NOTES for Mat 20:17-28
17 And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said unto them, |
18 Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, |
19 And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again. |
20 Then came to him the mother of Zebedee's children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him. |
21 And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom. |
22 But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able. |
23 And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father. |
24 And when the ten heard it, they were moved with indignation against the two brethren. |
25 But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. |
26 But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; |
27 And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: |
28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. |
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So Jesus speaks openly for the third time about His coming arrest, condemnation, crucifixion, and resurrection. The words about resurrection always sound like a kind of period, the end of a sentence. And the disciples' attention does not settle on them; they are absorbed in vexed amazement at such an incomprehensible fate for the Messiah. They do not want, and perhaps still cannot, accept what the Teacher is telling them. So it is no surprise that they understand the words about the twelve thrones as triumph in this earthly life, and in just this triumph they want to take the fullest possible part...
The mother of the sons of Zebedee comes to Jesus with a request. And what does He do? Though she has already said why she came, He asks her a question: "What do you want?" Jesus gives her the chance to stand face to face with Him and become aware of what is happening. To look inside herself, to look at His Face... How often we, like this woman, do not trouble ourselves with such a "waste" of time. And how amazing it is that the Lord does not always grant what we ask.
Readings for 4 March 2026
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