Who would you consider to be the greatest of all? When it comes to sports, there are many different opinions. Was it Jordan or Lebron? Was it Tom Brady or Brett Favre? When it comes to political figures, who was the greatest president? Was it George Washington or Abraham Lincoln? Was it Joe Biden or Donald Trump? When it comes to people in the Bible, who was the greatest believer? Was it Abraham or Moses? Was it Job or David? We could think about this for a long time and give reasons for one name over the other. But thinking this way often gets us into arguments that don’t accomplish much. And still we get caught up in long conversations.

In today’s message, we will see that this was something the disciples had been thinking about. They had recently heard some astonishing things from Jesus. It is difficult for a rich man (seemingly blessed by God) to enter God’s kingdom. Leaving all for Jesus would lead to God’s provision and … persecution. What? These were things that they had a hard time understanding. But in the end, Jesus told them what they needed to know and also what their focus should be. To be great they would need to… Wait a minute! Let’s not jump ahead to that just yet. We need to consider a few things before we are ready to understand what Jesus said.