The True Path To Greatness
LENT DEVOTIONAL 2026 | DAY 38
Luke 22:7–65 (NIV)
By Adriel Loh, Chairperson, Church Governance and Risk Committee
READ:
Luke 22:7–65 (NIV)
The Contrast
The passage brings us into the final hours before Jesus’ crucifixion. The scenes move quickly. Jesus prepares the Passover meal, fully aware that it was a foreshadowing of His own death. During the supper, He speaks about His body being broken and His blood being shed, even as betrayal is already unfolding among those closest to Him.
Yet, in this sacred moment, the disciples miss the plot. They argue among themselves who is the greatest and Peter boastingly declares his loyalty. And in the Garden of Gethsemane, while Jesus prays in anguish, His disciples give in to sleep. When the soldiers arrive, one disciple lashes out with a sword, attempting to force an outcome God had not ordained.
But Jesus remains steadfast. He heals the wounded servant, rebukes the violence, and submits to an unjust arrest. Peter follows at a distance and soon denies knowing Him. Jesus is mocked and beaten, yet He does not defend Himself or assert His power. Throughout the passage, human ambition, boasting and self-assertion stand in sharp contrast to Christ’s surrendered sacrificial love.
The Path
In this passage, we see a stark contrast that reveals a powerful truth. The disciples clamoured for greatness, boasted in their own ability, gave in to
their own desires, tried to manipulate the situation to achieve an outcome, and asserted themselves when God had not called them to. This is the world’s path to greatness—ambition, boasting, self-gratification, manipulation, and self-assertion.
By contrast, Jesus shows us a radically different path. His body would be beaten. His blood would be shed. He would be betrayed by those closest to Him—Judas through his calculated betrayal, Peter through his threefold denial. Through it all, Jesus teaches us the greatest truth of all—that the true path to greatness is the path of sacrificial, selfless love.
He tells His disciples explicitly that the greatest among them is the one who serves. Indeed, the entire Passover meal was a preparation for His own suffering and death—the ultimate act of sacrificial, selfless love.
The path would not be easy. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus experienced profound anguish, so intense that He sweated blood. Yet He surrendered His will to the Father’s. He endured the suffering and submitted to death because He was looking forward to something greater—the deliverance of our souls and the coming of the Kingdom of God where the saints would reign with Him forever.
Our Response
Let us examine ourselves as to which path we are walking. Are we striving for greatness by clamouring for it? Are we boasting in our own ability, trying to manipulate the situation to achieve our own outcome, or asserting ourselves where God has not called us to?
Let the truth in the passage reshape our understanding of greatness—not as self-advancement or self-promotion, but as sacrificial, selfless love. Let us each practise an act of sacrificial service—something that costs us our comfort or convenience. It may be listening instead of speaking, yielding instead of insisting, forgiving instead of defending, or serving instead of lording. Throughout, let us pray as Jesus did, “Father, not my will, but Yours be done.”
[ Reflection Questions ]
- Are there areas in your life where you are tempted to pursue greatness through self-assertion rather than surrendered obedience?
- What does sacrificial, selfless love look like for you in this season—something that is costly to do but leads to a greater end?
- Is there someone in your life whom God is calling you to show sacrificial, selfless love to?
