“Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, and kneeling down she asked him for a favor. He said to her, ‘What do you want?’ She replied, ‘Permit these two sons of mine to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.’ Jesus answered, ‘You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink the cup I am about to drink?’ They said to him, ‘We are able.’ He told them, ‘You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right and at my left is not mine to give. Rather, it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.’” —Matthew 20:20–23
Ignorance fueled by presumption and selfish ambition caused John and James to have their mother approach the Master with a request for their honor. Granted, these two were part of Jesus’ inner circle, and yet, they were continually missing the mark. In our verses for today, it was the mark of humility.
Jesus had recently spoken to them about this very subject when His disciples were found arguing over whom would be the greatest in the coming kingdom.
“At that time the disciples came to Jesus saying, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ He called a child, had him stand among them, and said, ‘I tell you the truth, unless you turn around and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven! Whoever then humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.’” —Matthew 18:1–4
Jesus was trying to instill in his followers the understanding that humility before God and man is a virtue every disciple needs to embrace. It is an essential attitude of our hearts. Humility is a correct estimation of self. To be overly preoccupied with self will eventually cause our downfall.
Paul’s challenge to us comes to mind:
“Instead of being motivated by selfish ambition or vanity, each of you should, in humility, be moved to treat one another as more important than yourself.” —Philippians 2:3
Without question, “selfish ambition” is not of the Spirit. “Vanity” is often its root cause. Paul gives us a list of some of the obvious acts of the sinful nature in Galatians of which selfish ambition is included:
“Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, depravity, idolatry, sorcery, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish rivalries, dissensions, factions, envying, murder, drunkenness, carousing, and similar things. I am warning you, as I had warned you before: Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God!” —Galatians 5:19–21
John and James desired to be men of rank in Jesus’ coming kingdom—those possessing authority and power. Simply put, they were seeking honor. They had no idea what they were asking. They imagined their worldly warfare was ending rather than scarcely beginning. Perhaps they assumed if they had their mother approach Jesus He would acquiesce to their wishes.
We do not know what we are asking for when we seek the glory of the crown. That kind of glory always requires the pain of the cross. Jesus patiently reminds James and John of the cup of suffering He is to drink from and graciously asks them if they are willing to drink from this cup as well. Jesus came as the Suffering Servant because of us, because of our need.
Jesus said, “If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will save it.” —Luke 9:23–24
Become More
“The Christian gospel is that I am so flawed that Jesus had to die for me, yet I am so loved and valued that Jesus was glad to die for me. This leads to deep humility and deep confidence at the same time.” —Tim Keller
Further Reflections
“For as long as a man is not emptied of himself and of his own righteousness and goodness, he will have a legal spirit. A spirit of pride in one’s own righteousness, morality, holiness, affection, experience, faith, humiliation or any other goodness, is a legal spirit … It is even possible to have a self-righteous spirit about one’s own humility and to be self-confident about one’s own abasement … But he whose heart is subject to Christian humility has a very different attitude … Christians who are real saints and the greatest in the Kingdom … humble themselves as a little child … They look upon themselves as children in grace.” —Jonathan Edwards
“Humility is nothing else but a true knowledge and awareness of oneself as one really is.” —The Cloud of Unknowing
“And God will exalt you in due time,
if you humble yourselves under his mighty hand by casting all your cares on him
because he cares for you.” —1 Peter 5:6–7