Matthew 20:20–23 (ESV) —
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.” 22 Jesus 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.” 23 He 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.”
NOTE: I'm sure the other disciples were furious because they had not thought of it first. The story illustrates that the disciples really did not understand what Jesus had just told them for the third time, that he was going to die. They seemed to almost ignore the statement except when he said it (then they would be sad for a bit). Otherwise, their focus was on positions in the new kingdom. For James and John, little did they know that James would be the first of the twelve (not counting Judas) to die, and John would end up exiled on an island later in the century. They had no idea what the cup was. It was not a little bit of disagreement or a loss of popularity, it was tremendous suffering and then the loss of life. They really had the focus wrong. They were interested in politics, but Jesus was interested in the spiritual condition of a lost world.
PONDER:
- Am I more engaged in politics or in the salvation of my friends and neighbors? One is meaningless in the long term and the other affects eternity for some.
PRAYER: Father, thank you for what was done on the cross for me. I doubt I would have acted any different than the apostles, and ultimately they suffered greatly for the gospel, much more than I do. Forgive me for being critical, and help me do the right thing in my witness to others.
No comments:
Post a Comment