Post by Admin on Jan 25, 2019 8:23:34 GMT
This story with both James and John comes from Matthew, chapter 20 (NIV):
20 Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him.
21 “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.”
22 “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.
23 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.”
24 When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. 25 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. 26 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— 28 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.”
Here is some background on this incident, from a sermon by Ray Pritchard, "The Mother of Two Sons: Christ Speaks to the Problem of Misguided Ambition:"
We live in an ambitious world. We want to know who is the best, fastest, smartest, strongest, loudest, longest, and richest. And we want to know who is “the one with the most from coast to coast.” That’s why the Guinness Book of World Records is a yearly best seller. That’s why we watch the Super Bowl and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, and that’s why (some of us!) watch Survivor. We want to know who is going to get kicked off the island this week and who will last for a few more days. Let’s face it. Life is about winning and losing. That’s why we keep score. That’s why we love sports and board games. We want to know who’s up and who’s down, who’s hot and who’s not.
And that’s why this mother came to Jesus. In the great game of life, she wanted to make sure her boys came out ahead. If that meant asking for a favor from the Lord, she was glad to do it because she felt like her boys deserved it. She had big dreams and her sons had large ambitions. And despite what you may think, ambition itself is not evil. If you don’t have any ambition, why bother getting out of bed in the morning? You might as well roll over and sleep all day. Ambition is merely a strong desire regarding the future. As such, it can be positive or negative, good or bad, righteous or evil. It can be very useful if we are ambitious for the right things.
he setting of our text is crucial. This event (which is recorded by both Mathew and Mark) occurs near the end of Jesus’ ministry. In fact, it takes place about a week before the crucifixion as Jesus and his disciples are walking toward Jerusalem. These are the final action-packed days as the clock ticks down toward the climax of Jesus’ public ministry. While Jesus is coming to grips with the bloody death that looms before him, his top men are angling for better seats in the Kingdom. And who can blame them? Everyone wants to be somebody. We all want to be near the center of power. And we say (or at least we think), “If I can’t be somebody, let me be near someone who is somebody.” That way we can bask in the reflected glow of greatness.
While it is easy to criticize this woman, in reality is she was doing what any mother would do. I can’t blame her for coming to Jesus. All she really wanted was for her kids to do well and get ahead in life. Many Bible commentators suggest that this “mother of Zebedee’s sons” was also the sister of Mary, the mother of Jesus. If that is true (and it may be, but we cannot be sure), then James and John are first cousins to Jesus and she is Jesus’ aunt. If that is the case, then perhaps she thought Jesus would take care of his own family members first.
In any case, it must have been quite a scene. Here comes this mother with her grown-up boys in tow. Remember, James and John are at least 25 years old and probably over 30. The parallel passage in Mark 10 makes it clear that the boys had the same question in mind. It’s obvious that the boys and their mother had discussed all this previously. Perhaps the mother is involved because they all agreed that Jesus would be more sympathetic if the request came from her first.
20 Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him.
21 “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.”
22 “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.
23 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.”
24 When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. 25 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. 26 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— 28 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.”
Here is some background on this incident, from a sermon by Ray Pritchard, "The Mother of Two Sons: Christ Speaks to the Problem of Misguided Ambition:"
We live in an ambitious world. We want to know who is the best, fastest, smartest, strongest, loudest, longest, and richest. And we want to know who is “the one with the most from coast to coast.” That’s why the Guinness Book of World Records is a yearly best seller. That’s why we watch the Super Bowl and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, and that’s why (some of us!) watch Survivor. We want to know who is going to get kicked off the island this week and who will last for a few more days. Let’s face it. Life is about winning and losing. That’s why we keep score. That’s why we love sports and board games. We want to know who’s up and who’s down, who’s hot and who’s not.
And that’s why this mother came to Jesus. In the great game of life, she wanted to make sure her boys came out ahead. If that meant asking for a favor from the Lord, she was glad to do it because she felt like her boys deserved it. She had big dreams and her sons had large ambitions. And despite what you may think, ambition itself is not evil. If you don’t have any ambition, why bother getting out of bed in the morning? You might as well roll over and sleep all day. Ambition is merely a strong desire regarding the future. As such, it can be positive or negative, good or bad, righteous or evil. It can be very useful if we are ambitious for the right things.
he setting of our text is crucial. This event (which is recorded by both Mathew and Mark) occurs near the end of Jesus’ ministry. In fact, it takes place about a week before the crucifixion as Jesus and his disciples are walking toward Jerusalem. These are the final action-packed days as the clock ticks down toward the climax of Jesus’ public ministry. While Jesus is coming to grips with the bloody death that looms before him, his top men are angling for better seats in the Kingdom. And who can blame them? Everyone wants to be somebody. We all want to be near the center of power. And we say (or at least we think), “If I can’t be somebody, let me be near someone who is somebody.” That way we can bask in the reflected glow of greatness.
While it is easy to criticize this woman, in reality is she was doing what any mother would do. I can’t blame her for coming to Jesus. All she really wanted was for her kids to do well and get ahead in life. Many Bible commentators suggest that this “mother of Zebedee’s sons” was also the sister of Mary, the mother of Jesus. If that is true (and it may be, but we cannot be sure), then James and John are first cousins to Jesus and she is Jesus’ aunt. If that is the case, then perhaps she thought Jesus would take care of his own family members first.
In any case, it must have been quite a scene. Here comes this mother with her grown-up boys in tow. Remember, James and John are at least 25 years old and probably over 30. The parallel passage in Mark 10 makes it clear that the boys had the same question in mind. It’s obvious that the boys and their mother had discussed all this previously. Perhaps the mother is involved because they all agreed that Jesus would be more sympathetic if the request came from her first.