By Allen White
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.”
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.” Matthew 20:20-28
Jesus has nothing to prove. He is the most powerful being in the universe. In fact, He created the universe. Jesus knows everything – past, present and future. He is present everywhere all of the time. And, Jesus never changes.
In that first paragraph, you have Theology 101. God is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, and immutable. (Those terms track with the sentences of paragraph one, in case you were wondering.)
By possessing all knowledge, power and space, Jesus certainly isn’t insecure. He is just as comfortable with last as He is with first. Jesus was at home on a Heavenly throne just as much as He was in an earthly home. He certainly didn’t need to look out for number one.
The request from James and John’s mother irritates us on several levels. First, since the brothers couldn’t get their way with Jesus previously, they complained to their mother. Mommy had to intervene for her boys. I’m sure the other ten were collectively rolling their eyes.
They were grappling for something they didn’t deserve. One wanted to be Jesus’ right hand man, while the other wanted to be the left hand man. Had they secured those spots, I’m sure the next controversy would involve who had which spot.
This power play by Zebedee’s boys did nothing but lower morale and nurture resentment among the rest of the disciples. When we put ourselves forward, we tend to move backward. God is the one who elevates us or demotes us.
When our lives don’t appear to be headed up and to the right, we might wonder why God isn’t blessing us. But, is position and worldly success really a blessing? What if God gave us what we thought we wanted, then we later discovered those things drew us further away from God? Is that a blessing?
If God could use a negative circumstance in your life to draw you closer to Him, would that be worth it? Would we choose comfort and ease over a close connection with our Savior?
Life is hard. Sometimes our circumstances cause us to question God’s love and His plan for our lives. If we allow those low points to take us deeper into God’s love for us, then we have succeeded. But, if we live shallow lives that appear to be outwardly successful, is that success?
Oh, and the other thing that irritates us about James and John – sometimes we feel we deserve more than we do too.
How can you put yourself last today? How can you prefer someone over yourself? How can you serve someone without expecting something in return? These actions elevate us to Christlikeness.
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