The Law of Rank and Position in God's Kingdom
Geo. Macdonald, M. A. Matthew 20:20-28 Then came to him the mother of Zebedees children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him.… The notion of rank in the world is like a pyramid; the higher you go up, the fewer are there who have to serve those above them, and who are served more than these underneath them. All who are under serve those who are above, until you come to the apex, and there stands some one who has to do no service, but whom all the others have to serve. Something like that is the notion of position — of social standing and rank. And if it be so in an intellectual way, even — to say nothing of mere bodily service — if any man works to a position that others shall all look up to him and that he may have to look up to nobody, he has just put himself precisely into the same condition as the people of whom our Lord speaks — as those who exercise dominion and authority, and really he thinks it a fine thing to be served. But it is not so in the kingdom of heaven. The figure there is entirely reversed. As you may see a pyramid reflected in the water, just so, in a reversed way altogether, is the thing to be found in the kingdom of God. It is in this way: the Sen of Man lies at the inverted apex of the pyramid; He upholds, and serves, and ministers unto all, and they who would be high in His kingdom must go near to Him at the bottom, to uphold and minister to all that they may or can uphold and minister unto. There is no other law of precedence, no other law of rank and position in God's kingdom. And, mind, that is the kingdom. The other kingdom passes away — it is a transitory, ephemeral, passing, bad thing, and away it must go. It is only there on sufferance, because in the mind of God even that which is bad ministers to that which is good; and when the new kingdom is built the old kingdom shall pass away. But the man who seeks this rank of which I have spoken, must be honest to follow it. It will not do to say, "I want to be great, and therefore I will serve." A man will not get at it so. He may begin so, but he will soon find that that will not do. He must seek it for the truth's sake, for the love of his fellows, for the worship of God, for the delight in what is good. (Geo. Macdonald, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: Then came to him the mother of Zebedee's children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him. WEB: Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, kneeling and asking a certain thing of him.