A MOTHER’S REQUEST
MATTHEW 20:17-28
MARCH 31, 2019
A FEW WEEKS AGO, WE BEGAN A SERIES OF MESSAGES DEALING WITH VARIOUS INCIDENTS AS JESUS MADE HIS LAST JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM. OUR JOURNEY STARTED WITH HIS FIRST PREDICTION OF HIS DEATH WHERE HE PRAISED PETER AND THEN REBUKED HIM, FOR SELFISHLY STANDING IN THE WAY OF THE PLAN OF SALVATION.
LAST WEEK THE DISCIPLES ASKED JESUS WHICH OF THEM WOULD BE THE GREATEST IN THE KINGDOM, AND JESUS USED THE EXAMPLE OF A CHILD TO ANSWER THEM. HE SAID THAT WE NEEDED A CHILDLIKE FAITH TO BE GREAT IN HIS KINGDOM.
THE DISCIPLES THOUGH DIDN’T SEEM TO UNDERSTAND THE ANSWER. AFTER THE TRANSFIGURATION, THEY WERE THINKING WITH PRIDE AND SELFISHNESS, TRYING TO DEVISE SCHEMES SO THAT THEY COULD BE THE GREATEST. AS JESUS WOULD ANSWER TO JAMES AND JOHN, THEY DIDN’T KNOW WHAT THEY WERE ASKING FOR.
THERE ARE MANY TIMES WE SEE THIS IN THE WORLD OF BUSINESS. A PROMOTION IS SOUGHT AND RECEIVED, BUT IT IS ONLY AFTER STARTING THAT NEW ROLE THAT WE UNDERSTAND THE TRUE COST OF THAT PROMOTION, TO OURSELVES AND TO OUR FAMILY. THE WRAPPING LOOKS GOOD, BUT THE GIFT IS FOUND WANTING.
LOOK AT THE PASSAGE WITH ME.
BIBLICAL BACKGROUND:
JESUS IS RESOLUTELY SETTING OUT FOR JERUSALEM. HIS JOURNEY IS MOVING QUITE RAPIDLY NOW AND WE ARE ON ONE OF HIS LAST STOPS BEFORE COMING TO THE CITY.
LUKE TELLS US THAT HE IS TAKING A MORE DIRECT ROUTE FROM GALILEE TO JERUSALEM AND IT MEANT GOING THROUGH SAMARIA. THE SAMARITANS HAD A LONG STANDING FEUD WITH ANYONE GOING TO JERUSALEM, BASED ON RELIGIOUS GROUNDS. MOST PEOPLE WOULD HAVE AVOIDED GOING TO JERUSALEM BY WAY OF SAMARIA, BUT JESUS DIDN’T AND THE FIRST VILLAGE THAT THEY SOUGHT LODGING IN WOULD NOT HELP THEM OR WELCOME THEM.
IT IS HERE THAT JAMES AND JOHN COME TO BE KNOWN AS THE SONS OF THUNDER. THEY ASK JESUS IF HE WANTED TO CALL DOWN FIRE AND DESTROY THE CITY FOR REJECTING HIM. HE REBUKED JAMES AND JOHN FOR ACTING AGAINST THE PLAN OF SALVATION.
THEIR FOCUS HAD TO BE ON JERUSALEM, NOT ON A REQUEST THAT WAS FILLED WITH PRIDE AND SELFISHNESS. THEY BELIEVED THEMSELVES TO BE IMPORTANT PEOPLE AND THESE SAMARITANS WERE NOT SHOWING THEM RESPECT OR BEING HOSPITABLE. HOW DARE THEY DO THAT TO US? HOW DARE THEY TREAT JESUS THIS WAY, BUT IT IS MOSTLY ABOUT US. WE WILL HAVE OUR REVENGE.
ROMANS 12:19: DO NOT TAKE REVENGE, MY DEAR FRIENDS, BUT LEAVE ROOM FOR GOD’S WRATH, FOR IT IS WRITTEN: “IT IS MINE TO AVENGE; I WILL REPAY,” N SAYS THE LORD
THE SEEKING OF REVENGE IS SELFISH AND PRIDEFUL BECAUSE WE ARE RESPONDING TO OUR OWN HURT. WE WANT THE ONES WHO HURT US TO HURT JUST AS BAD. JESUS REBUKE WAS BECAUSE THIS WAS AN ACT OF JUDGMENT, ON THE PART OF JAMES AND JOHN. THEIR MISSION THOUGH WAS ONE OF SALVATION, NOT JUDGMENT.
WHILE ON THEIR WAY TO THIS NEXT DESTINATION, JESUS CALLS THE TWELVE TO HIM AND TRIES FOR THE THIRD TIME TO INFORM THEM OF WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN IN JERUSALEM. HE USES MUCH OF THE SAME WORDS HE USED WHEN HE FIRST TALKED TO THEM ABOUT HIS DEATH.
MATTHEW SEEMS TO DIVIDE THE TEXT INTO TWO SECTIONS. Vv. 17-19, TELLS US OF JESUS SPEAKING TO HIS DISCIPLES ABOUT HIS DEATH.
Vvs.20-28 SPEAK OF THE REQUEST THAT JAMES AND JOHNS MOTHER MAKES OF JESUS. IT WOULD SEEM AS IF THE EARLIER WORDS OF JESUS ABOUT HIS DEATH WERE UNHEEDED, AS THIS REQUEST SPEAKS OF WHEN JESUS SETS UP HIS KINGDOM, WHICH THE DISCIPLES FELT WOULD BE A PHYSICAL ONE AFTER THEY DEFEAT THE ROMANS.
I WANT TO CONCENTRATE ON THIS LATTER PART TODAY. I ALWAYS FOUND IT A BIT AMUSING THE WAY THIS HAPPENS.
EARLIER THE SONS OF THUNDER ARE REBUKED BY JESUS IN DEALING WITH THE UNRULY TOWN. NOW THEY HAVE A REQUEST TO MAKE OF HIM, A REQUEST THAT FOR ALL INTENSIVE PURPOSES MEANS “LET US BE THE GREATEST IN THE KINGDOM.” THEY HAD HEARD PETER REQUEST THIS TWICE, AND PERHAPS THEY FELT THEY SHOULD MAKE THEIR REQUEST NOW.
THEY HAD STARTED OFF BADLY SO WHAT COULD THEY DO TO IMPROVE THEIR CHANCES? THEY RESORT TO CHILDISH MEANS.
WHEN I WAS A CHILD IF I WANTED SOMETHING I WOULD ASK MY PARENTS. IF ONE SAID NO, I WOULD GO TO THE OTHER AND ASK THEM NOT INDICATING THAT I HAD TALKED TO THE FIRST. IF MOM SAID NO AND DAD SAID YES, I WOULD TRY TO GET DAD TO CONVINCE MOM. IT’S THE WAY OF A CHILD, PLAY ONE OFF AGAINST THE OTHER.
JAME’S AND JOHN’S MOTHER ARE WITH THEM DURING THIS PART OF THE JOURNEY. IF YOU THINK IT’S HARD TO SAY NO TO A MOTHER, TRY SAYING NO TO A JEWISH MOTHER. IT’S IMPOSSIBLE. SO THESE GROWN UP MEN WHO ARE ACTING LIKE BOYS SEND THEIR MOTHER TO JESUS TO ASK FOR THEM. WE HAVE AN IDEA OF WHAT JEWISH MOTHER’S CAN BE LIKE. WE PICTURE THEM AS OVERBEARING LIKE THE MOTHER ON “EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND.” CAN’T YOU JUST IMAGINE THE CONVERSATION.
“HOY JESUS, YOU’RE LOOKING THIN. THE BOYS AREN’T LOOKING AFTER YOU. COME BY MY HOUSE AND I’LL FIX YOU A GOOD MEAL. JESUS, YOU NEED MY BOYS TO HELP YOU WITH THE NEW KINGDOM. THEY’RE SMART, BETTER THAN THESE OTHER FISHERMEN. THEY ARE HARD WORKERS, I TELL THEM TO DO SOMETHING AND THE DO IT, AND THEY DON’T TALK BACK. YOU BETTER PUT THEM ON YOUR RIGHT AND LEFT SIDE WHEN YOU SET UP YOUR KINGDOM, OR WE’LL HAVE TO TALK AGAIN. REMEMBER, THEY HAVE TWO OLDER BROTHERS AND ONE IS NAMED BUBBA. KAPISH?
SALOME IN REALITY WASN’T LIKE THIS, BUT AT THE TIME HER REQUEST WAS IRRESPONSIBLE AND SELFISH. SALOME WAS RELATED TO MARY, AND MOST LIKELY ONE OF THE FIRST TO BE AT THE TOMB ON RESURRECTION MONDAY. STILL THOUGH WHEN IT CAME TO HER BOYS SHE WANTED THE BEST FOR THEM.
JESUS RESPONSE TO THIS GIVES US THE MEAT OF THE MESSAGE. FIRST THOUGH HE ASKS IF THEY CAN FOLLOW HIM IN WHAT HE IS DOING?
THEIR REPLY WAS VERY CHILDISH. OF COURSE THEY CAN. THIS IS NO PROBLEM AT ALL. THEY WILL FOLLOW NO MATTER WHAT.
THIS IS THE ANSWER OF A CHILD. THEY THINK THEY ARE BIG AND MIGHTY. THEY CAN ALWAYS BEAT US AT ARM WRESTLING AND CAN BRING US DOWN TO THE FLOOR AND THEN SIT ON US. THEY THINK THEY CAN MOVE ANYTHING. STILL IT IS THE ANSWER OF A CHILD. THEY ARE ONLY PHYSICALLY STRONG IN THEIR OWN MIND.
JAMES AND JOHN HAD NO IDEA WHAT WAS IN THE CUP JESUS WAS TO PARTAKE OF. HAD THEY KNOWN OF THE AGONY OF GETHSEMENE THEY WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN SO QUICK WITH THEIR ANSWER. THEY DIDN’T REALIZE IT, BUT THERE WAS A MISSING PART OF THEIR LIFE THAT WOULD NOT ALLOW THEM TO BE ABLE TO DRINK OF THAT CUP AT THAT TIME.
THE BIBLE SPEAKS OF SEVERAL DIFFERENT “CUPS”
1. GETHSEMENE’S CUP: MATTHEW 26:20-22. THIS CUP IS ABOUT SUBMISSION. IT MEANS TO FOLLOW HIM, NO MATTER WHAT.
2. LEADERSHIP CUP: MATTHEW 20:20-22. THIS CUP IS ABOUT SERVICE. WERE JAMES AND JOHN READY TO GIVE ALL FOR THE CAUSE OF CHRIST. ARE WE READY TO DRINK FROM THIS CUP. SPECIAL PARKING PLACES, HONORED TITLES, EXPECTED REVERENCES, ARE NOT THE MARKINGS OF MINISTRY SUCCESS, SERVICE IS.
3. COMMUNION CUP: LUKE 22:20. THIS CUP IS ALL ABOUT COVENANT. IT’S ABOUT THE PRICE THAT WAS PAID FOR OUR SALVATION.
4. CUP OF THE SPIRIT: JOHN 4:13-14. IT IS ABOUT THE OVERFLOWING CUP OF THE SPIRIT THAT IS FLOWING OUT OF YOU.
5. MARRIAGE SUPPER CUP: MATTHEW 26:28-29. THIS CUP IS ABOUT ETERNITY AND THE EXPERIENCE OF SHARING IN THE MARRIAGE SUPPER OF THE LAMB.
JESUS KNEW WHAT WAS AHEAD OF HIM, BUT THEY DID NOT. THEY EITHER DIDN’T UNDERSTAND OR DIDN’T LISTEN WHEN JESUS TOLD THEM OF HIS UPCOMING DEATH.
JESUS KNOWS WHAT IS IN THE CUP HE IS ABOUT TO DRINK FROM. IT CONTAINED THE SIN OF THE WORLD. IT CONTAINED HIS FATHER’S UNDILUTED WRATH AGAINST THOSE SINS WHISH WOULD THEN CAUSE HIS DEATH.
THIS CUP WAS SO TOXIC THAT IT CAUSED JESUS TO PLEAD IN GETHSEMENE:
MATTHEW 26:39: GOING A LITTLE FARTHER, HE FELL WITH HIS FACE TO THE GROUND AND PRAYED, “MY FATHER, IF IT IS POSSIBLE, MAY THIS CUP BE TAKEN FROM ME. YET NOT AS I WILL, BUT AS YOU WILL.”
I’VE ALWAYS BELIEVED THIS PLEA CAME MORE FROM THE HUMAN NATURE OF JESUS, BUT WE CANNOT SAY THIS FOR SURE, ANYMORE THAN WE CANNOT CONCLUDE THAT IT DIDN’T COME FROM HIS DIVINE NATURE. THE SON OF GOD ASKED THE FATHER TO LET THIS CUP PASS FROM HIM, AND YET JAMES AND JOHN SHOWED NO FEAR OF TAKING IT. IT IS NO WONDER JESUS TOLD THEM THEY DIDN’T KNOW WHAT THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT.
EVENTUALLY THOUGH JAMES AND JOHN WOULD DRINK FROM THIS CUP.
ACTS 12 RECORDS THAT JAMES WAS THE FIRST OF THE TWELVE TO DIE FOR JESUS. HEROD AGRIPPA, THE GRANDSON OF THE HEROD THAT TRIED TO KILL THE INFANT JESUS, HAD JAMES ARRESTED AND THEN BEHEADED BY SWORD. EUSEBIUS RECORDED A TRADITION THAT THE GUARD OR THE ACCUSER OF JAMES WAS SO DEEPLY EFFECTED BY HIS WITNESS THAT HE BECAME A BELIEVER DURING THE TRIAL AND WAS BEHEADED ALONG WITH JAMES. JAMES QULPED DOWN THE FULL BITTER CUP OF SUFFERING, BUT IN THE NEXT INSTANCE, THAT CUP BECAME SWEET AS HE WAS WITH HIS MASTER IN HEAVEN.
JOHN WAS CALLED TO SIP THE CUP OF SUFFERING MORE SLOWLY. HIS FIRST SIP IS RECORDED IN ACTS CHAPTER 5 WHERE HE WAS BEATEN FOR PREACHING ABOUT JESUS. ROMAN EMPEROR DOMITIAN LATER HAD JOHN ARRESTED AND ATTEMPTED TO EXECUTE HIM BY BOILING IN OIL, BUT JOHN SURVIVED. HE WAS THEN EXILED TO THE ISLAND OF PATMOS WHERE HE WROTE THE REVELATION. HE DIED IN EPHESUS OF “NATURAL CAUSES” AT THE AGE OF EIGHTY.
JESUS THEN GATHERED THEM TOGETHER TO ANSWER THE QUESTION WITH FINALITY, WHO WILL BE THE GREATEST? HE WAS GOING TO STOP THIS CHILDISHNESS ONCE AND FOR ALL. JERUSALEM WAS ONLY ABOUT A WEEK AWAY AND HE NEEDED MEN WITH HIM NOT CHILDREN.
HE EXPLAINED THAT THE WORLD LOOKS TO PRESTIGE AND PROMOTION TO MARK SUCCESS. YOU GET A BETTER JOB, OR A BIGGER PROMOTION AND ARE THE HEAD OF MANY PEOPLE NOW. YOU MAKE MORE MONEY THAN OTHERS AND HAVE MORE BELLS AND WHISTLES IN YOUR HOME, YOU KNOW, IN REALITY DUSTCOLLECTORS THAT YOU CAN NEVER USE BECAUSE YOU ARE AFRAID OF BREAKING THEM.
JESUS SAID THAT GREATNESS IS NOT MEASURED BY POSSESSIONS BUT BY SERVANTHOOD. LATER HE WOULD GIVE THE DISCIPLES AN OBJECT LESSON OF THAT FACT. AT THE LAST SUPPER HE WOULD GO AROUND AND WASH THEIR FEET, THEIR DIRTY, MANURE COATED FEET. THIS WAS A JOB RESERVED FOR THE LOWEST OF SLAVES. AFTER HE HAD FINISHED HE SAID TO THE DISCIPLES:
JOHN 12:12-15:
WHEN HE HAD FINISHED WASHING THEIR FEET, HE PUT ON HIS CLOTHES AND RETURNED TO HIS PLACE. “DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT I HAVE DONE FOR YOU?” HE ASKED THEM. 13 “YOU CALL ME ‘TEACHER’ AND ‘LORD,’ AND RIGHTLY SO, FOR THAT IS WHAT I AM. 14 NOW THAT I, YOUR LORD AND TEACHER, HAVE WASHED YOUR FEET, YOU ALSO SHOULD WASH ONE ANOTHER’S FEET. 15 I HAVE SET YOU AN EXAMPLE THAT YOU SHOULD DO AS I HAVE DONE FOR YOU.
JESUS WAS TELLING THE DISCIPLES AND US THAT WE MUST BE SERVANTS TO THE PEOPLE AROUND US, THAT WE MUST LIVE THE GOSPEL INSTEAD OF JUST SPEAK ABOUT IT.
WE LIVE IN A WORLD THAT IS SO ANTI-CHRISTIAN THAT IT HAS ACTUALLY SEEPED INTO THE CHURCH. THIS THOUGH IS A WONDERFUL OPPORTUNITY TO SHOW WHAT THE GOSPEL IS REALLY ALL ABOUT. JESUS SAID:
MATTHEW 20:28A: JUST AS THE SON OF MAN DID NOT COME TO BE SERVED, BUT TO SERVE,
JESUS THEN WENT ON TO SAY THAT TO BE GREAT YOU MUST BECOME A SERVANT OR A SLAVE. JESUS WANTS EACH OF US TO MODEL HIS ACTIONS OF WASHING HIS DISCIPLES FEET AND BE SERVANTS TO GOD, NOT JUST MAN. WHEN WE WORK WE DO NOT WORK FOR OUR EMPLOYER BUT WE WORK FOR GOD, SO SECOND-BEST FOR US JUST DOESN’T DO. WE CAN CUT NO CORNER, TAKE NO EASY WAY, BUT MUST STRIVE TO DO OUR BEST AS A TESTIMONY TO THE LORD.
JESUS IS CALLING US TO BE A BOND-SLAVE FOR GOD. PAUL TEACHES:
1 CORINTHIANS 9:19: THOUGH I AM FREE AND BELONG TO NO ONE, I HAVE MADE MYSELF A SLAVE TO EVERYONE, TO WIN AS MANY AS POSSIBLE.
A BOND-SLAVE IS AN OLD TESTAMENT CONCEPT. SLAVES WERE UNDER OBLIGATION TO WORK FOR THEIR MASTER FOR SIX YEARS AND ON THE SEVENTH YEAR THEY WERE ONCE AGAIN FREE PEOPLE. SLAVES WERE TREATED WELL DURING THIS TIME AND COULD CHOOSE TO REMAIN UNDER THE EMPLOYMENT OF THEIR MASTER ON A PERMANENT BASIS. ACCORDING TO EXODUS 21, THE MASTER WOULD TAKE THE SLAVE TO A WOODEN DOOR OR POST AND PIERCE HIS EAR IN FRONT OF JUDGES. THE SLAVE WOULD THEN WEAR AN EARRING AS A SIGN OF LOVING COMMITMENT TO THEIR MASTER.
YOU AND I BECAME BOND-SLAVES TO GOD WHEN WE ACCEPTED HIM AS LORD AND SAVIOUR. OUR EAR THOUGH WAS NOT PIERCED. HIS HANDS AND FEET WERE. HE HUNG ON THE CROO LIFE BLOOD DRINING FROM HIS BODY SO THAT ETERNAL LIFE COULD BE MADE POSSIBLE TO US.
AS OUR PASSAGE ENDS JESUS SAID THAT HE GAVE HIS LIFE AS A RANSOM FOR MANY.
RANSOMS ARE PAID BECAUSE OF KIDNAPPING. YOU AND I WERE KIDNAPPED SPIRITUALLY AT THE TIME OF THE FALL. WE WERE HELD UNDER THE DURESS OF SIN, WITH NO WAY TO ESCAPE. WE HAD NO FUTURE, JUST THE DARKNESS OF CAPTIVITY.
WHEN JESUS DIED ON THE CROSS HE PAID A RANSOM TO RELEASE US FROM THE CAPTIVITY OF SIN. IT WAS A RANSOM PAID TO GOD THE FATHER.
EPHESIANS 5:1-2:
FOLLOW GOD’S EXAMPLE, THEREFORE, AS DEARLY LOVED CHILDREN 2 AND WALK IN THE WAY OF LOVE, JUST AS CHRIST LOVED US AND GAVE HIMSELF UP FOR US AS A FRAGRANT OFFERING AND SACRIFICE TO GOD.
JOHN PIPER STATES:
“OUR SIN HAD, AS IT WERE, KIDNAPPED US AND PUT US IN A PRISON OF OUR OWN MAKING, FAR FROM GOD, IN THE CHAINS OF INIQUITY, UNDER GOD’S HOLY WRATH, AND POWERLESS TO FREE OURSELVES. ONE OF THE IMAGES THE BIBLE USES FOR OUR LIBERATION IS RANSOM. A RANSOM HAD TO BE PAID”.
THAT RANSOM WAS PAID BY JESUS ON CALVARY. AND HE COMMISSIONS US TO ACT AS HE DID TODAY.
WE MUST NOT BE CONSUMED WITH:
OUR POSITION
OUR POWER
OUR POSSESSIONS
OUR LOOKS
OUR PROSPERITY
OUR PROMINENCE.
ALL THESE THINGS LEAD TO PRIDE, AND PRIDE LEADS TO GREAT FALL.
WE MUST BE WILLING TO GIVE OUR ALL WITHOUT DESIRING THE GLORY. WE MUST BE WILLING TO DO WHAT NO ONE WANTS TO DO BUT WHAT CHRIST COMMANDS US TO DO. WE MUST BE WILLING TO SURRENDER, SUBMIT, SERVE AND SACRIFICE IN ORDER TO ACCOMPLISH THE FATHER’S WILL. WE MUST OVERCOME CHILDISHNESS WITH THE SERVANTS HEART OF CHRIST.
