Jesus, Greatest at the Table :: Luke 22:24-30

[Prayer]

Heavenly Father, we thank and praise you for calling Bartholomew into humble service, so that through the proclamation of Your Word and the administration of Your Sacraments, people all over the world have come to know Your saving name through Your means of grace. Lead us now to receive your service. In Jesus’ name.

[Introduction]

Saint Luke reminds us today of an incident in our Church history that is NOT something to be proud of. The Apostles were disputing among themselves: Which of them does [Jesus] think is the greatest [at the table]? (v 24).

After three years of following Jesus, you’d think they would’ve known better. Jesus had already rebuked them at least twice for similar incidents (Lk 9:46, 18:17). But after watching Jesus serve God’s people for three years ... teaching, preaching, healing, praying, and breaking bread ... the founding members of the Holy Christian and Apostolic Church began acting like children playing games, disputing among themselves: Which of them does he think is the greatest? 

Peter and Andrew ... James and John ... Bartholomew, Matthew and Thomas ... James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor, put themselves on a pedestal ... right after eating the Lord’s Supper!

Surprised? 

You shouldn’t be. 

We are constantly measuring ourselves against one another, shamelessly trying to knock each other down a peg in order to lift ourselves up in the game called ‘who’s the greatest.’

4. And like the disciples ... we should be ashamed. 

Immediately before our reading, Jesus took bread, broke it, and gave it to them saying: This is my body, the one given on your behalf. Do this in the remembrance that is mine. And in the same way, [he took] the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out on behalf of you all. However, behold, the hand of the one betraying me is with me on the table. For the Son of Man goes as it’s been determined. However, woe to that man through whom he is betrayed. And they began to debate among themselves: Who, then, out of them might be the one who was about to do this (vv 19-23).

This is where our reading begins. Luke writes: Then a dispute also happened among them: Which of them does he think is the greatest? (v 24)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the apostles were arguing about who’s a sinner and who’s a saint ... who’s condemned and who’s blessed ... who will descend and who will ascend ... who loves God the most.

So Jesus said to them, the kings of the Gentiles lord over them, and those in authority over them are called good workers. 

But it should not be this way with you! Rather, let the greatest among you become like the youngest, and those governing as those serving. For who is greater: The one reclining or the one serving? Is it not the one reclining? (vv 25-27ab).

In his loving rebuke of the twelve, Jesus points out that ... in God’s kingdom ... true greatness is found in the least likely places ... weakness ... hardship ... lowly service ... suffering ... the cross ... the empty tomb ... the altar ... in service. 

Then Jesus said ... I ... I Am in your midst as the one serving (v 27c). 

3. One of those receiving the service of our Lord was Bartholomew, one of the least of the apostles.

We don’t know much about this saint. He’s certainly not the first apostle that comes to mind when we think about the great ones. He doesn’t have the prominence of Saints Peter and Paul, James and John, or even Matthew and Thomas. His name is mentioned just four times in the Synoptic Gospels and Acts ... always in a simple list of the apostles. But Bartholomew did what Jesus told him to do ... without complaint. He served the church. He preached the Gospel. He baptized young and old. He administered the Lord’s Supper. 

Tradition teaches us that when Saint Bartholomew left Jerusalem following the Ascension of our Lord, he went to Armenia. There, he served the church by preaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments. This led to the creation of the oldest Christian nation in the world. Ultimately, he was martyred for his faithfulness to the Gospel because someone was afraid of how the Gospel serves the world.

This is why we remember saints like Bartholomew, who faithfully served the Church by sharing the Gospel of Christ, the word of the cross and empty tomb. His bold witness is a model for us all.

2. Now ask yourselves: Are we not just like Bartholomew, who debated true greatness?

Think about that. We are all baptized into the death and resurrection of Jesus (Rm 6:3) ... into one body (1 Cor 12:13). The bread we break is communion in the body of Christ, and the cup we drink is communion in the blood of Christ (1 Cor 10:16). Our Lord serves us with these means to deliver the forgiveness of sins ... and therefore, the greatness of life and salvation in his kingdom. 

And he calls us to repent of our idolatry of one-upmanship and to receive the forgiveness that comes with repentance the Lord gives. 

[Catechism]

Please now open your [Lutheran Service Book] to page 327. 

• What is the benefit of this eating and drinking?

• How can bodily eating and drinking do such great things?

• Who receives this sacrament worthily?

As our reading from Proverbs reminds us: My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you. Let not steadfast covenantal love and faithfulness forsake you (Prv 3:1-3a). 

Soon, you will be afforded the opportunity to join all the saints, including Bartholomew, where affliction, persecution, and strife are no more. Soon, our fight against the darkness of doubt and despair will end. Soon, like Bartholomew, we will recognize ...

IN HIS SERVICE TO YOU, JESUS IS THE GREATEST AT HIS TABLE

1. Our Lord’s service didn’t end with the Great Supper. 

Jesus then led the disciples to the garden for a service of prayer. Then after being betrayed, Jesus continued his service by being nailed to a cross, where he was called the least among you. He bled and died for you. He offered for a single sacrifice for sins into perpetuity (Hb 10:12). Yet because he is actually the greatest at the table and in his kingdom ... on account of his sinlessness ... He is now risen! ... and He continues serving you ... giving you the keys to the kingdom. 

As Jesus concluded, You are those who [have remained and continue to remain] with me in my trials, and so I confer to you, as my Father conferred to me, a kingdom, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit upon thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel (vv 28-30).

[Conclusion]

While we are afflicted, we are not crushed. While we are perplexed, we are not driven to despair. While we are persecuted, we are not forsaken. While we are struck down, we are not destroyed. We are always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies (2 Cor 4:8-10) ... in his Great Name. Amen.