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252
Humble Hero
body of believers. If Jesus had delegated any special authority to
one disciple above the others, we would not find them arguing so
often over who would be the greatest. They would have honored
the one Jesus chose. Instead of appointing one of them to be their
head, Christ said, “Do not be called ‘Rabbi.’” “And do not be called
teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.”
Matthew 23:8, 10
.
“The head of every man is Christ.” God, who put all things
under the Savior’s feet, “gave Him to be head over all things to the
church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”
1
Corinthians 11:3
;
Ephesians 1:22, 23
. The church is built on Christ
as its Foundation. It is not to depend on any person or be controlled
by human wisdom or power. Many claim that a position of trust in
the church gives them authority to dictate what others must believe
and do. The Savior declares, “You are all brethren.”
Matthew 23:8
.
We cannot depend on any finite being for guidance. The Rock of
faith is the living presence of Christ in the church. Those who think
that they are the strongest will prove to be the weakest, unless they
make Christ their Source of power. See
Jeremiah 17:5
;
Psalm 2:12
.
Jesus instructed the disciples to tell no one that He was the Christ.
The people, and even the disciples, had such a false concept of the
Messiah that a public announcement would give them no true idea
of His character or work.
The Disciples Had Not Envisioned a Cross to Come
The disciples still expected Christ to reign as an earthly prince.
They believed that He would not always remain unknown and that
the time was near when He would establish His kingdom. The
disciples had never entertained the thought that Christ would be
rejected by His own nation, condemned as a deceiver, and crucified
as a criminal. Jesus must alert His disciples to the conflict before
them. He was sad as He anticipated the ordeal to come.
[192]
Until then, He had held back from telling them anything about
His sufferings and death. In His conversation with Nicodemus, He
had said, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even
so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him
should not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:14, 15
. But the
disciples did not hear this. Now the time had come for Him to pull