Matthew 20:20-28 Mark 10:35-45
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20 Then the mother of the sons of
Zebedee came to Jesus with her sons, bowing down and making a request of
Him. 21 And He said to her, “What do you
wish?” She said to Him, “Command that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine
may sit one on Your right and one on Your left.” 22 But
Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink
the cup that I am about to drink?” They said to Him, “We are able.” 23 He
said to them, “My cup you shall drink; but to sit on My right and on My left,
this is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared
by My Father.”
24 And hearing this, the
ten became indignant with the two brothers. 25 But
Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the
Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise
authority over them. 26 “It is not this way among you,
but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, 27 and
whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; 28 just
as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His
life a ransom for many.”
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35 James and John, the two sons of
Zebedee, came up to Jesus, saying, “Teacher, we want You to do for us
whatever we ask of You.” 36 And He said to them, “What do
you want Me to do for you?” 37 They said to Him, “Grant that we
may sit, one on Your right and one on Your left, in Your
glory.” 38 But Jesus said to them, “You do
not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or
to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” 39 They
said to Him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you
shall drink; and you shall be baptized with the baptism with which I am
baptized. 40 “But to sit on My right or
on My left, this is not Mine to give; but it is for those
for whom it has been prepared.” 41 Hearing this, the
ten began to feel indignant with James and John. 42 Calling
them to Himself, Jesus said to them, “You know that those who are recognized
as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise
authority over them. 43 “But it is not this way among
you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your
servant; 44 and whoever wishes to be first
among you shall be slave of all. 45 “For
even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His
life a ransom for many.”
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It seems ironic that immediately after Jesus has revealed
that He will suffer and die in Jerusalem; the disciples are worried about
positioning themselves in the kingdom.
They must have assumed He was speaking allegorically or in the form of a
parable. They clearly did not understand
the Jesus was not going to be establishing a kingdom any time soon. The disciples rightly discerned that Jesus
was the Messiah promised in the Old Testament.
They correctly understood Jesus was the proper descendent of David with
the right to reign over the nation Israel.
These aspects of Messiah were their great hope, but there were other
truths that presented Messiah as the suffering Savior that they chose to ignore
because it did not fit with their personal desires.
A SELFISH REQUEST: James, John and their mother come to
Jesus with a request that the two boys be given thrones on either side of Jesus
in His kingdom. Clearly, the coming of
the kingdom was the immediate expectation of this family and the rest of the
disciples. Even though Jesus had just
told them He would die in Jerusalem, their focus remained on the kingdom. The Messiah they anticipated was a political
figure who would free them from Roman oppression and establish them as ruling
elite. They wanted positions of honor in
the court of the king. It seems amazing
that these men went from humble fishermen to power hungry politicians is such a
short amount of time. Ambition is a very
prevalent desire in the heart of man. We
must guard our own hearts from the desire for us to increase in notoriety and
success through the works of the ministry.
A SACRIFICIAL REQUIREMENT: Jesus responds to the disciple’s
question with a question of His own. He asks
the brothers if they are able to drink from the cup He will drink. It is important to remember He has just told
them He will be tortured and killed in Jerusalem. They assure Jesus that they are able to drink
of that cup. However, it seems very
likely that they had no idea what they were promising. Jesus again responds by affirming that they
would eventually drink from His cup; in other words, they too would be tortured
for His sake and eventually killed. The
disciples ended up giving their lives for the cause of Christ, but at this stage
of the game, were still focused on the kingdom and not any kind of suffering. Jesus makes it clear that despite this suffering,
the positions requested were the Father’s authority to assign. It is an honor to serve Christ no matter what
the cost. We must be willing to
sacrifice and suffer not just rule and reign.
A SERVANT’S RESPONSE: When the other disciples heard about the
request James and John made, they were indignant. It seems clear this attitude came from a
heart that also wanted to be elevated to the same position. This sense of competition between the disciples
continues to be an issue in our hearts today.
We become jealous of one another’s success and compete for recognition. Jesus calls His disciples and reminds them
that the path to greatness and promotion in the eyes of the Lord is through
servanthood. We are to follow the
example of Christ who came to serve others and give His own life to save us
from our sins. Serving always involves
sacrifice and this is the life to which we have been called as His
followers. Humility, love and
sacrificial service are the marks of Jesus that must be reproduced in our own
hearts and lives.
APPLICATION: Be careful to keep the ambition of our own
hearts in check. Don’t allow the desire
for fame, position or power to grow in our hearts. Cultivate a willingness to suffer for the
cause of Christ. Be willing to joyfully
serve others as we love them and seek to model Christ’s humility.
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