www.bible.com/111/mat.20.28.niv
You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave-just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.-Matthew 20:25-28
In order to understand these verses you have to understand what happened immediately before these verses. In the verses preceding these (Matthew 20:20-24) the mother of James and John came to Jesus with a strange request. Came to Jesus and asked that her two sons get to sit on Jesus’ right hand and left hand in Jesus’ kingdom. What she was asking for was that James and John be given positions of great authority within the kingdom that she thought Jesus had come to establish here o earth. She wanted her sons to be the most important people in this new kingdom that the Messiah was suppose to be coming to establish. What she failed to realize is that Jesus did not come to establish an earthly kingdom, rather he came to establish a heavenly kingdom and in this new kind of kingdom everything would be turned on its head. In an earthly kingdom those who are in positions of authority are the ones who are served, but in Jesus’ kingdom, the kingdom of Heaven, the ones in positions of authority are the ones who are serving. We see no greater example of this than Jesus washing his disciples feet prior to the last supper (John 13:1-17). This concept has come to be called servant leadership. It is the concept that leaders must first and foremost be willing to serve and not be served. Image what the world would look like if we all practiced servant leadership. If you want to see change happen in the world, then it is time to start practicing servant leadership and stop looking to be served and start looking to serve others.