Was Matthew boasting about the cash he had made during his time as a chief tax collector? Or was the row about physical prowess, stamina, or endurance (they were all men after all!)? Or was it about more personal matters, and to do with family wealth, their children, their wives?
Because we will never know, it is impossible to speculate (although good fun and an interesting exercise). There can be little doubt, however, that the detail of the row would have been at a very low level and clearly cast them all in a very poor light indeed. In a way, though, such incidents point to the utter reliability and authenticity of the Scriptures. Because if the Gospel writers were simply writing propaganda (as they can sometimes be accused of), they would have sought to gloss over or cover up this kind of embarrassing weakness and failure. Instead, their insecurity and self-doubt are on show for all the world to see for all time.
If you want to be great, Jesus tells them and us, become the least, the servant of all; better still, take on the disposition and attitude of a child (children and women were virtually non-citizens in these ancient cultures). The teaching is staggering – so refreshing, so radical, so alternative, so counter-nature, let alone counter-cultural. There is true freedom in humility, but it is always grounded in true knowledge of God and self. We grow in humility to the degree that we grow in our knowledge of God’s greatness and our smallness. ‘God is great’, is the prayer of the humble!
