Luke 22 verses 26 & 27. “But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.”
Instead of fighting for more recognition, better places at the table, and hiding secret ambitions, Jesus wished the disciples to be of the opposite mind-set and to display an opposite disposition. Therefore he tells them that the one regarded as the greatest should become like the “youngest” (v 26). The youngest in any group was considered to be the one with the least honour. We might have expected Jesus to say “the least” but instead in this passage he uses the word “youngest”. Remember that in the Old Testament, which would be the only bible these men know, old age was always regarded with honour and held in respect [Leviticus 19:32; Job 32:6, 7; Proverbs 16:31 and Proverbs 20:29]. So what Jesus is saying is that the real wisdom, the real genius of greatness is to become like a servant.
Thus in verse 27 he appeals to a practice his disciples would have known well and they would appreciated, to ask them, “who is greater, the one who is at the table, or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table?”
Everybody would have said, “The one who is at the table”. True greatness in their minds would be to have someone wait on you! That would show how important you are. Now the one who was giving this Passover Feast was Jesus. Generally speaking, he was the one who was “at the table”. But see what he says in v 27: “But I am among you as one who serves”. In fact in John 13 verses 1-11, John gives us more background to this eventful evening and describes Jesus as washing the feet of his disciples.
In fact the entire purpose of our Lord coming to earth was to serve. Read again the words of Matthew 20 v 28:
“Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many”.
Jesus came to serve us in an ultimate fashion by going to the Cross for us so that we might be saved.
If he did that for us, is it right for us to moan and complain if we are called upon to be a servant to others? No, it is not.
Remember we are saved, to serve. Are you serving someone else as a display of your love for Christ? If not do you think you could start now?