August 24, 2023

Today's Reading: Luke 22:24-30

Daily Lectionary: 1 Samuel 20:1-23, Acts 28:16-31

But I am among you as the one who serves. (Luke 22:27b)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. St. Bartholomew was one of the Apostles. He traveled with Jesus,  listened to Jesus teach, and saw Jesus’ miracles. He heard again and again about who Jesus is and what Jesus was going to do. And yet, he didn’t get it. 

In today’s reading, he was with the disciples as they argued about who was the greatest. This argument occurs right after Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper! It is Holy Week! Jesus is soon going to the cross! And yet, the apostles, including Bartholomew, are concerned about right now. They want a judgment of ‘who is the best.’ They want power, authority, and status. If they were declared the best, then they weren’t the worst -they weren’t last. 

Jesus knew what they were discussing. And even on the cusp of going to the cross and His own painful death, He continues to love them and teach them. He recognizes the power that comes with status: ‘For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table?’ (v. 27a). And yet, He points to Himself, who is the greatest of all, and clearly states that He is their servant. He, the Savior of the whole world, came to serve and save. Even amidst and after their squabbling, Jesus reminds them that His Kingdom will be theirs. 

We are like Bartholomew and the other disciples. We don’t get it. We focus on this temporal world and want power, glory, and dominion now. We want to be the greatest and the best; if you are the best, you don’t need help and aren’t weak. And yet, left on our own, we are dead; we are powerless against sin, death, and the  devil. We are unable to save ourselves and certainly cannot dominate over anything else. We are lost and helpless. 

In His mercy, Jesus saves us. He went to the cross to pay for the sins of the whole world, including Bartholomew’s and including yours. He forgives us our every sin, washes us in Baptism, sends us the Holy Spirit, and keeps every promise. We too are inheritors of His Kingdom. We too are conquerors; it is not by our own merit, but by His mercy and grace. 

Bartholomew died a martyr’s death; God gave him faith and was with him, even unto death. God gives us faith and is with us every moment of this life and the next. We rejoice in the certainty that we are loved, forgiven, and redeemed. We look forward to being in heaven, with Bartholomew and all the saints, eternally praising and worshiping our Savior Jesus. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

For all the saints who from their labors rest, Who Thee by faith before the world confessed, 

Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest.  Alleluia! Alleluia!  (For All the Saints. LSB 677:1)

-Deaconess Sarah Longmire is the bible study editor for Higher Things.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the Pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, Ky.

Study Christ's words on the cross to see how you can show more Christlike grace in your life. Perfect for group or individual study, each chapter has a Q&A at the end, and the back of the book includes a leader guide. Available now from Concordia Publishing House.