NOTES for Mat 20:17-28
It gives the strong impression that the disciples have suddenly gone deaf. Jesus speaks clearly and plainly: soon I will be killed. The disciples do not react at all - but then a loving mother appears, eager to secure the future of her sons, and these sons do not stop her or say: Mother, He is preparing for something terrible, this is not the time...
Jesus answers not her, but James and John themselves. And He does not reject them, even though they truly understand nothing. He did not say, "What are you doing? They want to kill Me, and you are dividing up places!" He said, "Yes, you will be with Me, but you cannot even imagine what that will mean for you."
And when they briskly agree to drink the cup that Jesus will drink, He does not tell them that they will fall asleep while He is asking the Father for this cup to pass from Him, or that they will run away when He is handed over to death, though He knows perfectly well that this is exactly what will happen. He says, "Yes, you will drink My cup," because He knows that after His Resurrection the Holy Spirit will give them strength to bear witness to Him, to carry the Good News throughout the whole earth, and to accept persecution and death in His name.