Matthew 20:17-28

Matthew 20:17-28 NIV

Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way, he took the Twelve aside and said to them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!” 
Then the mother of Zebedeeʼs 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 donʼt 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.”
When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. 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. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— 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.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Death is victory, slavery is greatness; these are the upside down values of the kingdom of God. The world doesn't think of life this way. Jesus' horrific torture and death upon a Roman crucifixion stake is utter humiliation to the world. And to make yourself a lowly servant is to debase yourself. But Jesus is willingly heading to Jerusalem and His destiny to die upon the cross. He tells His disciples that to become a slave to others elevates your status in the kingdom. Those who are last in this world are first in the next.

Jesus reminds the disciples yet again that He will die in Jerusalem, but rise again on the third day. The mother of James and John asked Jesus to promise them the favored places of power when Jesus takes His throne, one to sit at His right and the other upon His left. Clearly she and her sons had not understood kingdom values. They're still thinking in the way of the world.

Jesus told them they didn't know what they were asking for. He asked if they could drink from the same cup as He, meaning His cross. They said they could. Jesus affirmed that they would indeed die for the sake of the gospel. According to tradition all but one the Twelve Apostles died for their proclamation of the gospel. James was the first of the Twelve to be martyred. In 42 A.D., he was arrested and, at Herod Agrippa's command, beheaded. John, the youngest Apostle, was the only one not martyred. However, in the year 95, according to catholicism.org, he was taken prisoner at Ephesus and sent to trial in Rome. Sentenced to death, he was boiled in oil before the Latin gate. He was miraculously preserved from the burning, yet he he did feel the pain. The miracle moved the emperor to nullify the death sentence and to send him in exile to the island of Patmos. He was later freed and died at Ephesus in the year 100 when he was eighty-eight years old.

Both men would later suffer terribly for the sake of the gospel, but now they are dreaming of political power with Jesus as their king. Jesus told them it wasn't in His authority to give them the privilege to sit at His right and left hand. Those places were reserved already for those God the Father had chosen. Ironically, those were the two thieves that hung at His right and left at Calvary.

The other apostles were angry with James and John for trying to get high places in the government of God's messiah. So Jesus had to pull them all aside and take the opportunity to teach them. He told them that they are behaving like gentiles, for their rulers are little more than bullies, lording it over their people. The Christian is not that way. We are to be servant leaders.

Jesus told them,

...whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—
Matthew 20:26-27 NIV

He basically said, "I didn't come to this earth to be served like a pagan ruler. I came to serve and give my life as a ransom to set the world free." So in the same way we should not seek to be served, but rather look for opportunities to serve those in need.

I'm not a good example of service. There was a time when I might have been, but I'm too busy with my own agenda, my own earthly concerns to seek out the lost and the hurting and offer them help and hope. Most days I turn away and avoid the news. I notice the beggars at the intersections on my way home from work and I turn my eyes away, thinking that I have my own problems. I don't need to get involved in theirs. I doubt I'm alone in this.

I doubt many of us are looking for places of power in the kingdom of God, because we don't think of the church as the kingdom. But there are plenty who think their opinion should be heeded by their hired pastor, rather than accept his or her anointed leadership. We assume that our longevity, our support, and volunteering should give us the pastor's ear and influence over him or her. So when the music on Sundays doesn't please us, we complain. When the message challenges us, we send nasty anonymous notes and letters. Do you see the parallels to James and John?

But then there are those saints in the church who demand nothing. They are happy to serve quietly and do not seek any thanks or public recognition. There are those who give generously and no one knows they practically carry the congregation financially, while the rest of us enjoy the privileges they have sponsored.

As you think upon your journey with Jesus, would you be needing a sit down lesson on kingdom values? Or would Jesus point to your example, like that of little children, and say that the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these?