Matthew 20:20 Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him. (21) "What is it you want?" he asked. She said, "Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom." (22) "You don’t know what you are asking," Jesus said to them. "Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?" "We can," they answered. (23) Jesus said to them, "You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father."
Apparently this teaching falls right on the heels of the parable of the vineyard and sadly we can see that the disciples missed the point of that parable entirely.
What was behind the mother of James and John coming to Jesus with this request is unknown. Was she put up to it by her sons? Was it just a mother’s desire to see her sons sitting in a high position? We just don’t know. This much we do know though; this was a very bold favor to ask of the Lord—especially in light of the fact that Jesus name for these two was “The sons of thunder.” See this: Mark 3:17 James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder) because of their fiery tempers. These were the guys who wanted to call fire down from heaven upon a Samaritan village that was not friendly toward Jesus. See Luke 9:54 When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?"
So in light of the question and the temperament of the two sons (James and John the sons of Zebedee) at that time Jesus answered their question with a statement and then a question of His own.
Matthew 20:22 "You don’t know what you are asking," Jesus said to them. "Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?" "We can," they answered.
First of all He said that they had no idea of the scope of what they were asking. It was pretty cheeky to ask to be placed in the number 2 and 3 positions in the entire kingdom of God. They must not have had a clue—or was that their exact point. Maybe they wanted all that glory that would go with those positions. Perhaps that is why Jesus asked them an additional question.
“Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?”
We cannot say they didn’t have a clue about the cup He was about to drink because He just got through telling them in verses 17-19 in this chapter. He had already told them what would happen when He got to Jerusalem and how He would be flogged and crucified and resurrected. Once again we see that cocky attitude as they dare to tell Him that they can indeed drink the cup that He will soon drink as they tell Him “We can.”
They get a reply that they will likely remember well on their dying day.
(23) Jesus said to them, "You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father."
Jesus tells them straight out that they will indeed drink from the same cup. This means they will indeed go through intense suffering and die for His cause. We know that James was put to death by King Herod. See this:
Acts 12:1 It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. (2) He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. We are not sure exactly how John died but tradition says that at one point he survived being boiled in oil. If this is true then they both suffered greatly and indeed did drink from the same cup as Jesus. (We must keep in mind that the only Apostle that we have absolute proof about how he died is James the son of Zebedee. All the rest that we think we know is based upon tradition and not scripture.)
Matthew 20:23b but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father."
As He continues to answer the request by the mother of James and John Jesus now reveals that in the final say it will be God the Father that decides who will occupy those places on the right and left of Jesus in the kingdom of God. If I were to speculate (and I am speculating here) I would think that those positions would go to the foremost person in the Old Covenant, Moses and the strongest supporter of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the New Covenant-and in my opinion that would be the Apostle Paul. Remember Jesus has already told the twelve disciples that it would be their jobs in the kingdom to judge the twelve tribes of Israel. As I say this is mere speculation on my part; it is merely a guess. I hope no one takes it out of context. Anyone can guess as to who would sit on Jesus right or left, what is your guess?
Matthew 20:24 When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. (25) Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. (26) Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, (27) and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—(28) just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
When the other ten disciples got wind of what just went on they were angry and upset with James and John. We can probably safely say that it created a pretty stiff backlash amongst them; stiff enough that Jesus found it necessary to call them into a huddle and set them all straight on what He expects of His followers.
(25) Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.
First of all Jesus takes the time to tell them about how the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them. He could have been talking about the Romans here although He does not mention them specifically. Since that entire part of the world had been under Roman rule for more than 50 years who else would be the rulers of the Gentiles. But keep in mind that Gentile is a term that also meant unbeliever, pagan or non-Jew. He speaks of a hierarchy here as we see Him mention the rulers but He also mentions the ruler’s high officials who also exercise authority over the Gentiles. These could be the various puppet kings of certain territories that operated under Roman guidance. Jesus is showing that there is a chain of command within the Gentile world with some in higher authority than others and some who rule but under direction of higher authority.
Now comes His point.
Matthew 20:26. “Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, (27) and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—(28) just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Notice that Jesus clearly says here that this type of hierarchy is not to be the way you are to structure yourselves. I think He did this so they would quite fighting amongst themselves each trying to be the leader. Instead Jesus redefines leadership here and this is one of the places where Christianity is supposed to differ from the pagan world’s structure of its groups. Jesus says that whoever wants to become really great amongst them must become the servant of all of them. And if that is not enough He continues by saying if a person wants to become first amongst them then they must become as a slave to them. Wow, there goes Management 301 out the window! Jesus followers must have a paradigm shift from what the world expects and to attain a high position they must outdo the others as a servant (a servant gets pay) and even become as a slave (a slave is not paid). And let me add Jesus does not expect this to be superficial in any way; He expects it to be genuine to the core.
Jesus never misses an opportunity to tell His followers that it is servanthood that must be uppermost in their minds as they attempt to follow after Him. In some churches today positions (such as deacon, secretary, treasurer, usher etc.) are dolled out based upon popularity or (even worse) financial status. This is a far cry from what Jesus is teaching right here. Jesus is saying that if one desires to hold a high position in a church/denomination then he/she must first prove themselves to be a servant of others to the highest degree. Popularity should never be the standard for selecting leaders, and certainly not wealth, it should always be the standard set by the Lord right here. Servanthood even to the point of acting as if they were the slaves of others is what He speaks of. Think how great churches would be if all the leadership positions were occupied by mega servants!
Realize please that Jesus has just set a standard for those who want to be in a high or leadership position. It will cost them in honest dedicated service to others; in actually treating everyone else as if they are your superior. How the church across the world would flourish if leadership came about in this way! It is more than something we should just think about. It is something that we must teach the church so that the type of leadership Jesus speaks of here will rise up and the church will be lead by those who have followed the direction of Christ. Remember Jesus clearly said the way the world is managed is NOT the way the church is to be run. Who has the better plan, the world or the Lord? When do we start to do things the way He directs us??
Matthew 20:28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
In closing Jesus tells us that we are to serve others instead of expecting others to serve us. His is the example to follow or do we have the audacity to think we have a better way than His?
