”Then the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus with her sons. She knelt respectfully to ask a favor. “What is your request?” he asked. She replied, “In your Kingdom, please let my two sons sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left.” But Jesus answered by saying to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink?” “Oh yes,” they replied, “we are able!” Jesus told them, “You will indeed drink from my bitter cup. But I have no right to say who will sit on my right or my left. My Father has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen.” When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant. But Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world Lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”“
Matthew 20:20-28 NLT
Greatness is not achieved by the work of our hands. This is a common misconception among the godless and those who know God. Greatness is bestowed and given by grace. The sons of Zebedee understood this. It seems that they even employed the manipulative tactic of using their mother to make it happen. Jesus’ reaction isn’t to deny greatness to these followers, but instead to caution them of what price will be paid once they receive it. Just as in his parable, the wisdom of god topples expectations and reverse them. The first will be last. The ruling class will be servants. Those who experience true joy will access it through suffering. It is not a condemnation of the goal to achieve, but rather an elucidation of what its cost will be. Not the cost of putting greatness in your hands, but the cost of holding it there and doing right by it. The cost of being a good steward of what is freely given. The disciples didn’t quite understand the bitter cup. They had lived in oppression and poverty. They had lived as outcasts, but they had not yet given their emotional well being or physical well being, to be tortured, in order to hold on to their place at Jesus’ side. Many today haven’t considered this cost. All should.
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