Monday
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.” - Matthew 20:20-21
I can’t read this passage without thinking of my own children playing the game called shotgun. I am sure that you have played it. The object of the game is to ride in the front passenger’s seat or “shotgun”. You achieve this place of honor (to the right of the driver) by being the first person to call out the word “shotgun”. However, you cannot call it until you are outside of the house. In our family there are many other nuances and technicalities to this game that make it all the more fun (and at times annoying).
James and John come to Jesus with their mother and basically attempt to be the first to call or ask for positions of honor when Jesus eventually establishes His kingdom. It is tempting for us to read this passage and make the assumption that James, John and their Mommy were terribly presumptuous for making such a request. But we should not be too quick to pass judgment on these three.
First of all, she is a mother. What mother does not want good things for her children? The mother of James and John is simply trying to intercede for her boys. Although this request of Jesus might sound outlandish to us, the reason for it is found in the context. Jesus had just promised that when the Son of Man should come again he would sit on the throne of his glory, and the apostles would sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?” Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. – Matthew 19:26-28
The twelve disciples had also heard him say that he was going to Jerusalem to suffer and to die. In fact just before James and John and their mother make this request Jesus says this;
Now as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!” - Matthew 20:17-19
The disciples heard loud and clear the promises of glory but they did not seem to hear those that had to do with suffering. This illustrates the fact that we often hear the things that we want to hear. The things that we are looking for we latch onto, and we hold them, and we forget the things that we don’t want to hear. So the disciples had heard the promises of the glory, but they had forgotten the words concerning the sufferings.
Now before we blame James and John for their ambitious and opportunistic request, we have to at least give them credit for getting some things right. First, they believed that Jesus was King. Second, they believed that Jesus was going to establish His kingdom on earth. Third, they believed that they will rule and reign with Him when He finally sits on His throne. All of these things are thoroughly biblical concepts!
These two (and the other ten for that matter) were confusing the world’s concept of Kings and Kingdoms with God’s vision for His Kingdom being established on earth. They simply did not yet fully understand what kind of Kingdom Jesus was talking about.
Do we understand any better? In some ways perhaps…
But what about the possibility that we too may misunderstand Jesus and/or may hear only what we want to hear in His teachings and promises about His kingdom?
The truth is that none of us sees clearly all that Jesus sees. We are all growing in our understanding of who Jesus is and of what He is doing in us and in the world!
Jeff Frazier
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