Servant Leadership

Matthew 20:20 Then the mother of Zebedees 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 dont know what you are asking," Jesus said
to them. "Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?" "We can," they answered. (23)
Jesus 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."

Apparently this teaching falls right on the heels of the parable of the vineyard and
sadly we can see that the disciples missed the point of that parable entirely.

What was behind the mother of James and John coming to Jesus with this request is
unknown. Was she put up to it by her sons? Was it just a mothers desire to see her
sons sitting in a high position? We just dont know. This much we do know though;
this was a very bold favor to ask of the Lordespecially in light of the fact that Jesus
name for these two was The sons of thunder. See this: Mark 3:17 James son of
Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means
Sons of Thunder) because of their fiery tempers. These were the guys who wanted
to call fire down from heaven upon a Samaritan village that was not friendly toward
Jesus. See Luke 9:54 When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, "Lord,
do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?"

So in light of the question and the temperament of the two sons (James and John
the sons of Zebedee) at that time Jesus answered their question with a statement
and then a question of His own.

Matthew 20:22 "You dont know what you are asking," Jesus said to them. "Can you
drink the cup I am going to drink?" "We can," they answered.

First of all He said that they had no idea of the scope of what they were asking. It
was pretty cheeky to ask to be placed in the number 2 and 3 positions in the entire
kingdom of God. They must not have had a clueor was that their exact point.
Maybe they wanted all that glory that would go with those positions. Perhaps that is
why Jesus asked them an additional question.

Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?

We cannot say they didnt have a clue about the cup He was about to drink because
He just got through telling them in verses 17-19 in this chapter. He had already told
them what would happen when He got to Jerusalem and how He would be flogged
and crucified and resurrected. Once again we see that cocky attitude as they dare
to tell Him that they can indeed drink the cup that He will soon drink as they tell
Him We can.

They get a reply that they will likely remember well on their dying day.

(23) Jesus 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