Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. 21 And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” 22 Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” 23 He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” 24 And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. 25 But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 26 It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, 28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Jesus Heals Two Blind Men
29 And as they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him. 30 And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” 31 The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” 32 And stopping, Jesus called them and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” 33 They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” 34 And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him. Matthew 20: 20-34 ESV
Matthew 20: 20-34 Mama's Boys
…27“Look,” Peter replied, “we have left everything to follow You. What then will there be for us?” 28 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, in the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for the sake of My name will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.… Matthew 19: 27-29
The mother of the sons of Zebedee - Jesus referred to these two, James and John, as the Sons of Thunder because they wanted to call down fire on those opposed to Jesus, but maybe thunder is another name for their mom. Jesus is probably very familiar with her, has probably been a guest in their home, and looking at Matthew 19 above, she and the disciples are now aware of the roles that the twelve will hold in the New Kingdom. There are twelve disciples and Jesus mentioned twelve thrones, so now their concern shifts to the proximity of their chairs to His. He has already been teaching them about the importance of humility, but we humans are always more enamored with pride. They still don't comprehend, and to be clear, neither do I, just how far Jesus has stooped down to help them. Yes, even if they were the only one's living in this world, Jesus would have to go through all that is coming up. They need Him as their Passover Lamb no less than the greatest sinner in the world.
You do not know what you are asking - The glory they want to share in, to sit next to, is proportional not only to what they will physically see Jesus go through, but also Who it is going through this. They will never proportionally share this honor with Him, for He is God, descending from heaven, adding humanity to His deity, living a perfect life, as that of a lamb without spot or blemish. They can never kneel so low, give so much, and never will there be such a void between them and the objects of their charity. Another way of saying it is never will they give to someone so much less deserving. Jesus shared in their humanity, but not in their sin, He had to remain clean to be a sacrifice Holy and acceptable unto God. He had to be God to satisfy the justice of an infinite Being. They are in a non-negotiable place, only able to give as they have received. Remember, God can raise up stones.
…38Then He said to them, “My soul is consumed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with Me.” 39 Going a little farther, He fell facedown and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.” 40Then Jesus returned to the disciples and found them sleeping. “Were you not able to keep watch with Me for one hour?” He asked Peter.… Matthew 26: 38-40
Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink - Jesus is about to be not only crucified, the human punishment of Rome, that which the disciples will all run from, but He is going to face something far worse. Jesus will receive the just wrath of an eternally holy God. God hates sin, and He Who knew no sin will become sin on my behalf, He will become the object of God's justice. The innocent will pay for the guilty. I can't even begin to overexplain this because I can't wrap my head around ideas like infinite and eternal, but I can see that there is only One suitable mediator for this, and that is the God Man, Christ. This is the perfect bridge between fallen humanity and Holy deity, the infinitely just and the hopelessly corrupt.
…11After the anguish of His soul, He will see the light of life and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant will justify many, and He will bear their iniquities. 12Therefore I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the spoils with the strong, because He has poured out His life unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors. Yet He bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors. Isaiah 53: 11-12
We are able - Better translated, "We don't know what were talking about." They sound like people from the corporate world that have gone to see a motivational speaker, and what they were taught is to answer quickly (knee jerk), say it with confidence (pride), and just believe in yourself (delusion). It is great to want to do great things for the Lord, but He's going to have to explain to them again what that looks like. If only life was as easy as saying yes to everything.
…4Remain in Me, and I will remain in you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me. 5I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers. Such branches are gathered up, thrown into the fire, and burned.… John 15: 4-6
“But these men slept in Gethsemane, forsook the Master when He was arrested, and one of them at least failed Him at the cross…we can only follow Christ in his cup and baptism, after we have been endued with the Spirit of Pentecost.” (Meyer)
You will drink my cup - You will get a taste of this, James was the first of the apostles to be martyred, and John the beloved was tortured and imprisoned on the Island of Patmos. Wonder what Judas is thinking, huh? He is being more and more pushed away by the faithful preaching and teaching of Jesus. Many pastors would benefit their flocks if they would teach the whole counsel of God, addressing people's misconceptions, that is enough to drive out many a Judas.
Is not mine to grant - God the Father has already decided this before time.
“He comes to do not his own will, but the will of him that sent him, and so he correctly says of rank in his kingdom, It is not mine to give. How thoroughly did our Lord take a lowly place for our sakes! In this laying aside of authority, he gives a silent rebuke to our self-seeking.” (Spurgeon)
When the ten heard it - They were mad, everyone wanted the same promotion and these guys got their mommy to go and ask with them.
The rulers of the gentiles lord it over them - Worldly rulers aren't public servants, even where Christianity has been introduced, people will usually only pretend at service, try to milk service. We have politicians here that get votes by promising people money in return, yet they themselves want those people to back their play no matter how gross, and turn a blind eye to all their quid pro quo. They want to be served, want to be adored, cheered at speeches that someone helps them write. They want power and authority, titles and comforts.
It shall not be so among you - Judas is yawning now.
Whoever would be great among you must be your servant - This is upside down, this is not what we signed up for, and only the Spirit of grace can change a man's mind on this. Remember the sermon on the mount, He elevated humility, put down doing good deeds to be seen by men. We should desire to be great, but by God's standard, not by the standard of our fallen nature. It should be to His glory. The word for servant here also ties to the role of deacon, and in the Christian, Biblical context, these were men who desired to serve. They served those in the community who did not have the means to pay them, the widows and orphans, and they did it without making a post on Facebook. It is a sad place the role of deacon has come to, where men like the title, will give someone a ride to church, tell others so they get a pat on the back, but live lives that know nothing of holiness. They are the first to do the ice box challenge, to donate money where they know they will have their names tooled into one of the bricks, but deacons were actually called to those who could never pay them back. They were to be men of discernment also, not giving just to give, but also taking into account the actual need and the person's willingness to work. Deacons helped those struggling, not those milking another system.
…3But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 5And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward.… Matthew 6: 3-5
1Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to Your name be the glory, because of Your loving devotion, because of Your faithfulness. 2Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”… Psalm 115: 1-2
Whoever would be first must be your slave - By our standard this is an even lower position than servant, lower than the deacon stoops. Are you sure when you read this that you were called into the ministry? What were your real motives? I am wrestling with mine right now, wondering why have done some things and left others undone. It is not wrong to want to be remembered for good, but let it be true of us, for God's glory, His honor. We should all participate with the intent to win, to run the race like Eric Liddell in Chariot's of Fire, to take hold of the prize, because we run as representatives of the Kingdom, of the One Who made it possible for us to still live. I am the slave of Christ because He purchased me with His blood.
1This is a trustworthy saying: If anyone aspires to be an overseer, he desires a noble task. 2An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3not dependent on wine, not violent but gentle, peaceable, and free of the love of money.… 1 Timothy 3: 1-3
23I do all this for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings. 24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way as to take the prize. 25Everyone who competes in the games trains with strict discipline. They do it for a crown that is perishable, but we do it for a crown that is imperishable.… 1 Corinthians 9: 23-25
15What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law, but under grace? Certainly not! 16 Do you not know that when you offer yourselves as obedient slaves, you are slaves to the one you obey, whether you are slaves to sin leading to death, or to obedience leading to righteousness? 17But thanks be to God that, though you once were slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were committed.… Romans 6: 15-17
1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set out for us. 2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.… Hebrews 12: 1-3
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