Matthew 20:20-34, Serve Like the Savior
Introduction by Wiersbe: “This chapter contains some hard things for us to receive and practice.
*If we love the things of this world, we cannot love God supremely.
*If we are not yielded completely to His will, we cannot obey Him unreservedly.
*If we seek glory for ourselves, or if we compare ourselves with other believers, then we cannot glorify
Him.
*We cannot acknowledge Jesus as our King unless we love Him supremely, obey Him unreservedly, and
glorify Him completely.
*But if we do these things, we will share in His life and joy, and one day reign with Him!”
I. Verse 20-21a: “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.”
- Why would Jesus ask, “What is it you want?” He asks the same of us each and every time we pray because what we say in answer to that reveals our heart.
- The correct answer should be, “I want what You want, Lord!” However, we rarely get on our knees and ask of the Lord, “What is it You want? Reveal Yourself to me.” Instead, we tend to offer Him a list of things that we want. If our focus were to change to seeking what He wants each time we prayed, went to church, or read the Word, then an inevitable result would be a closer walk with Him.
II. Verse 21b: “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.’”
- The last 4 sections that we have studied are interlinked: Peter asks what reward the disciples will receive at the end of chapter 19, followed by the parable of the workers;followed by the prophecy that Jesus would suffer, die, and be resurrected; followed by a mother’s desire for her boys to receive honor.
- It’s no accident that the selfless example of Jesus is sandwiched between all of these examples of human selfishness. So, once again, he must remind them that God’s economy is nothing like man’s. Those who will be honored by God are not those who do things the world’s way.
- Isaiah 14:12-14 reveals that throne seeking is the heart of Satan: “How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! 13 You said in your heart,’ I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’” Throne seeking is dangerous business, folks. Let’s seek to serve rather than be served!
III. Verses 22-23: “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.’”
- Jesus has to blatantly say that they’re confused; since they still believe He would rule from an earthly throne, they ask for the 2 power positions in governing. But the honor of ruling beside Jesus would require drinking the same cup He would drink…the cup that He prayed might be taken from Him if God willed it; we’ll see in Matthew 26 that this cup is a cup of suffering.
- The thing is, both of these men do end up drinking from the cup of suffering, but Jesus begins His next teaching on humility in the Kingdom by reminding them that He lowered Himself when He took on flesh, and in doing so, gave up His right to appoint positions. His example to them was humility and complete trust in the Father’s plan.
IV. Verse 24:“When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers.” The other 10 respond in anger to James and John’s position seeking. At first, you might hope that their anger is righteous, but considering that Jesus calls all of them to him after this and gives them all a lesson in humility, we can assume that the 10 were jealous and wanted their own positions in the earthly regime they assumed Jesus would establish.
V. Verses 25-28:“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.’”
- God’s economy is quite the opposite of mankind’s (and Satan’s as we saw in Isaiah 14). He tells His followers (and all of us as well), “Not so with you.” We aren’t to conduct ourselves as the world does; we’re not to seek after the high positions for the sake of lording over others.
- Here Jesus intensifies the lesson that started at the beginning of chapter 20 with the theme of the first shall be last and the last shall be first; now he adds, not only are you to be last, you’re to be a slave if you want to be first in The Kingdom. Our flesh battles with our spirit; one desiring to lord over others while the other pulls us toward a humble desire to serve as the Savior exemplified.
VI. Verses 29- 34: “29 As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. 30 Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, ‘Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!’ 31 The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, ‘Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!’ 32 Jesus stopped and called them. ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ he asked. 33 ‘Lord,’ they answered, ‘we want our sight.’ 34 Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.”
- Once again, Jesus asks, “What do you want me to do for you?” However, this time, those who ask are asking out ofneed, not out of selfish desire like James and John’s mother’s request. So, why would Jesus ask two blind men to state the obvious? When we speak our needs to Jesus, there’s a humility that comes with it; we ask because we know we can’t do it ourselves. These men appeal to His mercy, indicating that there is no pompous entitled attitude. They’re not asking because they think they deserve anything; they’re asking simply because they believe He has the power to do something about it, so only His mercy can help them.
- Those traveling with Jesus felt that these 2 blind men didn’t warrant the great teacher’s time, so they rebuke them, but praise God, He stopped for them, and He’ll stop for us. Not one of us warrants His attention, but His compassion causes Him to stop for all of us.
- The miracle of healing is enough to praise God about, but did you notice the last two words? The two previously blind men “followed Him.” They met him blind, but they walked with Him healed: eyes, heart, and soul.
- Always our example, Jesus made time for those whom the crowd deemed unworthy; may we have His eyes to see those around us as He sees them.
LORD,
May we ask of You
with proper motive,
seeking to serve,
rather than be served.
Amen and Amen.