The Basis for Grace

Read Matthew 20:17-34

      The economy of grace in God’s kingdom isn’t without a basis.  The Kingdom isn’t like a government that prints money without the gold to back it up.  The suffering and death of Jesus will be the basis for God’s bountiful, magnanimous grace, for “the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many” (20:28).

      Meanwhile, the disciples continue to angle for position and power, James and John leveraging Jesus’ affection for their mother (possibly Jesus’ aunt; Matthew 27:56 with John 19:25), the other ten resentful and fretful that they just might pull it off.  They will not learn until later that Jesus’ self-sacrifice is not only the basis for God’s generous grace, but also the model for all who call him Savior and Lord.  Have we learned it yet?