Matthew 20:20-28

“Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, and kneeling down she asked him for a favor. He said to her, “What do you want?” She replied, “Permit these two sons of mine to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” Jesus answered, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink the cup I am about to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” He told them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right and at my left is not mine to give. Rather, it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” Now when the other ten heard this, they were angry with the two brothers. But Jesus called them and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles Lord it over them, and those in high positions use their authority over them. It must not be this way among you! Instead whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you 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

 Parallel passage in Mark has James and John coming directly to Jesus, but we can ascribe the difference to gospel genre. The plural pronoun “you” in Jesus’ response shows that He knows this question originates with them. Having a mediator doesn’t change that. This is not the same thing as inserting their mother into Mark’s account. Still need to accept the difference and see how each gospel is using their details. Need to research either the shame or honor or desperation that’s demonstrated here by having mother do the asking. 

What’s more important is that in both Matthew and Mark, this question comes after an announcement of Jesus’ death. The disciples simply don’t understand Jesus’ mission. They are hyper-focused on the affairs, systems, and methods of the world. They may slowly be learning from Jesus, but three years in—still seeking power, glory, and honor. We can find comfort in this—discipleship is a journey, and even they had failures. At the same time, we can learn from this, like every day. And the applications never end.

Drinking the cup—share in Christ’s sufferings. They would die for the mission of Jesus. James was one of the first martyrs in Acts. John (tradition) attempted to be killed, then exiled. Only the Father could give places of honor. Paul will say we are all co-heirs with Jesus. Unsure what other “seats” there actually are. Good place to search would be extra-biblical Jewish literature to see what they believed about places of honor in the future kingdom.

Of course, the rest of the disciples are angry with them. (Probably because they wanted the places of honor for themselves. “Why didn’t I think of asking Jesus that first?”) It’s not like they haven’t argued about who’s the greatest, shunned children from Jesus, sent away other disciples.

Jesus makes it plain as day. The rulers of Gentiles (ouch) use authority, might, power to take advantage of people, work up the ladder, abuse, harm, etc. And sometimes it’s masked as leadership. It cannot be this way among followers of Jesus. Obviously, it has happened millions of times throughout history, and it occurs every day. God, help us.

The way of Jesus is humility. The way of “victory” is surrender and service. The greatest person is a servant. Probably has no followers on social or likes or 500 members in church. Just faithful, humble servant who enjoys helping others. 

Jesus did not come to be served—insane, if we understood Him as God in flesh. He has the highest claim to honor and worship. 

Ransom: Word is a marketplace term for buying back something, specifically a slave. NT has a bunch of metaphors for how salvation works. They’re word pictures, and yet we still say they reflect reality as well. Still working through atonement and how Jesus’ death affected salvation for people. 

Ransom theory of atonement often says Jesus paid the price to Satan (see Lion, Witch, Wardrobe). Most consider this heresy, since Satan has no claim to souls and doesn’t make the rules. Paying the price to God would be buying back people from God for God???

NET simply says this speaks of Jesus paying the price we owed, acting as a substitute, etc. There’s got to be more to that, and these terms are only helpful in the larger narrative. No event is so simple, yet so complex and confusing as the atonement/crucifixion. 

Yet, it is the ultimate example of sacrifice. There’s more to it in this passage but that is a key takeaway considering the initial request.