“When Jesus came down from the mountainside…”
Matthew 8:1
Do you find it easy to slip into feeling competent as a leader? Things are going well and you are hitting your stride. You are enjoying accolades for good performance.
You find yourself feeling full. Satisfied. Even blessed. You are on top of the mountain!
But Jesus showed us that feeling blessed is only the first step.
What is your response to the blessings that you have been bestowed with?
From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. (Luke 12:48)
Jesus teaches us to come down from the mountain.
You can bet that Jesus felt extremely close to God while He was giving the Sermon on the Mount. He had literally climbed up closer to Heaven. He was up above the crowd. Divine wisdom flowed from His mouth and into the ears of people who were hungry for what He had to say.
He had to feel the crowd’s admiration. He had to feel God’s pleasure with His speech.
But, after providing the greatest moral discourse ever given, what did Jesus do? Did he hang around, soaking up the spiritual chemistry that God had created?
Let’s remember…
When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. (Matthew 8:1-3)
Now, in Jesus’ time, lepers were untouchables. Not only were they highly contagious (similar to Ebola victims today), but they were also considered to be spiritually broken.
There were certainly plenty of other people Jesus could have connected with as He walked through the crowd. People who were ripe and ready to draw closer to Him. People with resources to commit to His mission. People with social connections that could serve His movement. People that would feed His ego.
But Jesus didn’t pause to connect with those people. After giving the “keynote” of his life, He stopped just long enough to lift up the lowliest of the low.
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. (Matthew 20:28)
At this time of year, I am grateful for feeling close to and blessed by God.
But I am especially grateful for knowing what to do with that blessing, thanks to Jesus’ vivid, perfect example of servant leadership.
And, as the only birthday present I know how to offer to Jesus, I’m actively considering…
…what lepers might I be overlooking?
Blessings,
Mark, your reflection reminds me that there are individuals today who are not lepers in the diseased, contagious way. But there are people we avoid because we don’t want to get involved with someone who might be clingy, require too much of our time, or looks too needy. God knows my heart and he presents opportunities to be Jesus to others who I wouldn’t list as favorite people. They are not lepers, but I wonder if Jesus uses the leper to allow us to understand the deep rejections people feel.
Jane, you hit it right on the head! I truly believe the leper is a picture for us to understand that Jesus approached the un-approachable. We need to do the same thing. I need to be much better at this, and keeping this example from Jesus’ in my mind helps. Blessings on your day!
Mark, this is fantastic! Truly a great read as you masterfully incorporate love and grace with real world application. I’m excited to see who I will be led to touch next/who may need to even touch me in my moments of lepresy. Thank you!
Hey Steven, thanks so much for the feedback. You have definitely touched many in the fabulous work you do within God’s Kingdom! Thanks for your heart for servant leadership and the significant positive impact you are having on people’s lives in your journey. Blessings to you in all your endeavors in 2018!
Great point made in your post. We are all servants of our creator and God exists in all of us. But, those who equate servants as gifts of God are truly leaders of mankind. Sufferings and diseases are only tests one encounters to overcome successfully with the support of servant leaders like God (Jesus). Regards
Very beautifully said Asesh! We should have a desire to serve our Creator, and what a wonderful promise and gift to know that Jesus lives within us through the Holy Spirit to serve us as well. Thank you. Blessings to you and your family!