A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. Luke 22:24
The problem that caused a dispute among the disciples of Jesus Christ is as old as the world. Since ancient times it has been a painful issue for mankind, and this issue, like no other, brought about countless troubles, tragedies, sufferings, incalculable grief and tears in the history of our long-suffering land.
We find manifestations of this problem even among the disciples of Jesus Christ. The twentieth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew has a story about the mother of James and John, who came to Jesus Christ with her sons and began to plead for them, trying to reserve the best places in the Kingdom of God for them. She wanted nothing less than her sons sitting next to Jesus Christ, one at His right and the other at His left.
At first the Lord gently tried to calm them down, saying: “You don’t know what you are asking…”, but it didn’t help. The desire to be the greatest blinded them and they were seriously determined to get their way. Then Christ sobered them up by saying that it’s not in His power, and that it is for The Heavenly Father to decide.
Upon hearing about this, the other ten disciples were deeply outraged by the treacherous act of Zebedee’s sons and their mother, but apparently they were having some of the same thoughts. We can see this a little later during an Easter evening when the disciples started their old debate over which of them should be considered the greatest.
Then Jesus Christ had to repeat the words he had said just a few days earlier to Zebedee’s sons and their mother. He repeated the greatest truth that would subsequently form the basis of the fellowship of all Christians, the truth that would astonish the world with its righteousness and invincibility, its sacrifice and love. This time the Lord taught them a lesson they remembered for the rest of their lives.
Let us mentally go back in time through many centuries. Following the disciples of Jesus Christ, we will walk into the upper room and from the far corner we will observe what happened on that memorable night when the disciples and their Teacher gathered there for Easter supper.
When the disciples came to the upper room and made themselves comfortable, they faced the fact that nobody offered them a feet washing. It had happened before and Christ didn’t usually attach much importance to it. But such a significant event as Easter supper demanded this custom to be followed. It was required by law.
As a rule, feet washing was offered by the master of the house or by his servants, but here the Lord and his disciples were left to their own devices. Thus, we can assume that the upper room, where the supper took place, was not in the main half of the house, and the master was in the other part of the house busy with his Easter Supper.
This assumption is also confirmed by the fact that the Lord sent Peter and John to make preparations for Easter in advance: Christ and His disciples had to take care of everything except for the room. Moreover, it can be assumed that the owner of the house was not particularly rich to afford servants or there were other reasons, but it’s a fact that no one offered them a feet washing, and the disciples had to solve the problem themselves: who would wash their feet?
Because in the East feet washing was traditionally done by servants, the big question in the disciples’ hearts was “who is the lowest among us?” None of them wanted to agree to it, because it would mean that the one who admitted to being the lowest would have to go through this humiliation.
Be that as it may, having come into the room and not looking at each other, they were stubbornly waiting for one of them to stand up and do it. But who would it be? Heavy silence fell upon the room, with the disciples casting awkward glances at each other from time to time, and then looking aside again. Everyone considered themselves great. Let’s try for a moment to imagine their thoughts.
Judas Iscariot was the only Jew among all the other Disciples of Christ. Apart from that, he was also a treasurer, so he could have thought something like: “Well, do these Galileans completely have no conscience? Do they really think that I, a Jew, will now wash Galileans’ feet? In addition to that, I’m not just a disciple, but a treasurer!”
As we know, the Jews living in Judea considered themselves cleaner than the Galilean Jews and here’s why. Galilean cities and villages were populated by a lot of Gentiles and for this reason faithful Jews considered Galileans unclean. Besides, having decided to betray the Teacher, Judas was apparently not very fond of those present and certainly was not inclined to wash their feet.
Peter and Andrew probably thought that since Jesus Christ called on them before all other disciples, they rightfully deserved the status of the first disciples and washing the feet of those who were called on later would look inappropriate.
Following Peter and Andrew, Christ called Zebedee’s sons – James and John, who, apparently, for their part, also claimed first places. Similarly, the rest of the disciples, each in their own way found enough compelling reasons to claim a higher position.
Perhaps, many of them scowled at John, reasonably believing that being the youngest among them, he was supposed to serve his older brethren. In any case, no one wanted to concede. The disciples were clearly on the verge of conflict, and it seemed that only the presence of the Teacher could restrain their indignation.
At that moment the Lord rose from his place and silently left the upper room. Agitated by their thoughts, the disciples didn’t attach any importance to it; there could be many reasons why the Teacher went out of the room. But as soon as the door closed behind Him, feelings, overwhelming the disciples, spilled out and their old dispute erupted again: which of them is the greatest? (Luke 22:24) This time, the dispute became more heated, because one of them had to suffer this particular humiliation and at that moment wash everybody’s feet. It meant that
from then on and forever this person would be considered the lowest in their circle. This realization caused each of them to be relentless.
Thus, the beginning of the Easter supper didn’t go well. The devil was already very close to success in his intention of poisoning the atmosphere of love and unity, at the last communion of the Lord with His disciples. From centuries of experience he knew very well how hard it is to put out the flame of vanity and pride burning in the hearts of men. He was already rubbing his hands together with pleasure, seeing that the Apostles had forgotten everything, and renewed the heated debate of who among them is greater.
Outrage and indignation increased every moment. The room was filled with heated voices, eyes were blazing with anger. Everyone found a compelling argument to justify himself, and suddenly! In the midst of the dispute the door opened… and all those present were dumbfounded. A dead silence fell upon the room.
The disciples expected to see anything but what they saw. They saw in the doorway the incoming Lord. But what is that!? Oh, God! They saw Him without outer clothing, with a towel wrapped around His waist and holding a basin of water for washing feet.
Without saying a word, he approached the closest disciple and quietly started washing his feet. Then he went on to the next one and so on. One by one the Lord washed their feet, carefully drying them with the towel that was thrown over his shoulder.
The words seemed to freeze in the Apostles’ mouths. But the fire of shame and remorse, that flushed their upset and embarrassed faces, mercilessly burned the poisonous growth of pride and vanity, that had spurted wildly in their hearts, just a
few minutes before, and that the devil so diligently cultivated, intending to destroy
the gospel in its infancy.
How insignificant and pathetic all of their arguments now seemed to them; complaints, resentments, claims, ambitions and dignity… In complete silence the Lord went up to Peter. When the Lord bent down and touched his feet, Peter’s heart couldn’t tolerate it. Taking his feet out from the basin, he was the first to break the silence, saying in a quiet voice: “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?…” (John 13:6)
It’s inexplicable what the Apostles experienced during these minutes that seemed to them as an eternity, when the Teacher taught them His last lesson on earth. But that time was enough for repentance, like a hot iron, to cleanse their souls of this vice for good, and make them capable of perceiving the last commandment of the Lord, which He commanded them that night. With tears in their eyes they listened to Him, and the seeds of Divine truth lay on good, purified soil.
John the Evangelist, apparently, was especially impressed by this event, that’s why he described the last supper of the Lord with His disciples in so much detail, devoting five chapters to the description. I’m sure that it was on the last night that John became the Apostle of Love, having absorbed the invaluable words of the last will and testament, for the Lord really told His disciples nothing but His last will and testament. A will and testament is usually made before death, and those were the last words of our Lord to His disciples, before His sufferings. They are recorded in the Gospel of John in chapters 13 to 18. The Apostles remembered this lesson for the rest of their lives…
As we read the Gospels, we can see this problem had long been poisoning the Disciples’ hearts. The enemy of human souls diligently worked on the Apostles’ vanity, planning to sow discord and to turn them against each other, knowing the destructive power of pride and vanity. In chapter 9 of the Gospel of Mark we can read that soon after returning from the Mount of Transfiguration, Christ and His disciples went to Capernaum, a
city in Galilee. At that time the clouds were already starting to gather over our Lord’s head, and he had to travel with great caution.
Since all the disciples of Jesus Christ, except Judas Iscariot, were from Galilee, Christ decided to choose another road to go to Capernaum. He believed that His disciples were known there, and the fact that He came to Galilee could have been discovered ahead of time. So, travelling this way, they safely arrived in Capernaum.
But while the disciples were walking towards Capernaum, separately from the Lord, the thought of which of them was the greatest came to them for the first time. Undoubtedly, this sensitive matter couldn’t be resolved in one minute, and they probably argued about it all the way to Capernaum. The reason for this assumption is that upon arriving in Capernaum, Christ suddenly asked them a question: “What were you arguing about on the road?” (Mark 9:33) (Luke 9:46)
This question silenced the disciples. They had nothing to answer. They had to admit that all the way they had been arguing over who was the greatest, or keep silent. If the disciples had talked about anything else, they would have gladly said that to the Lord, but sadly there was nothing to answer and they were silent.
Realizing the seriousness of the emerging problem, Christ gave them instruction, confirming it with a vivid example. He took a little child, and placing him in front of them, he said the greatest truth of the Gospel: “…for it is the one who is least among you all who is the greatest” (Luke 9:48).
Unfortunately, the problem turned out to be quite tenacious, and Christ had to remind his disciples every chance he had, that the purpose of His teaching is not to achieve superiority over other people. The truly great will be the one who manages to conquer all of life’s trials through humiliation and resignation. Providing numerous life examples, the Lord kept teaching this truth to them, patiently waiting for His effort to bear fruit.
Once when the Apostles had been offended by the inhabitants of one Samaritan village, for driving them away, and not wanting to welcome the Lord, they were furious and became eager to get revenge on their offenders for the embarrassment and humiliation. Not yet used to experiencing humiliation, they were seriously determined to burn their village with fire from heaven, so that from then on no one dared to offend the Teacher and His disciples.
But looking at their flushed faces and indignant eyes, Christ just silently shook his head. Deep in his heart He was grieving, because He saw how difficult it is for the seeds of His teaching to be planted in callous human souls. “You do not know what sort of spirit you are of,” – He finally said and forbade them from even thinking about it, saying: “for the Son of Man came not to destroy men’s lives, but to save them” (Luke 9:51-56)
Sitting in the house of one prominent Pharisee and seeing how the invited guests hurried, trying to take the most honorable seats, the Lord told them a parable saying that all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted (Luke 14:7-11).
Many healed people heard the same words from the Lord: do not tell anyone about this. (Matthew 8:2-4) (Matthew 9:27-30) (Mark 7:32-36) (Luke 8:41-56). Once the disciples asked him who would be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Having called a child again, Christ told them that whoever took the lowly position of that child was the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:1-4).
We have already read above about the Zebedee’s sons and their mother and the great victory of Christ at the Last Supper. Comparing these and many other extracts from the Scripture, we can see that the Lord continuously teaches us one particular gospel truth: Whoever wants to be great should learn to be a servant. That’s probably why in churches our brethren, who dedicate their lives to work on the Lord’s field, are called “ministers” (in Russian “sluzhytel”= “servant”).
Many centuries before the birth of the Messiah, the prophet Isaiah predicted how God’s power would manifest itself, when the Messenger from Above visited our land. We read in chapter 53: “…He hath no form, nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him”. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised and we esteemed Him not.”
In the Acts of Apostles we can read about Christ: “In His humiliation His justice was taken away.” (Acts 8:33) The second Epistle to Corinthians says: “For though He was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, but we shall live with Him by the power of God toward you” (2 Corinthians 13:4).
After the Last Supper the Apostles learned this truth well and no epistle contained as little as a hint of their previous ambitions. The question of “Who is the greatest” became a thing of the past and never again worried the Apostles’ hearts. In their epistles we can find a lot of wonderful instructions, that teach all followers of Christ that the power of God is not manifested in the proud majesty of earthly kings, not in splendor of pompous worship, not in the brutal force of soldiers’ bayonets, but the Lord is displayed in weakness, in a broken and diminished heart, where He does what He pleases.
