Matthew 93
(Chapter 20)
WE NEED A SAVIOR!
Matthew 20:17–28 (NIV)
17Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way, he took the Twelve aside and said to them,
18“We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death
19and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!”
20Then 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. 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.”
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.
23Jesus 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.”
24When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers.
25Jesus 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.
26Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,
27and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—
28just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
The prediction!
17Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way, he took the Twelve aside and said to them,
18“We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death
19and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!”
· Notice He took the twelve aside
· He was not ready for the public to know
· But He needed the disciples to know
· To prepare them for what’s about to come
The Jews and Gentiles
· Both had a hand in the death of Jesus
· Because they both would benefit from it
· Therefore they both had to participate in it
I hear what you're saying, “We already know what’s going to happen to him”!
· But pay close attention to what He says
· He talks about His suffering, the mocking and the flogging, that His very own people will hand Him over
· That He will be tortured and die
· But e finishes with the third day
Here is what Jesus is saying to us all
· Suffering will come
· Pain will come
· But it is just for a little while for the ones who believe!
· That in the end, we will rise as well!!
· That is the hope that is in Jesus!
But wait, back to the story, why we desperately need a savior!
Pride will do
20Then 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. 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.”
· Pride is why we so desperately need a savior!
· This request is full of pride
· Pride that they deserve such a place, that they have earned the right
· Pride and contempt for their brothers in Christ, other followers of Jesus
o That they have somehow risen above them
o Or worse yet don’t care enough about them to worry about them, serve them
· They covet what they have not earned, and don’t care about if anyone else has
And they tried to manipulate Jesus by sending someone they felt He could not say no to.
· They sent His aunt
· One that probably babysat Him
· And one that helped care for Him during His ministry
Ambition, pride, are powerful tools in Satan’s arsenal. That is why we so desperately need a savior to guide us, and to help us through this world.
You don’t want any of this!
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.
· We all need to be careful what we ask for, we just might get it!
· We all tend to think that the little bit of suffering we are asked to endure for Jesus is enough
· That we understand what He had to endure, because of what we go through
· No one could have taken the cup from Jesus
· He was the only one equipped to take it
We can!
· James and John thought that leaving all behind and walking with Jesus was suffering enough
· That they had endured plenty
· And they still assumed that Jesus’s kingdom was going to be here on earth
· They had no clue what or where Jesus’s kingdom was or would be
· But in their pride and arrogance, they answered without a clue of what they were saying
We all do this
· We all think that we can fill His shoes
· We do it every day
· We replace God in our lives, we become the little “g” in areas we think we can handle better
· Don’t laugh too loud at the sheer ignorance of what they ask without looking in a mirror first!
Set some right expectations
23Jesus 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.”
· They have no clue what is about to happen
· That their suffering was only about to start
· James was the first to be executed
· And John was brutalized many times (boiled in oil once)
· Jesus us warning them that suffering is coming
· And we should expect it as well
o Jesus is laying out that suffering is a given for his followers
o That we should expect it
· And we should just be happy that Jesus allows us into heaven, that we get a place in His kingdom
· We shouldn’t worry about what our place is
And it’s God’s choice who sits where!
· These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.
· Is there a hierarchy in heaven, In God’s kingdom?
· Apparently, there is
· The who and the what of what we do, is not up to us
o We can’t campaign for it
o We can’t manipulate our way into it
o It is God’s Choice and His alone
· That’s why we need a savior! To remind us of our place!
The gentleness of Jesus!
24When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers.
25Jesus called them together and said,
· So now the family is feuding
· The 10 are mad at the 2 for sneaking around behind their back
· Not because it was wrong, but because they didn’t get to it first!
Jesus could have handled this in a bunch of different ways, but He chose humility and tenderness!
· He called them all to Him
· He didn’t scream at them, didn’t reprimand them
· He used this as a teaching moment
Rulers lord over, believers serve
“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.
26Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,
27and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—
· Rulers rule
o They seek power
o They look for advantages
o They do whatever it takes to win, to grab power
o We see it every day, in politics, in business, in sports, it's everywhere.
o People are ruthless when they get a taste of it, they become predators
o And they will do anything to keep it!
· Not so with you!
o We serve
o We show humility
o We show grace
o We forgive
o We don’t lord over people, we walk alongside them
To rephrase Ricky Bobbi “if you're last, you're first!”
Jesus is our example!
28just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
· You want to be different, make an impact
o Serve
o Show grace when it isn't deserved
o Show mercy, and expect nothing in return
o Give when no one is looking
o Love people, show compassion
o And be kind if at all possible
o And you will be giving your life as a ransom for many!
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