“The Great God and Our Quest for Greatness”
Luke 9:46-50
March 22, 2026
It’s hard to be humble. Pride may show up at the most unexpected times and unexpected places.
Consider the story of William Masvinu and Mison Sere. For three years (2012-14) William won Zimbabwe’s annual “Mister Ugly” contest. But in 2015 he lost the title to Mison. And he protested, “claiming that Sere was ‘too handsome’ to win and his ugliness wasn’t natural since it was based on missing teeth.…‘I am naturally ugly. He is not. He is ugly only when he opens his mouth,’” William said. And Mison proudly replied, “…[He] should just accept that I am uglier than [him]…I hope to get a TV contract. I already moved around schools performing and showcasing my ugliness so this is a chance to make it on TV.”
So a new claim to fame — “I’m uglier than you…” The quest for greatness is greater than I thought.
But maybe we shouldn’t be surprised by the pursuits of pride. After Jesus showed His inherent glory on the mount of Transfiguration to Peter, James, and John, and after He demonstrated His Messianic power by casting out the powerful demon from the possessed boy, and after He revealed His great humility to the disciples by reiterating His intention to go to the cross, the Twelve got into an argument about who was the greatest among them. Remarkable. (And I don’t mean that in a good way.) And so like us.
Even in the presence of true greatness, the temptation of the flesh is to be prideful. It was true in the Garden of Eden, it was true with the Twelve, and it is true of us. Said one writer, “The proud man is simply one who bends the knee and worships a more hateful idol than can ever be found in the whole catalogue of heathendom, and its name is ‘Self!’”
Jesus’ interaction with the Twelve and their battle with pride is instructive for us as well. It reminds us…
If we want to be great, we will be great in knowing and following Christ.
Greatness isn’t in accomplishments or position; greatness is a gift from God given to those who are humble and low. “Unlike the world, status is not a virtue.” [Bock] In these verses, Luke records the final episodes of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee, which is a reminder to the Twelve (and us) to take up their crosses and follow Christ (v. 23). Believe in Him. Submit to Him. Love Him. Obey Him. Why? Because He is great and we are not. In these stories we see two temptations of pride and two pathways to humility and greatness…
- To Cultivate Humility, Serve the Lowest (vv. 46-48)
- The temptation: “I’m greater than you” (vv. 46-47a)
- The correction: “I will serve you” (vv. 47b-48)
- To Cultivate Humility, Serve with the “Outsider” (vv. 49-50)
- The temptation: “He’s not worthy of serving with us” (v. 49)
- The correction: “Welcome fellow servants of Christ” (v. 50)
Download the rest of this sermon on Luke 9:46-50.
The audio will be posted on the GBC website by Tuesday.
Raphael, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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