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20 Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him. 21 And He said to her, "What do you wish?" She said to Him, "Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom." 22 But Jesus answered and said, "You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" They said to Him, "We are able." 23 So He said to them, "You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father." ~ Matthew 20:20-23
Today, we return to Matthew 20 where the Lord Jesus is continuing to provide for His disciples a crash course on discipleship. Up to this point in the narrative, there has been a huge clash between the thinking of the disciples and that of the Lord Jesus regarding greatness in His kingdom. The disciples idea of greatness and that of the Lord Jesus could not have been more different. Whereas greatness to the disciples led to being served, greatness to the Lord leads to servanthood .
In v.20-21 of today's passage we read, "20 Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him. 21 And He said to her, 'What do you wish?' She said to Him, 'Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom.'"
The sons of Zebedee, James and John had their eyes on the positions of greatness, and, eventually this explains why they were fearful. They were fearful because they misunderstood what biblical greatness really was. Their ambition to be in positions of high honor came from their desire for power, which was likely fueled by a fear of being left out or becoming insignificant. Their fear led them to make their request. They asked for something which the Lord Jesus had given them every reason to ask for just a few days before when He promised when He came into His glory they would sit on twelve thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what they had in mind as they walked up to Jerusalem, but their idea of the thrones they were to sit on and the Lord's idea of those thrones were quite different.
The Lord Jesus used the poor theology of His disciples to teach them and the other disciples that true greatness comes from serving others, not from lording power over them. I find it quite instructive that the phrase "at my right and left" only appears one other time in the gospels. It is used when the Lord Jesus hung on the cross with two robbers one at his right and the other at his left.
The disciples were like you and me. They desired significance but this type of significance has never had any place in God's kingdom. When we are at the helm of our lives, we are not at a good spot. God's goal for each of us is to define us, but, when we are defining our lives, eventually we discover there is much to fear. When we experience God's sovereignty, we begin the process of being freed from fear to faith in the God of the Bible. The more we risk His faithfulness, the more we experience His faithfulness. And, the more of Him we see and experience for ourselves, the more we are granted stability in our souls.
In v.22 of today's passage we read, "But Jesus answered and said, 'You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?' They said to Him, 'We are able.'"
Here, the Lord Jesus used two items to help us understand what He was facing: a cup, and a baptism. The cup symbolizes the realm of experience, the circumstances which we find ourselves. In the Old Testament the cup was also used of things which are not so joyful. Jeremiah speaks of Israel as having to drink the cup of the fury of the Lord. This cup of fury was their lot due to their sinfulness. So, the cup revealed the Lord Jesus taking on the wrath of God for us.
Of course, for the Lord Jesus, the baptism represented the cross upon which He would hang and die. Both were given to Him by His Father, and, He eventually drank it that our sin could be forgiven. Later, in the Garden of Gethsemene, He prayed, "If it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not my will but yours be done." The baptism became for the Lord Jesus an overwhelming flood describing for us the judgement of God that He took upon Himself on our behalf. The Lord Jesus drank the cup of God’s wrath for us so that He could extend the cup of God’s fellowship to us.
In v.23 of today's passage we read, "So He said to them, 'You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father.'"
James and John, often in the Gospels, referred to as "the sons of thunder" were referred to as such in order to give us indication that they were tough guys. It does not matter how tough any of us are, we will never be able to provide forgiveness of sin for ourselves or for all of mankind. They had not connected all of the dots, thus they responded out of their ignorance. But, as history shows, both James and John served very important roles with regard to the advancement of the gospel in this world. The Lord Jesus had told His disciples about His cross but they were enamored with the crown. The disciples didn't grasp the fact that they could not wear the crown until we are defined by the cross of the Lord Jesus.
When God is at work in our lives, He always starts with us, not with events. He shapes our lives to fit the circumstances. When we take control of our lives, this process is interrupted and we never get the results we want. And, it is then that fear begins to set in. Like us, the disciples had a poor understanding of the cup and the baptism of which the Lord Jesus spoke, therefore they concluded the wrong thing about their abilities and the purpose of their lives at that moment. After losing the Lord Jesus they learned to depend upon Him even more. This is greatness in the eyes of the Lord: when we are most dependent upon Him.
As it turned out, James was the very first of the apostles to be martyred and John was the last of the Apostles to die on the Isle of Patmos. These two brothers formed a parenthesis of martyrdom among those early disciples. All of the disciples, as it turned out, were put to death for the sake of the Lord Jesus, the gospel and for the sake of you and me. When we get to the place where we recognize the enormity of our salvation, we too will recognize the blessing of laying down our lives but not for the forgiveness of our sin but for the advancement of the good news the Lord Jesus came to provide.
