“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”
— John 12:24
And He said to her, “What do you wish?” She said to Him, “Command that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine may sit one on Your right and one on Your left.”
— Matthew 20:21
The disciples had the same conflict with the Lord that John the Baptist had. Consider James and John. Even their mother came to the Lord and asked Him if they could sit on His right hand and on His left. This was their human concept. “How can we be big? How can we be somebody? How can we be manifested?” But the Lord answered graciously, “It is not up to Me, but to the Father” (Matt. 20:20-24).
Throughout all of Jesus’ ministry there was a conflict between Him and His disciples. Peter said to the Lord, “Behold, we have left all and followed You. What then will there be for us?” All Peter had before was a fishing boat. Still, the Lord was gracious, and told him, “You will receive a hundred times as much and shall inherit eternal life” (Matt. 19:27-29). This shows that His disciples didn’t understand Him. Even John the Baptist didn’t understand Him. Their psychology was different from His. What was the reason? It was this: the Lord Jesus knew that He must fall into the ground and die; He knew that this was the only thing that counted.
Adapted from the online series, Serving the Lord as a Seed, Message two, pages 2-3.
Tomorrow: “The Lord’s Example of Being a Seed” (6)