A dispute also arose among them [the disciples] as to which of them was considered to be greatest. Luke 22:24
What was the answer that Jesus gave these men? It’s very interesting. One would have thought Jesus would have said, “You are out of your place. You are selfish. Why would you raise such a question?”
But that isn’t what Jesus did.
He did something altogether different. He said in substance, “Oh, I see you want to be first. You want to be great. You want to be important. You want to be significant. Well you ought to be. If you’re going to be my disciple, you must be.”
But he reordered priorities.
And he said, “Yes, don’t give up this instinct. It’s a good instinct if you use it right. It’s a good instinct if you don’t distort it and pervert it. Don’t give it up. Keep feeling the need for being important. Keep feeling the need for being first. But I want you to be first in love. I want you to be first in moral excellence. I want you to be first in generosity. That’s what I want you to do.”
Martin Luther King Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) in A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King Jr., ed. James M. Washington, 265.