Matthew 20:17–21 (ESV) — 17 And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the
twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, 18 “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be
delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to
death 19 and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked
and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”
20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons,
and kneeling before him she asked him for something. 21 And 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.”
NOTE: These two
passages certainly highlight the misunderstanding of the disciples. Jesus just
told them of his upcoming suffering, death, and resurrection. And now two of
them want guaranteed high positions in his kingdom. There will be a kingdom and
there will be leadership required in the kingdom, but this kingdom will be so
much different. We won't play the games of "position" because we will
have new bodies and transformed minds. It won't be about "us"
anymore, but it will be about others. Another of Satan's many efforts to
destroy God's work in the world today is the focus on "me"
characterized by "selfies" and a growing narcissism in our culture.
We focus only upon what makes our lives better, not what might make another's
life better. We are what we believe -- animals who survive by being the
fittest, and getting what they want over others. It is ugly, and it looks so
ugly in people. But even the ugliness is exalted in our movies and TV shows
(think "House") such that we think it is a good thing. How sad we are
…
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