Matthew 20:20-28: “The Mother Of James And John Asks Jesus To
Put Her Sons One On Each Side Of Him In His Kingdom / Jesus Teaches About True
Greatness”
by
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In the last two studies we saw that in response to
Peter’s question as to what they who had given up everything in order to follow
Him might receive, we observed that:
1.1.1.
Jesus encouraged the twelve apostles that they would
sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel in His Kingdom
1.1.2.
Jesus taught His disciples that many who were first
would be last and the last first, and thus in His kingdom there would be many
surprises
1.1.3.
Jesus then taught His disciples a parable about a
landowner who went out to hire laborers for his vineyard, and in this parable
we noticed that because we Christians are currently living in the realm of
grace that Peter’s question was really inappropriate since all that we receive
from the Lord is undeserved
1.1.3.1.We saw that
what we really deserve is hell
1.1.3.2.We saw also
that God gives to His children bountifully and manifoldly from His grace
1.2.
In our study today, we see that immediately after Jesus
having taught that parable to His disciples, that James and John’s mother came
up to Him in order to request of Him that her two sons sit on His right and
left sides when He came into His kingdom
1.2.1.
Jesus’ poise and patience is reflected so clearly here
in that He doesn’t now blast James and John for missing His point in the
parable of the ‘Land Owner Who Went Out To Hire Workers For His Vineyard’, plus
for their reckless selfish ambition for using their mother in order to ask this
self-serving request
1.2.2.
Jesus takes the opportunity of this question to once
again patiently teach His disciples a lesson on what true greatness in the eyes
of God consists of
2.
VS 20:20-22 - “20
Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Him 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 and said, “You do not know what you are asking
for. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?” They *said to
Him, “We are able.”” - The mother of
James and John came to Jesus and asked Him if He will have her two sons sit one
on his left and the other on his right when He comes into His kingdom
2.1.
In Mark 15:40, there is an account of everyone who was there with Jesus
as He was nailed to the cross, and when comparing this account with John 19:25
and Matt. 27:55 we can deduce that the mother of James and John was named
Salome, and that she was also the sister of Jesus’ mother. Therefore, Salome (James’s and John’s mother)
was Jesus’ aunt.
2.1.1.
This can help us understand why Salome might have had the boldness to
bring this very selfish request to Jesus.
2.2.
In Mark 10:35-40 we have Mark’s account of this same incident, however we notice that in
Mark’s account that it was James and John who came up to Jesus with this
request, and not their mother, “35 And James and John, the two sons of Zebedee,
*came up to Him, saying to Him, “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
And they said to Him, “Grant that we may sit in Your glory, one on Your right,
and one on Your left.” 38 But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are
asking for. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with
the baptism with which I am baptized?” 39 And 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.””
2.2.1.
It is obvious from both of these accounts that it was James’ and John’s
idea to request from Jesus that they sit on His right and left in His kingdom,
and therefore it is not a ‘true’ contradiction that Mark’s account includes
that they asked Jesus directly. In
Matthew we simply have more of the details of the incident and learn that these
men put their mother up to asking this request.
2.2.1.1.To further support my
conclusion, notice also that though the request came from James’ and John’s
mother, that Jesus’ reply went directly to the men themselves.
2.3.
Jesus first tells James and John that they do not know what they are
asking, and from this we may make some implications:
2.3.1.
Great privilege comes at a great price, and we can see this in the fact
that Jesus asks James and John if they would also be willing to drink the cup
with which He would drink and to be baptized with the baptism with which He
would be baptized.
2.3.1.1.In the book of Acts we read
that James was the first of the apostles to be martyred, and this gives us an
insight into what the cup and the baptism which Jesus mentions here refer to.
2.3.1.2.John fulfilled drinking His
cup and being baptized with the baptism He was baptized with by living a long
fruitful life of service and humilty and dying at a ripe old age.
2.3.2.
Many times we Christians are like James and John and ask things of the
Lord about which He might appropriately also comment to us also that we do not
know what we are really asking for.
2.3.2.1.As a young Christian I often
asked the Lord to answer prayers that years later I became very thankful that
the Lord did not answer.
2.3.2.2.I have learned that when it
comes to prayer that it is better not to claim things that you are not
absolutely sure that the Lord wants to give you, but rather it is better to
leave it up to the Lord to do what is best regarding a request that we bring to
Him in prayer.
2.4.
The metaphor of the ‘cup’ is used in various ways throughout the Bible,
both in a good as well as a bad sense, so we can’t be sure what exactly is
intended by the meaning except in each case to look at the context with which it
is used.
2.4.1.
Regarding this present usage here before us, what comes to mind is the
verses where Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane and He prayed that if it was
possible that, “This cup might pass from Me”.
Then, finally Jesus prayed, “Never the less, not what I will but Thy
will be done.”
2.4.1.1.The ‘cup’ in that instance
in the
2.4.2.
I believe that the ‘cup’ which Jesus spoke of here to James and John
meant ‘the cup of death, sorrow, and suffering’ which climaxed in His
crucifixion.
2.4.2.1.It meant to share in the
sufferings of Christ and to live as a bondslave to God in the identical way in
which Christ lived.
2.5.
The next metaphor used by Christ here is that of ‘baptism’, as He asked James
and John if they were willing to be baptized with the baptism with which He was
baptized? (Mark 10:38)
2.5.1.
As we have already seen in the book of Matthew, the word ‘baptism’
literally means, ‘immersion’, and the word can be used in a general sense as is
seen by the way it is used in the New Testament to refer to baptism in water
(Matt. 3:6), baptism in the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5), baptism into Moses (1 Cor.
10:2), baptism into Christ (Rom. 6:3), baptism into the death of Christ (Rom.
6:3), and to be baptized with the baptism that Christ has been baptized with
(Mark 10:38).
2.5.2.
So then, what could Christ have had in mind in Mark’s account (Mark
10:38) when He asked James and John if they were willing to be baptized with
the baptism with which He was baptized?
2.5.2.1.Since we know that John
lived a very long life of single devotion to the Lord as an apostle, perhaps it
simply meant to be consumed with the
2.5.2.2.Perhaps Christ was thinking
of being immersed in all of the fullness of the Holy Spirit as was Christ?
2.6.
James and John were bold, courageous, and sincere in their devotion to
Christ when they answered Him by saying that they were willing to do so.
2.6.1.
We see from the events of Jesus’ arrest and all of the disciples fleeing
and going every which way, that though one minute each of us may be sincere and
committed to Christ, the next moment we may falter, since we are really weak in
and of our own strength and will power, being men and women made of flesh.
3.
VS 20:23 - “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.”” - Jesus tells James and
John that they will indeed drink the cup that He drinks
3.1.
In saying this, Jesus tells James and John that they will share in His
sufferings, and they will indeed be immersed in His Kingdom, and that their
lives will be poured out as a living sacrifice to the Father.
3.1.1.
As I mentioned earlier, James became the first of the apostles to suffer
death by martyrdom.
3.2.
Jesus tells James and John that the honor of sitting on His right and
left was not His to promise or give, but the Father would be the One to
determine that.
3.2.1.
Before the creation of the world, the Lord because of His ability to know
the end from the beginning and not existing Himself in time, knew not only who
would and would not be saved, but also whom it was that He would place in every
position of honor.
4.
VS 20:24 - “24 And
hearing this, the ten became indignant with the two brothers.” - The rest of the apostles were angered at
James and John for making this request to sit on Jesus’ left and right in His
kingdom
4.1.
During Jesus’ three years with them, the apostles were constantly arguing
with each other about who would be the greatest in His kingdom, and from this
it would seem pretty certain that the apostles were actually indignant with
James and John because they had not thought of doing something like they did
first.
4.1.1.
I believe that any one of the apostles would have done the same thing
that James and John had done if they could have talked their mother into doing
this.
5.
VS 20:25-28 -
“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 so 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.”” -
Jesus tells His disciples that they were not to exercise their authority
over others in the way that the Gentiles lorded it over those under them
5.1.
In James and John making this request through their mother to Jesus, we
can see that they still hadn’t gotten the point that the Lord did not want them
to be striving with each other for pre-emanence in His kingdom, nor that true
greatness in God’s kingdom is not something that is given to a person except
because of the greatness of His character and morality, in other words how
Christ-like he is in His life.
5.2.
We have seen in our studies in Matthew already that in the world that
there exists a pyramidic type of leadership, for those who are highest up in
authority get the biggest piece of the pie, get the most perks, are expected to
perform the least amount of menial tasks, and that those under them exist to
serve them, however in Christ’s kingdom the pyramid is to be inverted and thus
the leader is to be the servant of all.
5.3.
Concerning what true greatness in God’s kingdom consist of these men
replied:
5.3.1.
R.C.H. Lenski once observed that God’s, “great
men are not sitting on top of lesser men, but bearing lesser men on their backs”
5.3.2.
William Barclay once commented saying, “The world
may asses a man’s greatness by the number of people whom he controls and who
are at his beck and call; or by his
intellectual standing and his academic eminence; or by the number of committees of which he is
a member; or by the size of his bank balance
and the material possessions which he has amassed; but in the assessment of Jesus Christ these
things are irrevelant.”
5.3.3.
Spurgeon once said, “The lower down, the higher up. In a certain sense the way to heaven is
downward in our own esteem certainly. “He must increase; I must decrease.” And
when that straight-backed letter “I,” which often becomes so prominent,
vanishes altogether, till there is not an iota of it left, then we shall become
like our Lord.”
5.3.4.
John MacArthur has written, “The cost of true greatness is
humble, selfless, sacrificial service.
The Christian who desires to be great and first in the kingdom is the
one who is willing to serve in the hard place, the uncomfortable place, the lonely
place, the demanding place, the place where he is not appreciated and may even
be persecuted. Knowing that time is
short and eternity is long, he is willing to spend and be spent. He is willing to work for excellence without
becoming proud, to withstand criticism without becoming bitter, to be misjudged
without becoming defensive, and to withstand suffering without succumbing to
self-pity.”
5.4.
In Mark 9:35, Jesus said that the greatest in His kingdom would be the
last and the servant of all.
5.5.
From the scriptures there are many paradoxes that a Christian has to
understand in order to be able to grow in maturity in Christ, including the
following:
5.5.1.
To live you must first die.
5.5.2.
To save your life you must first lose it.
5.5.3.
To become free you must first become a slave to God.
5.5.4.
To become free from sin you must first become a slave of righteousness.
5.5.5.
To become first you must first become last.
5.5.6.
To become exalted you must first learn to be humble.
5.5.7.
To become forgiven you must first be willing to forgive.
5.5.8.
Those who are
blessed are the poor in spirit, the meek, and those who are persecuted for
righteousness sake.
5.5.9.
To have joy you must first be willing to share in the sufferings of
Christ.
5.5.10.That which is to be counted all joy is a trial
5.5.11.To know love you must first
be willing to hate sin.
5.5.12.To become rich you must first
learn to give freely as it has been given to you.
5.5.13.To have power perfected in you, you must first become
weak.
5.5.14.To get control of your life you must first let go of
the control.
5.5.15.To become great you must
first humble yourself as a little child.
5.5.16.To become the greatest you
must first become the servant of all.
5.5.17.To become as the eldest you
must first become as the younger.
5.5.18.To reign with Him you must
first become an overcomer.
5.5.19.To be a good leader you must
first learn to be a good follower.
5.6.
John MacArthur tells a story that is very touching as well as
inspiring of a man who laid down his life sacrificially for others, “Some
years ago, Joe Delaney, a star football player for the
5.7.
Jesus tells His disciples that He Himself is the perfect example to
follow in One who is a servant, for He being God Almighty and all-powerful
emptied Himself and took on the form of a man and humbled Himself.
5.7.1.
Concerning Christ’s sacrificial giving of Himself and serving us Spurgeon once said, “So, brethren, while we too are bold, let us
ever imitate the loving Jesus. The child comes to him: he takes it on his knee,
saying, “Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not.” A widow
has just lost her only son: he weeps at the bier, and with a word restores life
to the dead man. He sees a paralytic, a leper, or a man long confined to his
bed; he speaks, they rise, and are healed. He lived for others, not for
himself. His constant labors were without any motive, except the good of those
who lived in the world. And to crown all, ye know the mighty sacrifice he made,
when he condescended to lay down his life for man-when on the tree, quivering
with agony, and hanging in the utmost extremity of suffering, he submitted to
die for our sakes, that we might be saved. Behold in Christ, love consolidated!
he was one mighty pillar of benevolence. As God is love, so Christ is love. Oh,
ye Christians, be ye loving also.”
5.8.
Jesus humbled Himself to such a great extent, that His life could then
qualify to be that perfect sacrifice that could pay the ‘ransom’ debt of sin that each of us owed, which
would then procure for us forgiveness of sins and eternal life
5.8.1.
In 1 Tim. 2:5-6, the apostle Paul wrote about how that Christ was the only mediator
between sinful fallen man and God and how that He had given His life as a
ransom for us, “5 For there is one God, and one mediator also
between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself as a ransom for
all, the testimony borne at the proper time.”