The Difference Between the Church and the State
Matthew 20.20-28
The really difficult word from Jesus comes when He plainly predicts His own death and resurrection (20.17-19), which the disciples clearly did not understand. The idea of a suffering Christ was foreign to their thought and expectations. We know they did not understand what Jesus came to do because of the request made by the mother of James and John for her sons to have the best places in the Kingdom (20.20-24). This bold request sparked bad feelings among the disciples and gave Jesus a teachable moment. The disciples were going for all the glory in the kingdom they were sure was coming, but clearly did not understand at all.
The next section shows two blind men who call Jesus “Son of David”, which is a clear Messianic title and expectation. And then comes the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. While riding on the back of a donkey, the crowd shouts “hosanna to the Son of David,” expecting the Kingdom to come right then and there. The crowds didn’t get it either because Jesus never did what they wanted or expected Him to do if He was really to be the Christ. Instead of cleaning out the Romans from the Holy City of Jerusalem, Jesus cleans out the moneychangers from the Temple, making the religious leaders furious.
Meanwhile, the little children were still calling Jesus the Son of David, the kids being the only ones who seem to get anything right in this context. This takes us full-circle back to where we started in this context: “for to such belongs the Kingdom of heaven” (19.14). The fact that the Kingdom belongs to little children has a direct connection to what Jesus is trying to teach His disciples in this text. The Kingdom of God is not what you think it is because it does not conform to worldly values or the goals of selfish, ambitious men. If you really want to understand what Jesus is up to, what the Kingdom of God is all about, and even more importantly, if you want to know how to be a part of all this, then you are going to have to radically change your thinking!
Jesus makes His point by a comparison. Jesus points to the world and its ways and then says that His disciples are supposed to be different, even the exact opposite of the world. The comparison Jesus makes is between how the State functions and how His Kingdom is going to function. These two realms are not at all compatible. The underlying principle that animates the secular State and that which defines the Kingdom of God are completely different. What might make you successful in the world will not make you successful in the Kingdom. And what makes you a part of the Kingdom of God will not work in the kingdoms of men. What Jesus is showing us here is the difference between the Church and the State. The Church is never to reflect the structure and attitudes that exist in earthly kingdoms. The Church is not of this world, even though it is in the world. At the very heart of this issue are two radically different attitudes toward power.
What Jesus says about the differences between the Church and the State is still a critical issue for every Church and every individual believer. Unfortunately, it has been extremely difficult for the Church to differentiate itself from the world in its attitude toward power and power structures. The Church has often sought worldly power for itself, and this trend continues to this day! We have to learn how to recognize this trend today, even in ourselves.
We need to look around at the secular world, particularly the power structure of the State, and notice how the world thinks about power. Then, by way of a contrast, we need to reflect on how Jesus thought about power and what He wanted His disciples’ attitude toward power to be.
Power seeks control.
In the context of human relationships, power is the ability to get your way. This implies that in human society there is competition and that everyone cannot have his way, because what we want conflicts with what others want. Power is a scarce commodity. There is only so much to go around. And that means most people are not very willing to share power. People are out to get power, not to give it up or give it away to someone else. We are naturally suspicious of other people. We must protect ourselves from other people who try to use us or take something from us. We must defend ourselves. At least, this is how we justify that desire to have control, independence, autonomy. The idea of being weak and at the mercy of others is a frightening thought, especially for Western people, who so highly value the ability to control their own destinies.
What we are really seeking we may not call power at all. We call it survival, freedom, or security. We are willing to go to great lengths for these things. We position and maneuver, and scheme, and plan so that the game will be called in our favor. We want the advantage, even if that means that other people will be disadvantaged. But that is their problem. I must do for me and mine while they must fend for themselves. So there is always this inherent struggle and competition in human society as everyone seeks for power.
That is what this mother was trying to do when she came to Jesus with a request for her two sons. We have to applaud her for her audacity and her honesty. She is willing to say and do what all of us secretly want to say and do, but are usually not willing to admit to other people. Before we condemn the mother of James and John for what she did, we need to reflect on a few facts about ourselves. She was acting for her sons, to get the very best for her children. Of course, she would also benefit from their position. If we can’t get the power for ourselves, we at least want to be as close as we can to someone who does have the power. This proximity and favor then provides us with some security. We like to play games and attempt to seek power and glory without appearing to be seeking power and glory. No one likes it when someone is obviously seeking power. But we are all seeking power. So we must do so in a sneaky, clandestine sort of way as if we really don’t want what we really want. Seeking power and glory for yourself must also be accompanied by a healthy dose of hypocrisy. You must not let others know what you really want. You might even need to lie to yourself to justify what you are doing.
Power seeks to win.
I don’t think the other disciples were angered by the fact that James and John’s mother made this request. I think the other disciples were angered by the fact that she made it first! Everyone in the world wants to be first. Second place is only the first loser! We learn from a very early age that human society and relationships are defined by competition. So it is advantageous to be ambitious. If there is something you want, then go after it with gusto!
The world very much admires people who are what they call “passionate” about life and who will go out and get what they want rather than just going with the flow. We admire strength, but even more important is the desire and willingness to use one’s strength to grab what you want, even at the expense of others. Remember that the top spots are few. To get there you will have to set yourself apart from others and make sure that you are noticed. You will have to promote yourself in the eyes of other people in order to get what you want from them. Ironically, you need other people to get the position you are craving. If others don’t notice you, then you can’t succeed.
James and John, through their mother’s request, were thrusting themselves into the center of Jesus’ attention. Now if you are the center of attention, that means someone else is NOT at the center. You have knocked everyone else out of the spotlight and everyone is looking at you! It feels good to be there while everyone else is fuming and mumbling to themselves. Seeing the indignation on other people’s faces is half the fun of winning!
But how do you then deal with it when you see other people are winning? You may be indignant like the disciples were with James and John. First, you need to acknowledge that the source of your indignation at other people who get what you wanted is selfishness. You are indignant because you are thinking about yourself first and your position rather than the good of the other person. Secondly, you must acknowledge a feeling of superiority. Jealousy is being incapable of being happy when someone else is blessed. Jealousy starts with a feeling of superiority: you deserve what you get, but no one else deserves anything they might get. If you look around at the world and human interaction, you will see constant indignation. People are always upset with one another. Why? It all comes back to selfishness and feelings of superiority.
Power seeks to take.
Jesus knew how the world works. Jesus Himself was not like the world. But Jesus did not operate out of some kind of sheltered, otherworldly naiveté. Do not mistake ignorance or simplicity for holiness. It was Jesus who said we should be as wise as serpents but as innocent as doves. Jesus is saying something like: “you know how the world works.”
What did Jesus notice about the world? The world has a certain power structure, which is typified by government. It is structured like a pyramid with a few powerful people at the top who rule everyone else. Jesus had in mind the structure of the Roman empire with Caesar at the top. The Jews were also subject to the powerful Roman empire at that time. They knew what it was like to be ruled ruthlessly and absolutely.
It is interesting to note that in the Old Testament the people of Israel were warned about the absolute power of a king. Israel was not originally set up to have a man rule them. They were supposed to be a theocracy. But the people wanted a king like the pagan nations. It is always a problem when God’s people want to be like the pagans! God gave them a king, but He also warned them through the prophet Samuel about the abusive power of kings:
“These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves” (1 Samuel 8:10-18).
Notice the repetition of the phrase “he will take.” The king who rules over you will take from you, not give you, like God does. God is a giver, not a taker. Men who rule over you are takers, not givers. Something that Samuel is trying to make clear to Israel is that it would be better for them to serve God than to serve a human king. God is always giving to you. A man will take from you when he rules over you. A human ruler is not going to be as good and kind as God is to you. But the people rejected God as their ruler and wanted a man to rule over them. And God gave them what they wanted. Be careful what you ask for!
It is the nature of humans to rule other humans ruthlessly and selfishly. There is this ideal of a ruler who is kind and beneficent. But that is only an ideal and it has been said that “power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Men who get power over others can rarely resist using it for their own purposes. If you do not want to do the will of the ruler, then he can simply punish you or kill you. This is just the way the worldly power structures work! I don’t think Jesus is saying that the State should not exercise authority because that would promote anarchy, which is not the will of God. But we must remember that all human relationships are tainted by sinful desires. And when sinners rule they are going to think of themselves first because selfishness is the root of all sin.
Christians are to be counter-cultural.
One of the things Jesus came to do was to establish a new community. We call this community the Church. This little band of disciples were the beginning of this community, and Jesus wanted to establish with them at the very beginning that this community was going to be different from the world. “It shall not be so among you.” Those are the key words in this text as Jesus makes a contrast between the world and His Church. We must remember that the Church belongs to Jesus. He has a right to tell the Church what to do and it is the Church’s responsibility to Her Lord to obey what He says. I don’t know how the Church can even be recognized if it is not obedient to the Lord.
The Church is to be counter-cultural. “It shall not be so among you.” Jesus is telling His disciples to look out at the pagan world and see how it operates: now, don’t you be like that! Think of the world and the Church as two cities. There is the City of Man and the City of God. What are the differences between these two cities? To begin with, the City of God has God as her authority. The City of Man rejects the authority of God and is in rebellion. Rather than submit to the power of God, the City of Man seeks to increase its own power. So here we have identified a fundamental difference between these two cities: The City of Man is seeking its own power and control, while the City of God is in a position of submission to the ultimate authority and power of God.
How would this difference manifest itself in the relationship of the citizens? How do the citizens of the City of Man relate to one another? They are always struggling with each other for power and control. Because they are not in submission to God and are seeking their own power, they must also struggle with each other because they do not want to be under anyone’s control. But the citizens of the City of God have no such struggle. It is not necessary for the citizens of the City of God to struggle with each other for power and control because they have already given up that struggle and have submitted themselves to the power and authority of God. Submitting ourselves to God’s power and authority releases us from this struggle for power and therefore sets us free to love and care for each other rather than always trying to keep each other down. The City of Man is recognized by strife, struggle, competition, and selfishness as each person tries to claw his way to the top. The City of God is recognized by submission, humility, and love as each person has no need to get to the top because they have already recognized who has that spot.
Christians are known by humble service.
Some people might look at what Jesus is saying here and respond by saying that this is really no different from the world. Jesus says “whoever would be great among you”, which seems to make the ambition to be great an acceptable pursuit while only changing the means to that end. In other words, I can still pursue the top spot, but I have to do it in a different way. That seems to be almost sneaky! Is Jesus advocating seeking the top spot by appearing to be nothing but a humble servant? It would seem to be better to just come out and let everyone know the truth. First of all, we do want to acknowledge a legitimate concern here. We never want to justify pretension. Trying to be a servant, and making sure everyone notices your great humility, is a behavior Jesus Himself rebuked in the Sermon on the Mount: “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 6:1). We should never serve just so other people see us serving and praise us, or that will be the only reward we get for our service! Every Christian should be sensitive to this because we still have a great desire to be praised by other people instead of praised by our heavenly Father.
Having acknowledged that problem with this text, we must go on to see what Jesus is actually saying here. Jesus is clearly making a contrast between the world and the Kingdom of God. Like in so many of His teachings, especially the parables about the Kingdom of God, Jesus is illustrating the fact that everything has been turned upside down by what God is doing in the world. The first will be last and last first.
In the world, the great people have servants. In the Kingdom of God, the great people ARE servants! In the world the greater you are, the more people you have who serve you. In the Kingdom of God, the greater you are, the more people you serve. I suppose that in the world a great person might have several homes, in which are many servants who do nothing but mop the floors. Jesus is saying that, in His Kingdom, the really great persons are those who mop the floors. What is valuable in the world is not valuable in the Kingdom of God. So the very definition of greatness has been turned on its head!
I don’t think the Lord despises ambition or desire. It is fine to aspire to greatness. You just have to understand what greatness means in the Kingdom of God! Greatness is defined as service. It is fine to aspire to be a great servant. Of course, most people turn up their noses at the idea of serving. They are too proud to serve. They consider it to be beneath them and an insult to their dignity and abilities. If you are a really great person, it would be wrong to make you a servant. What a waste of talent! But in the Kingdom of God there is really only one, great Person. Everything that we have is a gift that is on loan from the Creator. So it is only appropriate that we use those gifts to serve Him and not for ourselves and our own gain. Jesus is really just asking us to be ourselves and to be what we were created to be in the first place. We were created to serve God and there is nothing about serving God which robs us of our true dignity as His creatures. Human life gets all distorted when we try to become gods instead of serving God. In this way, humility is a great relief. It is a terrible burden to try to be gods! It is much better to be a servant and let God be God.
Christians live out the implications of the Gospel.
God is invisible and He has no needs. So how do we serve Him? How did Jesus serve? He did the Father’s will and He did it in a very specific and concrete way. Jesus was the Word of God who was equal with the Father. But Jesus became a servant of God and humbled Himself, taking the form of a human being. Jesus left heaven, where He ruled as God, and came to earth, where He was a humble servant. Jesus gave up ultimate power and became weak and lowly. Here is what the apostle Paul said about Christ:
“…though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:6-8).
This truth always reminds me of that poetic hymn called “Out of the Ivory Palaces”. The refrain captures what Jesus did when He left heaven and came to earth as a servant: “Out of the ivory palaces, into a world of woe. Only His great, eternal love made my Savior go.” Leaving heaven and coming to earth is what Jesus did in order to serve God and serve us. And then He went even further down by going to the Cross. Jesus deserved to be served because He is the Son of God. Yet, when He came to earth, He did not demand service but offered to serve us by giving His life as a ransom for sinners. The ultimate service is laying down your life. While the world is characterized by selfishness and a grasping after power, the Son of God became completely selfless and humble.
Nowhere is this illustrated more powerfully by Jesus than at the Last Supper, just before He went to the cross. Jesus did something then that surprised the sandals right off the disciples’ dirty feet, turning their ideas about the Kingdom of God upside down. “He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him” (John 13:4-5). Jesus did this because He knew that earlier that night the disciples had once again been arguing about who the greatest would be in the Kingdom of God. When He was done doing this humiliating act, Jesus made the point of it all crystal-clear to His disciples: “You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you” (John 13:13-15). Keep in mind that Judas was still at that table and Jesus even washed the feet of His betrayer! It was all a preview of the Cross and what Jesus came into the world to do for all of us.
He came into a world that did not recognize Him or appreciate what He did. He even served His enemies! When does that happen in the world? The world is concerned about crushing their opponents. Jesus came to die, to actually be crushed, for, and by, His opponents. We were all enemies of God when Christ died for us.
The Gospel is so radically different from the wisdom of the world. And this should make the Church radically different. We must be like our Lord, who gave up the power in order to serve the human race. Imagine a community of people who are completely selfless and humble. Imagine a community that loves and serves even those who are opposed to it. Where would you find such a community of people? Perhaps this is just idealism or wishful thinking. But it does not have to be. In fact, it should be the norm for those who want to be known as disciples of Jesus.
