The Greatest of all time.

Recently I was just sitting around thinking about the greatest performers of all time in their respective fields. I thought about how my favorite football player of all time is Jerry Rice and how he was the greatest wide receiver off all time. I also thought about basketball and who might be the greatest player of all time. Many say that this is Michael Jordan but, as many of my friends would tell you, I believe "Magic" Johnson was the greatest of all time. Then their is baseball. Is it Babe Ruth, Barry Bonds, I don't know.
In Mark chapter 9:33, Jesus disciples were arguing about who the greatest disciple was. In their minds they were trying to get an edge on who would be Jesus' right hand man. You see, in 63 B.C. the Roman general Pompey had led a Roman army into Jerusalem. As a result, the Romans now occupied Jerusalem. All their lives the disciples had heard about a Messiah that would come to save them and now he was here. In their minds Jesus had come to kick the Romans out of Israel and to set up his own kingdom. Even after repeated warnings about His future on the cross, Jesus' disciples still argued over who would be Jesus' right hand man and who would be the greatest in this new kingdom.
In a way, I think this describes all of us. We are constantly trying to make ourselves bigger and God smaller. The fact of the matter is, God is much bigger than all of us ever dreamed to be. In John chapter 1:19 we are introduced to a guy named John the Baptist. In this passage the Pharisees, (the religious leaders of the day) had sent priests and levites to question John the Baptist about who he was. In John 1:20 John the Baptist clearly states, "I am not the Christ." In this moment John the Baptist could have said, "Yep, I am the Christ bow down and worship my glory!" But, instead, John the Baptist gave up his 15 minutes of fame and chose to take a back seat to Jesus.
In John chapter 3 we see John the Baptist again. Now, John the Baptist, or John the Baptizer, was again doing business as usual baptising people. Until this time, John the Baptist had a virtual monopoly on baptizing. If you wanted to be baptized in these days, you went and saw John the Baptist. But now all of a sudden their shows up a new guy on the block and he is baptizing too. His name is Jesus. In verse 26, some of John the Baptist's disciples come to him throwing a fit saying, "Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan- the one you testified about- well, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him!" I can just imagine the crossed arms and the anger in their voice when they said this. In other words, they wanted John the Baptist to go and tell Jesus to stop baptizing people. Baptizing was their monopoly and they owned it.
John the Baptist again chooses to take a back seat the Jesus' when he goes on to say, "You yourselves heard me say that I am not the Christ but was sent ahead of him. The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, AND IT IS NOW COMPLETE! HE MUST BECOME GREATER AND I MUST BECOME LESS."John the Baptist could have had all the fame he ever wanted, but he chose to lay down his life for the advancement of someone far greater than himself, JESUS CHRIST.
In Matthew chapter 16:24 Jesus told HIS disciples, "If anyone would come after ME, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it." So my question to you today is this: Who's greatness are we living for our's or Jesus'? Meet me in the upper room of the Eagle Heights Church student building this Wednesday night to learn more.