One of the paradoxes of life is the many famous people we don't even know, and many of
them are mothers. F.W. Boreham, the great Australian preacher, tells of the English
mother Mrs. Trollope who saw her husband and children dying of consumption under
her very eyes. She nursed them and supported them by writing novels. She had a life of
awful burdens, yet she wrote with such liveliness. When her books were successful she
inspired her children to write as well. They wrote more books than was ever produced
by a single family in England. This mother watched her husband, two sons, and her
daughter die, yet she made it a home of cheer and success.
History is full of great mothers like this that we will never know about, and the fact is
there are even famous mothers right in the Bible we know little or nothing about. If it
was not for Mother's Day that sends preachers searching the Bible for a different mother
to study each year, many of these mothers would be ignored forever. One of the most
famous mothers in the New Testament is the mother of Zebedee's sons James and John.
Mark tells us her name was Salome. She was a very famous person in the New
Testament, and she played a major role in the life of Jesus, but since we seldom put all
the pieces together she is an obscure person to most Christians. I hardly knew she
existed, but now I see her as one of the most marvelous mothers in the Bible.
Her husband Zebedee was a very successful and well known businessman with a large
fishing company. He had two sons working for him, and Peter and Andrew worked for
the company as well, and he had other hired hands besides. Salome was the mother of a
fairly wealthy family. She was upper middle class at least, and this explains her desire for
her two boys to be number one and two in the Master's kingdom. This text alone could
lead us to think of her as a spoiled rich mother who expected the best to be just handed to
her children, but the whole story demands that we look at a bigger picture of this mother.
She was one of the women who followed Jesus and who, because of her wealth,
supported Jesus and his disciples while they ministered to people. Matt. 27:56 lists her as
one of the women who followed Jesus and cared for his needs. She was one of the group
of women who stood at the cross in Mark 15, and she was one of three women who came
with spices to anoint the body of Jesus on the first Easter in Mark 16. In other words,
Salome was not a rich snob who thought she was better than anyone else. She was a loyal
servant of Jesus who followed him all the way when others forsook him. She used her
wealth right to the end in buying spices for the body of Jesus. She was a truly
remarkable disciple and one faithful to the end.
She is the only mother of the twelve that is referred to in the New Testament, and she
is the mother of two of the twelve that Jesus picked for his disciples, and these two were
in the inner circle with Peter. This tells you something about the character and quality of
Salome. She was one of Jesus' favorite mothers, and favorite people, so let's not be quick
to judge this lady, but learn from her as we examine her most motherly role in the life of
her sons. The first thing we note is-
I. HER REVERENCE.
The NIV is weak here and says she came to Jesus and kneeling down asked a favor.
This could be seen as some sort of courtesy. The KJV is really more accurate, for its says
she came worshipping him. The Greek word here is proskunew and is translated 59
times as worship in the New Testament. A few examples will show just how weak the
word kneeling is to describe it. It is the word for the wise men who came from the East to
worship him. It is the word Jesus used to respond to the devil's temptation when he said,
"Thou shalt worship the Lord Thy God." It is the word Jesus used to say, "We must
worship the Father in spirit and in truth." It is the word in Heb. 1:6, "Let all the angels
of God worship him." It is the word for all the worship around the throne of God in heaven.
My point is, all the evidence makes it clear that Salome was a deeply committed godly
mother who acknowledged the Lordship of Jesus. We see here a sincere recognition of
Jesus and his authority. She had no doubts about Jesus being the Messiah. Almost
everybody else did, and even her two sons lost faith in the end, but Salome never did.
They were off weeping in fear when she stood at the cross, and was early at the tomb.
She was a woman of strong faith and commitment, and was no doubt the key factor in her
two boys being men whom Jesus could use to build his kingdom. A mother's faith is often
the key to her children's faith. Paul wrote in II Tim. 1:5, "I have been reminded of your
sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice..."
Faith is personal, but it can be passed on from mother to child. Lois passed hers on to
her daughter Eunice, and Eunice passed it on to her son Timothy. Salome passed hers on
to her sons. No other mother is more honored than she with two of her sons chosen to be
among the 12. The point of this first point is, do not look down on this precious mother,
but respect her as one of the greatest followers and worshippers of Jesus. Her reverence
for Christ makes her a mother to be highly respected, even though she expected too
much for her sons. Secondly look at-
II. HER REQUEST.
All she wanted was the best for her boys. If this be wrong, then most mothers are
offensive people. For they all tend to have this same ambition. Her evaluation of her
boys was not just a mother's subjective preference. At some point most all mothers feel
their children are the brightest and worthy of top billing. But Salome was going by their
objective abilities. They were successful businessmen, and they had excellent qualities of
leadership. We know this because Jesus chose them as disciples, and he chose her boys to
be two of the three in the inner circle. They were not one and two like she requested, but
they were two and three. Jesus by his choice of James and John as his closest friends and
companions acknowledges that Salome had done a great job as a mother, and her
ambition for her boys was not that far out of line. Jesus did not rebuke her for her
request. He just said it was not his to grant, for God had already made that decision.
And for all we know, one of her boys will be at the right or left of Jesus in his kingdom.
There is an old Greek legend of how the gods summoned gifted people to Olympus to
reward with a crown the one with the greatest gift. The artist brought his paintings; the
sculptor his statues; the farmer the fruits of his field; the poet his poems, and the
inventor his machines. Among them was an old woman with nothing in her hands. "Why
are you here with nothing in your hands?" she was asked, and she replied, "I am here
just to look on. I wanted to see who received the crown. These are my children." The
judges said, "Give her the crown, for she trained and inspired them all."
The evidence points to Salome deserving a lot of credit for her boys being the kind of
Christians they were. And she was not content that they were among the twelve, but was
still pushing that they might be the elite of the twelve. She represents those mothers who
change the world because of their ambition for their children.
A young boy of ten in Naples took his first voice lesson and was told by the teacher,
"You can't sing. You haven't any voice at all. Your voice sounds like the wind in the
shutters." The boys mother did not accept that evaluation. She had visions of her son
being great, and though she was poor she made every sacrifice to pay for his voice
lessons. She encouraged him to press on when everyone else was applying the brakes.
Had it not been for this mother's ambition for her son the world would never have heard
of Enrico Caruso, one of its greatest singers ever. If mothers do not have high aims for
their children, who will?
It was Jochabed, the mother of Moses, who saved his life and provided Israel with its
greatest leader. It was Rebekah who saw in Jacob great potential, and she got him the
birthright. It was the godly mothers of Samson and Samuel that made them the leaders
that they were. John the Baptist was raised by a godly mother, Elizabeth. Lincoln said,
"All that I am and hope to be I owe to my angel mother." Washington said, "If I have
been of any service to the U.S. America, the credit all belongs to my wonderful mother.
The point is, volumes could be filled showing that it is the ambition of mothers that
motivates children to be the best of what they can be. Do you think James and John
would be disciples, let alone two out of three of the inner circle, if they had not had a
mother like Salome? It is not likely. The evidence points to her being one of the most
successful mothers in the Bible. The rest of the disciples were angry at this plan to get
James and John the highest status, but you do not see any anger in Jesus. He understood
this mothers ambition, and knew it was the force behind two of the best men he ever
knew.
They were far from perfect, and had some rough edges to be smoothed off. It could
even be that they were using their mother here, for many feel she was either the sister of
Mary or of Joseph, and this family tie could have looked like the edge they needed in the
competition among the disciples. Children are notorious for trying to use either mom or
dad to get their will accomplished. In a book of letters from camp with the mother's
response, one mother wrote this:
"Dear Peter, daddy got your letter and the answer is no! Daddy can't get your
counselor drafted into the army." Mothers can sometimes be so uncooperative. One
wrote, "Dear Richard, don't sell your tennis racket, aqualung, catchers mitt, or football
uniform this summer. Father says this is your third and final warning." It is no wonder
some kids can't get ahead with road blocks like that. Another wrote, "Dear Raymond, I
refuse to send you $2.00 to loan to your counselor. Are you trying to bribe your counselor?"
When your own mother doesn't trust you its hard to succeed as a wheeler-dealer.
It is possible Salome's two boys put her up to this, and convinced her it was the right
thing to do, but all the evidence seems to point to the fact that she was just a gung ho
godly mother who aimed for the stars, and sincerely felt her boys deserved the best. It
certainly didn't do them any harm to have a mother who had such a high opinion of their
abilities. Her request for her two sons to be at the top is an insight into the heritage these
boys had all their lives in their godly mother.
Thomas Jefferson said, "There never was a great man but that there was a good
mother behind him." This goes for great women as well. Jenny Lind, who became one of
the world's greatest singers in the mid 1800's, was known as the Swedish Nightingale
said, "My dear little mother gave me her Swedish Bible, praying that I might never cease
reading and obeying its teachings. All that I am I owe to my Christian mother and her
great faith in me.
Of all the earthly things God gives,
There's one above all others.
It is the precious, priceless gift
Of loving, Christian mothers.
One of the best things you can give your children is what Salome gave her two boys,
and that is a high opinion of how useful they can be in the kingdom of God. Make sure
your children know that you think they are worthy of key positions in the service of the
King. The word service leads us to our third point.
III. HER RESPONSIBILITY.
Jesus used this mother's request, and the emotional moment it created, to teach his
disciples and all mothers what their highest responsibility is. It is not to see that children
get the best jobs, the highest pay, and the most power, but rather, that they become
servants that care about other people. No mother has reason to be proud just because
her child is famous, rich, and powerful. She is only worthy of praise and honor when her
children are forces of loving service in a world of endless need.
In 1937 when President Roosevelt was observing his 55th birthday, his mother was told
you must be the happiest of all mothers, and this 82 year old mother responded, "Every
mother who has good children is the happiest mother in the world." It is not power over
people, but goodness that matters, and Jesus defined greatness as goodness and a spirit of
service that is willing to sacrifice for the good of others. Jesus knew that all the good things
that would happen in his kingdom would happen through people who had a servants heart.
His kingdom does not need powerful people who lord it over others. His kingdom needs
people who love to serve and minister to the needs of others. It is the responsibility of every
Christian mother to make sure her ambitions for her children are not worldly ambitions, but
kingdom ambitions.
Mothers can so easily take their eyes off Christ given goals, and let the culture dictate the
kinds of ambition she will seek to instill in her children. There is no problem with being the
president of a bank, or a nation, or any other position of prominence and power, but the
point of Jesus is that all of this is much ado about nothing without a servant heart.
This was Paul's point in I Cor. 13. You can be the most eloquent politician with the
tongue of an angel; you can be the most brilliant scientist with great knowledge; you can be a
financial wizard who raises a fortune to give to the poor, but if you have not love you are
nothing. Without the servants heart that really cares about people in serving them, all other
kinds of greatness is of no value. The only people who get into the heroes of history in
heaven's library are those who are servants. It is a Christian mother's responsibility to see
that her children understand this perspective on greatness.
Salome did see this, for she was herself a servant of the Lord, and her boys were trained
likewise. We do not see her suggesting that her boys be given power to push the other
disciples around. But you recall these men had a problem with who was the greatest among
them. This was a perpetual matter of discussion, and Salome's request just aggravated this
open sore the 12 were always picking at. Jesus did not rebuke her, but he rebuked the 12
often for their worldly view of greatness, and their ambition to be number one. This was just
another occasion where he tried to get them to see what true greatness was all about. In
doing so he made it clear to all mothers and teachers, and all who help formulate value
systems, that our responsibility is to produce servants.
Show me a mother whose children are proud to serve, and I'll show you a great mother.
Show me a teacher whose students are proud to serve, and I'll show you a great teacher.
Show me a church where people care about people, and are willing to give of their time,
talent, and treasure to serve people, and I'll show you a great church. Show me a God who
would send his Son into the world, not to be lauded and applauded and bowed to, but to give
his life a ransom for many, and I'll show you a great God. The bottom line is that the greatest
people in the world are servants and, therefore, the greatest mothers in the world are those
whose children are servants.
Robert Moffat changed the whole continent of Africa as a servant. When he left home his
mother made him promise something. She said you are going out into a wicked world. Begin
every day with God and close every day with God. Then she kissed him, and Moffat said it
was the kiss that made him a missionary. He left home with a heart to do the will of God and
that always means to be of service.
The world's greatest need has always been, and will always be, mothers who recognize
their responsibility to help supply the kingdom of God with servants. Like Salome they need
to be examples of servant hood, and then also teach it and instill their value system into the
mind of their children. If Salome felt the least bit rebuked here, you can count on it she did
not go away to sulk, but rather to pray that she would be the mother that Jesus wanted her to
be. Phyllis Didriksen wrote a poem that Salome could well have prayed that very night.
I do not ask for riches for my children,
Nor even recognition for their skill;
I only asked that Thou wilt give them
A heart completely yielded to Thy will.
I do not ask for wisdom for my children
Beyond discernment of Thy grace;
I only ask that Thou wilt use them
In Thine own appointed place.
I do not ask for favors for my children
To seat them on Thy left hand or Thy right;
But may they join the throng in heaven
That sings before Thy throne so bright.
I do not seek perfection in my children,
For then my own faults I would hide;
I only ask that we might walk together
And serve our Savior side by side.
It does not make any difference if you are at the right or left hand of Jesus, but what does
matter is, do you have a servants heart? That is the only way to be great and number one in
the eyes of Christ. Salome learned a valuable lesson in this experience, and, no doubt, never
again tried to get her sons a privileged position. Her only ambition was that they be servants
of the Lord, and that she be a servant mother.
