Matthew 20:20-28Matthew 20:20-28 (NKJV)
Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him. And He said to her, "What do you wish?" She said to Him, "Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom." But Jesus answered and said, "You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" They said to Him, "We are able." So He said to them, "You will indeed drink 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 is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father." And when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased 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 those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him 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." tells the story of James and John (apparently, via their mother) asking Jesus to grant to them the honor of sitting on His right and left hand in His Kingdom. This request was made shortly after Jesus had told the twelve that He would be betrayed, crucified, and raised again. Jesus' reply was as follows:
But Jesus answered and said, "You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" They said to Him, "We are able." (Matthew 20:22)
Jesus confirmed that indeed, they would drink of the same cup, and be baptized with the same baptism, but as for the request, it was not His to give. Those spots have already been prepared for those whom God has prepared them. The other disciples were understandably annoyed, but really, all of the disciples had the same mindset, wanting to be known as "the greatest among them" (See Luke 9:46Luke 9:46 (NKJV)
Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest. ; 22:24Luke 22:24 (NKJV)
Now there was also a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest. and Mark 9:33-37Mark 9:33-37 (NKJV)
Then He came to Capernaum. And when He was in the house He asked them, "What was it you disputed among yourselves on the road?" But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest. And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, "If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all." Then He took a little child and set him in the midst of them. And when He had taken him in His arms, He said to them, "Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me." ). And even today, it is so often the same with us. We want position and power, riches, and honor, and every other good thing we claim we have coming. But what did Jesus say?
You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him 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. (Matthew 20: 25-28)
Just as... Jesus came to serve, and give his life as a ransom for many. The path to greatness in God's Kingdom is through service. There is no other way. We are to serve others, as if to Him (see Ephesians 6:7Ephesians 6:7 (NKJV)
with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men, , Colossians 3:23Colossians 3:23 (NKJV)
And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, ). And while God will provide for us to be able to serve others, we must not forget that it is our position and honor to be servants. Our ambition should not be an abundant provision which enables us to serve - it should be to serve, even if to the point of giving our life as a ransom for the Gospel. We will remember, James was one of the first to be martyred for Christ (Acts 12:2Acts 12:2 (NKJV)
Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword. ). He did indeed "drink of the same cup." We may be called to do the same. Conversely, John was not killed, but a study of his life shows he still drank of the cup Jesus did. History tells us that most of the original 12 were killed for their beliefs. They were persecuted greatly. And God was with them. He never failed them.
One of the great deceptions of our times is the idea that if we accept Jesus as our savior, then all will be well, we will be prosperous, everyone will like us, and our great earthly successes will be a light of the Gospel to others.
This is not Christ's Gospel. It is a gospel of shallow soil, and when negative things happen to new Christians who have been led to believe "all will be well," they are left hurt and confused, feeling lied to about this "Jesus" they had decided to follow. Many will fall away because of the troubles of life, for which they were very ill-prepared (see the parable of the seeds in Matthew 13Matthew 13:3-8 (NKJV)
Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: "Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" ). If we want to be fruitful Christians, and if we want to bring others into the forever lasting fruitfulness of the Kingdom, then we need to be sure we are speaking and hearing a gospel that is rooted in good soil - an honest gospel that not only preaches the good, but preaches the good that never leaves us, so that we can get through the bad.