Who Is the Greatest?
TRANSLATION
(17) And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and, on the way, said to them, (18) “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and teachers of the Law, and they will condemn him to death, (19) hand him over to the Gentiles to mock, scourge, and crucify him. And he will be raised on the third day.”
(20) Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee along with her sons came to him, and, kneeling before him, asked a favor of him. (21) And he said to her, “What is it that you wish?” She said to him, “Grant that my two sons may sit, one on your right hand and one on your left hand, in your Kingdom.” (22) Jesus responded, “You have no idea what you are requesting. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” (23) He said to them, “You will indeed drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand or at my left hand is not mine to give. Such places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.”
(24) Now when the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. (25) But 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) It must not be (this way) among you. Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, (27) and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave, (28) even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.”
OBSERVATIONS
While Jesus was concerned to prepare his disciples for the opposition and suffering they would face in Jerusalem, Jesus’ followers were still preoccupied with gaining the best positions in the Kingdom which they expected he would soon establish. Who better to make such a bold request than a mother on her knees?
Several repeated words help us grasp the significance of these two paragraphs. The phrase, “going up to Jerusalem” was repeated (vss. 17 & 18) as was “hand(ed) over” (vss. 18 & 19). The designations, “Son of Man” (vss. 18 & 28) and “Gentiles” (vss. 19 & 25) are found in both paragraphs while the second paragraph contained repetitions of “sons” (vss. 20 & 21), “asked/asking” (vss. 20 & 22), “right/left hand” (vss. 21 & 23), “able” (both in vs. 22), “drink” three times and twice with “cup” (vss. 22 & 23). In the third paragraph we find “servant/slave” (vss. 27 & 28) and “serve/served” (vs. 28) also repeated.
OUTLINE
I. Jesus warned his disciples about his suffering and death as they approached Jerusalem. (17-19)
II. The mother of James and John requested the best positions in the Kingdom for her sons. (20-23)
III. Jesus taught his disciples that servanthood is the way to greatness in his Kingdom. (24-28)
IDEA STATEMENT
In Jesus’ Kingdom, true greatness is found in humble servanthood, not in ambitious self-seeking.
APPLICATION
Jesus’ patience must have been sorely tried on a number of occasions during his earthly ministry. More than once we find him asking rhetorical questions beginning with the words, “How long?” Just after his Transfiguration he cried out, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you” (Mt. 17:17)? While his frustration on that occasion was primarily directed to the unbelieving Jews in the crowds that were following him, he certainly must have felt a similar sense of annoyance when he heard his disciples arguing like children over who was the greatest within their small group of twelve.
On this occasion it was the mother of James and John who had the temerity to kneel before Jesus in mock humility and plead the case for her sons to be given the most prominent places in his coming Kingdom. Instead of responding directly to her request, Jesus with amazing patience directed his words to her sons who had clearly persuaded her to intercede with him on their behalf. After chiding them with the words, “You do not know what you are asking,” he challenged them with a searching question: “Are you able to drink the cup (of suffering) I am about to drink?” When they eagerly responded, “We are able,” he told them that they would indeed suffer with him, but that the highest places to which they were aspiring were not within his power to give.
And it didn’t end there. The mother’s request for her sons aroused a spirit of “indignation” among the other disciples likely because she had cornered Jesus with her request before the others had thought to do so. Jesus then had to lecture the entire group regarding the kind of greatness he required of his followers. Many students of Scripture believe that these verses contain the core message of the entire Gospel of Matthew: “…the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (vs. 28). Jesus set forth the following standard for greatness: “Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave” (vs. 27). This approach was completely countercultural to the world system in Jesus’ day and remains so in ours. In the Kingdom Jesus came to establish, the way up is down, the last are the first, and the least become the greatest. The sooner we learn that the way of humility and self-abasement namely, the way of the cross, is the path to greatness, the sooner we will become like the one who called us to be his disciples.