Serving Christ Jesus, The King

Meditations on the Book of Philippians

June 22, 2020

Serving Christ Jesus, The King

I have no one else like Timothy, who genuinely cares about your welfare. All the others care only for themselves and not for what matters to Jesus Christ.

Philippians 2:20-21

Read: Philippians 2:19-24

In my meditation on Philippians 1:1-4, I emphasized verse 4, “Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others” (NRSV), and I noted that Paul urges the followers of Jesus to take seriously the self-sacrificing way of life modeled by Jesus. In today’s passage, Paul subtlety connects verse 4 with Jesus’ parable of the Last Judgment in Matthew 25. You will recall that the epicenter of that parable is Jesus’ assertion about the least of these: “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’ (Matthew 25:40). In verse 4, Paul urges us to “look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others,” and in verse 21 Paul contrasts Timothy’s lifestyle with that of unnamed others, “All of them are seeking their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.” (NRSV) Paul is saying that Timothy is fulfilling verse 4 by not focusing on his own self-interest, but focusing on the interests of others, which Paul says is the interest of Jesus Christ. Paul is saying that Timothy, by serving others ahead of his own self-interest, is serving Christ Jesus, the King.

In the story that Jesus told, the people represented as sheep offered assistance when they saw someone in need. They didn’t throw money at the problem. They didn’t send someone else. They offered their hand; they gave their water; they touched and bandaged the wounded; they listened with compassion. They served because service was needed, not to be noticed or rewarded. They served because God created us to be in community, and when you are in community you are not seeking your own interests, but those of Jesus Christ.

My Takeaway: Jesus’ parable is not about some people getting rewarded for good deeds, and some people getting punished because of the good deeds left undone. Ultimately, it is a parable about allegiance. At the end of time, it is not a matter of who we say we are; it is a matter of whose we are. Those who actually align themselves with the King will reflect the King’s goodness. Those who actually align themselves with the King will reflect the self-sacrificing way of life modeled by King Jesus.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Copyright © 2020 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

• Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

• The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.