WWUTT 2067 The Son of Man Came Not to Be Served... (Matthew 20:17-28)

Jesus said that the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

And let that be an example to us that we might be a servant of all when we understand the text.

This is When We Understand The Text, a daily Bible study in the Word of Christ that men and women of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

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Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. In our study of the Gospel of Matthew, we've been in chapter 20 this week, and I'm going to pick up where I left off yesterday.

So starting in verse 17 and reading through verse 28 out of the Legacy Standard Bible, hear the word of the

Lord. And as Jesus was about to go up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside by themselves, and on the way he said to them,

Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and will deliver him over to the

Gentiles to mock and flog and crucify him, and on the third day he will be raised up.

Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, bowing down and making a request of him, and he said to her,

What do you wish? She said to him, Command that in your kingdom these two sons of mine may sit one on your right and one on your left.

But Jesus answered and said, You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?

They said to him, We are able. He said to them, My cup you shall drink, but to sit on my right and on my left, this is not mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my

Father. And hearing this, the ten became indignant with the two brothers, but Jesus called them to himself and said,

You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them.

It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave.

Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.

So you've probably noticed some themes going on here that have been pretty similar throughout this section of the

Gospel of Matthew. Over the last several chapters, Jesus has said multiple times to his disciples that he is going to go and be arrested and be flogged and beaten and put to death, but telling them not to fear because he's coming back again.

Yet they don't hear him and they don't understand. And that's demonstrated here, as in this first section,

Jesus says to his disciples that he's going to be delivered over and put to death. Then you have in this next section, the mother of James and John coming to Jesus and asking that they should sit on his right hand and on his left.

Like they did not understand what it was that Jesus just said. They're not making this request.

Their mother is not making this request of him as if this is going to be in the heavenly kingdom, reigning over all from heaven above.

She thinks that this is going to happen in Jerusalem. That's something else that we've been seeing repeated over and over again over these last several chapters.

The disciples saying things of Jesus, hearing things from Jesus, believing that he's going to go into Jerusalem and he's going to overthrow the

Herod's and kick out the Romans. And then Israel is going to be a superpower again. Their expectations here, at least at this juncture, are for an earthly kingdom.

And so as we come into this passage today, we're going to look at that first part with Jesus telling his disciples what's going to happen.

Then you have the request that is made from James and John's mother. And then the response from the disciples becoming indignant.

And then Jesus gives final instructions to them in verses 25 to 28. Final instructions, at least as far as this section goes today.

And all of this to demonstrate what we have in verse 28, that the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

That's the verse that these sections are pointing to. So coming back again to verses 17 to 19, it says as Jesus was about to go to Jerusalem.

So we're getting closer and closer to Jerusalem. The triumphal entry is coming up at the start of chapter 21.

This is all of the dealings up in Galilee are finished. And in Judah is where they are heading to Jerusalem to fulfill what had been foretold by the prophets.

And so Jesus, about to head there, took the 12 disciples aside. That's what it says in verse 17.

He took the 12 aside. Well, isn't he with the 12? So why would Matthew find it necessary to have to tell us that?

Well, Jesus was actually with many more disciples than just his 12. There were probably other disciples that were following him, but it's just the 12 that he means to talk to and say this specifically, behold, we're about to go up to Jerusalem and the son of man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death.

This isn't the first time he's told them that. Remember back in 16, chapter 16 was the first time where he said it, where Peter took him aside and rebuked him for saying such a thing and said, far be it from you to go and die like this.

I will never let this happen to you. And Jesus had to rebuke him and say, get behind me, Satan, for you're not thinking with the mind of God.

You're thinking with the mind of a man. And so here Jesus is telling his disciples yet again that he's going to go and he's going to be crucified, but he's coming back again from the dead.

He says that in verse 19, they will deliver him over to the Gentiles. The Romans are going to mock and flog and crucify him, but on the third day, he will be raised up three times, at least three times, maybe a fourth.

Jesus has told his disciples about this over the course of these chapters, 16 to 20.

And yet they don't understand what it is that he is saying. We know they don't understand because once Jesus is crucified, where did the disciples go?

They go into hiding. They're mourning, rightfully so. Even if they knew what was going to happen, it would make sense for them to mourn because of this evil that was done to the son of man, the holy son of God, who allowed the creatures that he made in his image to put him to death.

Sin had led to this moment and he died so that sins could be forgiven, to give his life as a ransom for many, as said at the end of this section.

So even if the disciples knew what was going to happen, it would be right for them to mourn. And even the father, even the father was grieved over what was happening to his son.

When darkness covers the land, the curtain in the temple was torn, there was the earthquake. So even the father was grieved by this, by his son being put to death because as said in 2

Corinthians 5 .21, for our sake, he became sin who knew no sin that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

So this was even a grief to the father to have to put his son to death. The disciples still would have grieved even if they knew what was going on, but they grieved and they went into hiding.

And that's where they were when the women came upon the empty tomb and then came back to tell the disciples.

And then of course, Peter and John run ahead of the rest of the disciples and they're the first ones at the tomb of the 12 anyway.

But here, Jesus is telling them exactly what is going to happen. We don't have any response from them here, at least as far as these three verses are concerned.

He says that he's going to be crucified, even says crucified is the way he's going to die, which means it would have to be at the hands of the

Romans. But he says on the third day, he will be raised up. We get no reaction from the disciples this time.

And then in verse 20, the next thing that we've got is the mother of the sons of Zebedee, James and John coming to Jesus and bowing before him.

So they're getting closer and closer to Jerusalem and James and John's mother come out and she embarrasses them.

Now I don't know that that was their reaction to it at all. Maybe they're going, yeah, mom. Yeah. You know, you go ask him.

We don't want to ask him. You go ask him. And so the mother of James and John asks

Jesus this question, or at least it says she makes a request of him. He said to her, what do you wish?

And she said to him, command that in your kingdom, these two sons of mine may sit on your right and on your left.

And again, her thought is here, they're coming back into Jerusalem and the people are probably even preparing for this because remember, we've got the triumphal entry coming up with people laying down their cloaks and palm branches as Jesus is riding into the city on a colt.

So they're expecting the king is coming. This is happening. This is the fulfillment of the prophecy as it's been given.

And we know that Jesus of Nazareth is that guy. That will even be said of him in chapter 21.

This is the prophet that is of Nazareth. So this is going to be the guy they're preparing for this.

They're ready for his arrival. So it's as they're getting closer to Jerusalem, that James and John's mother comes out to meet him, comes out to greet him.

Everybody's about to celebrate the coming of their king. They think he's going to come and overthrow the

Herod's once again. And so they're, they're anticipating this. And here comes

James and John's mother to ask of him to make this request command that in your kingdom, these two sons of mine may sit one on your right and one on your left.

Now this is a proud mom and she just wants to see her sons be right there with the king in his glorious kingdom.

He's going to sit on his throne. He's going to be up there on that chancel, whatever you would call that stage that the throne is, is elevated up on.

And there's going to be her sons and she's going to be so proud and they'll be wearing crowns too, or they will, they will be in service to the king or something like that.

They're going to be right there. Remember that we read last week that the disciples were going to sit on glorious thrones.

He said, you'll sit on 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel. They still have in their mind that this is an earthly thing that Jesus is talking about.

And so James and John's mother wants to see them right up there with Jesus, as close to the king as they can get one on the right hand, one on the left, and she can say, there's my boys.

But Jesus answered her and said in verse 22, you do not know what you are asking.

And indeed she didn't. She did not understand this request that she was making because she had in her mind as everybody had in their minds, as even those who are ready for this parade, as they had in their minds, they're thinking about an earthly kingdom.

And Jesus goes on to say, are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?

And they said to him, we are able. Now, I'm curious as to what they thought they were committing themselves to, was this in light of what

Jesus had just said to them in verses 17 and 19, did they understand that he just said that he's going to be crucified and put to death and then he's going to come back to life again?

Or did they think he was speaking metaphorically or did they just ignore that altogether?

Yeah, yeah. You've said this before, but we know what's really going to happen. We know how this is going to transpire.

You're going to go in and you're going to, you're going to overthrow this thing. Or even if they persecute you and they beat on you a little bit, we know the kind of power you have and you're not going to allow that to go on for very long.

I don't know what was in their minds regarding this. When Jesus says, are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?

Do they think that he's talking about his royal cup? Like, yeah, make us your cup bearers, if that's what you're talking about.

We'll stand there on your left hand and on your right, and we're ready to do whatever it is that you ask of us.

Oh, King, was that what they had in mind? I'm not sure. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?

And they said to him, we are able. Now, what's the cup that Jesus is talking about?

Remember, when he enters into the Garden of Gethsemane, this is coming up in a few chapters yet when we get to chapter 26 or 27.

But when Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane, he prays and asks,

God, let this cup pass from me, not as I will, but as you will, if there's any other way, if there's any way that we can do this, let's go that way.

Let this cup pass from me. What is the cup that Jesus is referring to? He mentions a cup here in chapter 20.

We've got a cup that's coming up again in the Garden of Gethsemane. Well, in the

Garden of Gethsemane, in Psalm 75, we read the following. For one's rising up does not come from the east nor from the west and not from the desert.

But God is the judge. He puts down one and raises up another. For a cup is in the hand of Yahweh and the wine foams.

It is full of his mixture and he pours from this. Surely all the wicked of the earth must drain and drink down its dregs.

Here in Psalm 75, this is talking about the wrath of God. And we see this talked about in Revelation as well.

God pouring out his wrath as one would pour out wine and the wicked drink it down to the dregs.

That's talked about in Revelation with even greater judgment happening there than we have ever seen anywhere else in the

Bible. So there is this cup in the hand of Yahweh.

It's the illustration of his wrath and he pours it out on the wicked and they drink it down to the dregs.

This is the cup that Jesus drank as he died on the cross.

He absorbed the wrath of God for those that he died for, for those for whom he died.

He took God's wrath upon himself, drank it down to the dregs so that all who are in Christ will not perish under the wrath of God.

When we read in John 3, 16, God so loved the world, he gave his only son and whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life, will not perish under his wrath.

That's what is meant. God's wrath will pour out on all the wicked, on those who do not know

Christ. But for those who are in Christ Jesus, who believe in him, who have put their trust in him for the forgiveness of their sins, who know that by his death, our sins are forgiven.

And just as he was raised from the dead, we will be raised up also. For those who know this, the wrath of God is satisfied.

He will not pour his wrath out on us who are in Christ Jesus because Christ drank the wrath of God, drank the cup of his wrath when he died on the cross for our sins.

And so in the garden of Gethsemane, that's certainly the cup that Jesus is referring to.

Here may not be the exact same cup. It may be that what Jesus is referring to here is just the death that he's about to die.

Just talking about the earthly death. The mother of the sons of Zebedee is asking that they would sit on earthly thrones.

And so Jesus may be responding to her with a reference to an earthly death.

The cup that he's about to drink is therefore not in reference to the cup in Psalm 75, eight, but it's just a, it's a metaphor for the fact that he's about to go and die.

Now, when they say that they are ready, and again, they may not know what it is that they are agreeing to,

Jesus says to them in verse 23, my cup, you shall drink. And this may simply be

Jesus saying to them that you are going to suffer. Also, we know that John did not die.

He was not martyred, but James was, and in fact becomes the first disciple martyred.

As a matter of fact, he's not the first martyr. Stephen is in Acts chapter seven, but James is the first disciple to be martyred.

So they're both going to suffer. They will both undergo persecution for the name of Christ.

And that may be what he is referencing. When he says, you shall drink it, you're going to drink from the same cup. You're going to suffer as I have suffered.

But to sit on my right hand and on my left, this is not mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my father.

Now, Jesus doesn't say who these are. He doesn't mention who these people are, who have who have been prepared for these seats by my father.

But when we get to Matthew 25, 34, this is in the

Olivet discourse, we're still several weeks away from this. But it's there that Jesus says that the king will say to them on his right hand, come, you who are blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from before the foundation of the world.

Remember when the the son of man is sitting on the great white throne of judgment and he gathers all the nations to him and he separates them as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

The sheep go on his right hand, the goats on his left. And he says to those on his right, enter the kingdom that has been prepared for you by my father from before the foundation of the world.

That may be the reference that may be what Jesus is talking about here, not not to thrones that are to his right hand and to his left, because Jesus is sitting at the father's right hand.

But since the the the mother of the sons of Zebedee did not understand what she was truly asking for, he just simply says to her, it's not mine to give.

It is the father. The father is the one who has chosen and those whom the father has chosen.

He has given to the son. But Jesus is not about to designate. Yeah, you can sit here and you can sit here because the chosen are chosen by the father.

Verse 24, and hearing this, the 10 became indignant with the two brothers, so they're upset by this request that James and John have made through their mother.

But, you know, nonetheless, they're they're upset. This is now starting a causing a quarrel among the disciples.

But Jesus called them to himself and said, you know that the rulers of the Gentiles lorded over them and their great men exercise authority over them.

So in other words, this is worldly, it's worldly for you to want to sit in authority and kind of lord your authority over other people.

They've not been paying attention to the things that Jesus has said, because it's the parable that we had considered yesterday in the last lesson that we had last week at the end of chapter 19, where Jesus had said the last will be first and the first will be last.

He's been telling the disciples that they need to humble themselves, not to seek after the best seats.

But to humble themselves and become a servant to others, let the little children come to me and don't hinder them, as we had read in the previous chapter, for to them belongs the kingdom of God.

And so Jesus saying to his disciples, this is a worldly thing to want that power and lord it over other people.

It is, it should not be this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave.

So those that are aspiring to those powerful positions to lord it over other people, they're going to become servants to you.

And so Jesus sets before them this example, just as the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and this is

Jesus telling them, this is not going to be an earthly reign like you think it's going to be this isn't going to happen like you think it's going to happen.

I didn't come to be served. I didn't come to kick out the

Herod's in the Romans, and to ascend to an earthly throne. I didn't come to be served, but to serve and to give my life as a ransom for many,

Jesus death on the cross to ransom us from sin and death into God's heavenly kingdom, his eternal kingdom, through Jesus Christ.

Our Lord, and so trust in Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will reign with him, not on earthly thrones, but in heaven above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God, the apostle

Paul said in Colossians chapter three verses one through four. If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God, set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God, when

Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory, put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you.

And pursue holiness in Christ, heavenly father, we thank you for what we've read here, and I pray that that would be our mindset desiring the kingdom of heaven, as Jesus said back in Matthew six, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all the things that we need here on earth will be added to us as well, give us this day our daily bread and let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, amen. Pastor Gabe keeps a regular blog, sharing personal thoughts, alerting readers to false teachers, and offering commentary on the church and social issues.

You can find a link to the blog through our website, www .utt .com. Thank you for listening and join us again tomorrow as we continue our study in God's word, when we understand the text.