(David Bacon)
Matthew 20:20-28 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. 21And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” 22Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” 23He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” 24And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. 25But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 26It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 27and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, 28even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
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Today is an exciting day. It is the March equinox!* The day that the sun is directly in line with the equator of our planet. It’s the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere, and for our friends in the southern hemisphere, it is the first day of autumn. I think it is therefore appropriate that we look at a passage about who gets to sit at the Son’s right hand and left hand. Of course, we are talking about Jesus, the SON of God, not the SUN. You know, the big giant gaseous star that our planet orbits around.
So, who does get to sit at the Son’s right hand and left hand? Jesus answers that question with his trademark reply: another question. One that requires some introspection and thought. “Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” I don’t know if Jesus was holding a cup at the moment, but the cup he is referring to is not a literal cup to drink from. This isn’t Indiana Jones and the Holy Grail time. There’s no choosing wisely or poorly while Jesus or a knight watches on. (Youth, if you don’t get that reference, you have some movie watching to do.)
No, the cup Jesus is referring to is the cup of pain and suffering.** Jesus will say later on in Matthew 26:39, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” Jesus is asking the two brothers if they are able to bear the suffering that Jesus is going to face.
I doubt the brothers knew that suffering is what they were signing up for. But they both reply with a hearty “We are able.” Jesus then promises that they will drink from the same cup. I am not exactly sure what Jesus meant by this, but I am pretty sure it means that they would both suffer for the gospel just as Jesus would. We know from Acts 12:2 that “(Herod) killed James the brother of John with the sword.” And later on, John was imprisoned and served his sentence on the isle of Patmos (Revelation 1:9). John even states that his imprisonment was “on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.”
This isn’t the first time Matthew records Jesus talking about the suffering of those who follow him. Jesus made mention of this suffering in Matthew 10. As he was sending his disciples out to minister to the surrounding areas, he warned them in Matthew 10:21-22, “Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”
Coming back to chapter 20, Jesus does not promise these two disciples a place at his right or left hand but explains that the assignment of those places of honor was to be given by God, his father. So instead, he turns to a related topic. Servitude.
Pastor Matt mentioned a few weeks ago how the Sermon on the Mount introduces us to an upside down kingdom. The Beatitudes all seem opposite of how the world operates. Well, Jesus is continuing that theme here. He is stating that to be great, you must be the least. And he even acknowledges that this is opposite to how the Gentiles operate. Jesus is saying, look, I know how things work in this world, but if you want the attention of God, you need to do the opposite. As Master Yoda says to young Luke, “You must unlearn what you have learned.” God is not interested in us fighting for recognition. God wants us to serve each other, to care for one another. Jesus goes so far as to say that we must be slaves to others. And then Jesus seals it by saying that this is the very thing that he came to the world to do. Jesus himself, the divine Son of God, did not come to lord his divinity over his people. He did not come to rule his subjects with an iron fist, though he would certainly be entitled to it. Instead, he came to be the ultimate servant and to sacrifice his life in a way that only he could: as a perfect sacrifice for sins.
He is calling each of us to follow in his footsteps and serve those around us. He is calling us to serve our brothers and sisters, our neighbors, even our enemies. Only then will we be great in God’s kingdom.
*It is also my brother Jonathan’s birthday!
**When I was initially drafting this devotional, I used the word punishment instead of suffering. I realized that this is not correct because while the apostles could suffer in ways similar to Jesus, they could not endure a similar punishment because Jesus is the only one who takes our punishment for sin. While sin can be a reason behind our suffering, it is not the punishment that the sin deserves. For example, if I hit my brother, and he hits me back, the pain that I feel from his strike is suffering that I experience for my poor decision. However, when my parents find out and ground me for a week, that is an earthly type of punishment that I deserve for my violence. On a larger scale, if and when we ever do experience suffering as a result of our sin, it is not the perfect punishment of death and hell that it deserves, but rather God disciplining us through hardships. I think it’s important to differentiate between these words. God doesn’t give some of the punishment for our sins to the apostles and then put the rest on Jesus. He put it ALL on Jesus. No other person could bear that punishment. Only Jesus, the perfect Son of God could.
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An audio version of each devotion will be posted on our church podcast “Life Together at CRPC,” which is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.