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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy
word.
Then the mother of
Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of
Him.
“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.”
“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.
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.”
Matthew 20:20-23
Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee,
came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”
“What do you want Me to do for you?” He
asked.
They replied, “Let one of us sit at Your
right and the other at Your left in Your glory.”
“You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus
said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am
baptized with?”
“We can,” they answered.
Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup
I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, 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.”
Mark 10:35-40
This ends
today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Does anyone have the right to demand a
place of honor in heaven with Jesus?
It may sound like a crazy question to ask
but as we see, it’s a question at the heart of today’s scripture passage as we
continue to study the Gospel of Matthew and find a request being levied on
behalf of two of Jesus’ first disciples. Look again at this passage here:
Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling
down, asked a favor of Him.
“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.”
“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.
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.” Matthew 20:20-23
To fully understand what is going on here
you need to remember what has just passed between Jesus and His followers.
Having left everything behind to follow Jesus, the disciples had been assured
by their Master that a great reward awaited them and that reward would be given
equally to everyone who went into the harvest field labor while answering the
call of Jesus. That on its own should have been enough. The disciples should
have been happy knowing they would be inhabiting the kingdom of heaven and
entering into glory when their earthly life was through.
But as we often see sometimes, people can
lose sight of what they have or will have and covet even more.
This is certainly the case with James and
John, two of the first four disciples called by Jesus, the sons of Zebedee. The
scriptures tell us that their mother approaches Jesus with her boys and then
upon kneeling, asks a favor of Jesus.
What was the favor?
Here’s what she said after Jesus asked:
“Grant
that one of these two sons of mine may sit at Your right and the other at Your
left in Your kingdom.”
It was an amazing request. For with bold daring,
the mother of James and John asks that her sons be given a special seat of
prominence with Jesus, one sitting on His right and the other on His left. It
was a power play meant to elevate the “Sons of Thunder” (as they were labeled)
to a position and status above their contemporaries. And it showed that the
mother and her sons believed they deserved an even greater reward then any of
the other followers of Jesus.
You get the feeling Jesus was having
trouble believing what His ears had just heard for we find Him making one simple
statement in response to the mother’s petition:
“You don’t know what you are asking.”
He was right. The mother and her two
disciples sons had no clue about the craziness and inappropriateness of their appeal,
an appeal that was grounded in pride and arrogance. Jesus sought to bring
humility back into the picture when He asked:
“Can
you drink the cup I am going to drink?”
It was a rather sobering question from Jesus
who was alluding to the great suffering He was going to have to endure. He
Himself would later refer to the harsh abuse and torment He would face by saying
this while praying in the Garden of Gethsemane:
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.” Matthew 26:39
Jesus was fully human and here we find Him
expressing words that showed His humanity. He knew that a great anguish and
misery awaited Him on the way to death on a cross but it wasn’t as if Jesus
really wanted to go through it. He had hoped that maybe the cup of suffering
might be taken from Him but fully understood that He would drink it if it was
the will of His Father which it was.
Jesus wanted to see if the disciples knew
that they would have to share in His pain and persecution, whether or not they
realized that they might have to drink from the same cup He would to which they
replied:
“We
can.”
Jesus affirms that the two sons are correct
in their answer for indeed they would suffer for His sake however this would
not result in them having a higher place of prestige in the kingdom of heaven.
No, those places were reserved in such a way that even Jesus didn’t have a say
in who sat on His left or right.
In other words, no one could trump God. No
one.
Indeed, Jesus tells His two conceited
sibling disciples that the seats of honor next to Him belonged to this who God
has prepared to sit there. We’re not told who those people might be or what
would be the qualifying factors. There was no need for them for God is in
control and only He orders the way things have been, are, and are yet to be.
In the end translation, rather than worry
about whether or not we will gain some sort of esteemed or exalted position
with Jesus when this life is over, we should be going forth to do His work
every day and simply be glad that through our faith and trust in Christ, we
will have a place with Him and God forever.
I know that’s enough for me.
Thanks be to God for His gift of salvation
born through His Son Jesus.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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