Matthew 20:20-24: a reflection

20Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, kneeling and asking a certain thing of him. 21He said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Command that these, my two sons, may sit, one on your right hand and one on your left hand, in your Kingdom.” 22But Jesus answered, “You don’t know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” They said to him, “We are able.” 23He said to them, “You will indeed drink my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give, but it is for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” 24When the ten heard it, they were indignant with the two brothers.

The mother of James and John comes to Jesus with a request: that her two sons might sit at his right and left in his kingdom, the places of highest honor. It is a request for status, for prominence over the others. Jesus responds not with rebuke but with a question that reveals what greatness in his kingdom really involves: Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink? The way to his right and left is not the way of grasping honor, but the way of the cup, of suffering. And the other ten, when they hear, are indignant, revealing the same hunger for status in themselves.

Notice what is exposed here: the hunger for status and prominence, and how Jesus redirects it. James and John, through their mother, sought the top places; and the other ten were indignant, not because the request was wrong in principle, but because they wanted those places too. The desire for status ran through them all. And Jesus redirects it: the path to the places beside him is not grasping for honor, but the cup of suffering, the way of the cross. Greatness in his kingdom is not what they imagined.

That hunger for status is one we share, and Jesus' redirection is one we need. We too can hunger for prominence, for the places of honor, for status above others; and like the ten, we can grow indignant when others seek what we ourselves want. But Jesus points to a different path: not the grasping for honor, but the cup of self-giving and suffering, the way of the cross. Examine your own hunger for status and prominence, and let Jesus redirect it. Do not grasp for the places of honor, or resent others who do; the way of greatness in Jesus' kingdom is not the grasping for status, but the drinking of the cup, the path of self-giving and servanthood. Seek not the high places, but the way of the cup, as Jesus redirected his status-hungry disciples toward the cross.

Lord Jesus, the mother of James and John asked that her sons might sit at your right and left in your kingdom, and the other ten were indignant, all of them hungry for status; but you redirected them, are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink, pointing not to grasping honor but to the way of the cup, of suffering. Expose that same hunger for status in me, and redirect it. I too can hunger for prominence, for the places of honor, for status above others; and like the ten, I can grow indignant when others seek what I myself want. But you point to a different path: not the grasping for honor, but the cup of self-giving and suffering, the way of the cross. Help me examine my own hunger for status and prominence, and let you redirect it. Keep me from grasping for the places of honor, or resenting others who do; the way of greatness in your kingdom is not the grasping for status, but the drinking of the cup, the path of self-giving and servanthood. Help me seek not the high places, but the way of the cup, as you redirected your status-hungry disciples toward the cross. Turn my heart from status to servanthood, Lord.