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.”
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.”
We have to love moms. Where would we be without them promoting us? Although, moms often have an inflated view of our abilities and value…as we see in this passage.
I have wondered if James and John were not the instigators of the question at the beginning of Matthew 18…”Who is greatest in the kingdom?” When they didn’t like the answer, they brought their mom. We call this “bringing in the big guns!”
Jesus makes a keen distinction. While Jesus, himself, can determine the physical fate of his disciples, “you will indeed drink from my cup” he makes it clear that he has no authority to determine who does…or does not…receive honor. That is up to God the father.
Does it matter? Well, or course it does…
We have now spent close to three chapters In the Life of Christ. Jesus has told them (3 times) that he is going to suffer and die. At the same time the disciples (at least some of them) have figured out three different ways to figure out which of them was most important. It’s in our nature.
Are they even listening?
I was at a chaplain conference just a week before most of us were going to meet a promotion board. The unspoken reality was simple: All of a sudden the folks who we had regarded as friends for many years were now competition. I noticed the tension at every session…although we were all too polite to verbalize it.
At our closing dinner three of us were visiting and I noticed one of us had all his ribbons crooked and misplaced. It was embarrassing. The third chaplain looked at me and burst out “this is a guy we can beat!”
There it was…out in the open. Part of me was relieved at the truth that had been spoken. The other part of me was disappointed that I was so petty.
Admit it…
And, of course, we make no friends in the process. The other disciples were furious when they found out about the private meeting…as they had every right to be. Such attitudes are not appropriate in the Kingdom of God…where servant hood is cherished.
It’s probably a good thing that these things are best left up to the Father.
Live boldly out there today…
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