man is challenged with the reality that a) he may not love his neighbor as himself, b) he has misunderstood who his neighbor is, c) he does not really love himself, or d) that he loves his possessions more than God (aka his possessions were his god). Whichever of these options was true for the heart of this man, he left that day as a sad example to each of us.

Jesus does not take advantage of this opportunity to bemoan wealth, for those with wealth helped to support the ministry of Jesus (see e.g., Luke 8:1-3). In this exchange, Jesus points to each of our hearts, inviting us to allow Him to identify what may stand between us and complete devotion to Him.

Entering eternal life is not about the “one more thing to do;” entering eternal life is about the “one more thing we must surrender.” We must surrender all, allowing Jesus to be our Lord (master) and Savior. Jesus did not necessarily need this man in this moment to give all away that he owned. He needed this man to be willing to do whatever Jesus asked of Him; Jesus requires complete devotion.*

Today, take a step.

Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to allow Him to point out what may stand as an idol in your life. Perhaps God wants you to surrender an area of your life that you have attempted to hide from Him. Maybe God wants you to give something of your time, riches, gifts, skills, or talents to someone in need. Maybe God wants you to abandon your effort to try to earn eternal life in exchange for His effort to secure eternal life for you. Perhaps God wants you to surrender all.

Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.

Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus. Take a step today… just one is fine.

Feel free to comment at the bottom of this page! We would love to hear from you!

*Leon, Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew. Pillar New Testament Commentary (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1992), 487–493, and Keener, C. S., Matthew (Vol. 1, Mt 19:16–23) (InterVarsity Press, 1997).