Matthew 20:20-23 Can You Drink the Cup?
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: June 3, 2019 Matthew 20:20-23
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”
(Understanding the Text) Did James and John put their mother up to this, or was it her own initiative? I think she did it on her own. As a mother, she would do anything for her sons, so she decided to ask this of Jesus since her sons refused to ask. I have always focused on the negative–that she and her sons were looking at power in an earthly political kingdom, but today I realized that there was a positive. It showed that she believed that Jesus was truly the Messiah as much as her sons.
(Revelation of God / Understanding the Text) Jesus knew a reality that was more than what the other humans around him knew. They believed by faith, but they didn’t KNOW. Jesus knew that He was working on a spiritual mission that went far beyond any earthly kingdom. He knew that the earthly kingdom was only a vehicle or tool to advance the great plan of the kingdom of heaven. As such, it did not matter if Israel had a king or not, or if they had political power or not. What mattered was that they survived intact in the right location long enough for the Messiah to fulfill His mission. Once that mission was fulfilled, the survival of Israel depended solely on being part of the next stage of the plan. They could have chosen to lead out in the plan of salvation, but as a nation they rejected the Messiah. Individuals chose Jesus and became the nucleus of the new nation which had no earthly boundaries. The new people were still the children of Abraham and called Israel, but they were no longer equivalent to earthly Israel, just as Judah became known as Israel although it was no longer Israel in total but only a remnant of the 12 tribes. Being a member of the new kingdom of Israel was not based on DNA but on acceptance of the King of Kings. Membership could not be passed down from father to son by birth and circumcision. Instead, it was a choice presented to each individual to become a citizen of the kingdom of heaven or not.
Jesus does not rebuke the mother for her request. He knows that she is making it out of love for her sons rather than power for herself; instead, he tells her that she is asking something for her sons that is actually the opposite of what she thinks. She thinks that she is securing a good prosperous long life for her sons. She thinks that she is looking out for them to have a secure future, but if Jesus grants her request, her sons will hang on either side of Him on the cross. Jesus looked on the cross as His kingdom. It is there that He will win back earth for humanity. Jesus can only see beyond the cross by faith. The cross is His reality that He must overcome. Only then, can He think of anything beyond. He has been training His successors. If He does not survive the cross, humanity will still be saved. I wonder if there was an alternative plan for if Jesus was not resurrected? I don’t think so because Jesus predicted His resurrection. It was only in Gethsemane that His vision of beyond the cross was obscured. Maybe, that was because it was His first time to be separated from the Father’s all-seeing presence. Yes, that makes sense. As long as Jesus was connected to the Father, He had access to the Father’s foreknowledge, but when they split from each other, Jesus had only the faith of a human to hold Him to His path, which made what He did even more incredible. The Father knew who would be on the crosses beside Jesus. It was not random. Both thieves were given a chance to repent that day. One did, but the other rejected the kingdom of heaven to his dying breath.
Jesus knew that His mission would not lead to a kingdom on earth and earthly power. He was not just mouthing words when He spoke of humility and death. He knew that He was going to fight a battle without aggression. He had to do more than to endure what Satan threw at Him. He had to be Himself throughout the whole ordeal. Jesus’ battle was to choose us and to keep choosing us and to keep choosing to be human and to keep choosing to give Himself as a human in our place to the very end. He could have let go of His humanity and stopped the process at any time, but instead He chose to be human like Adam down to his last breath. He chose to identify with us so closely that He became us down to the last sin, but unlike us, He never broke faith. He trusted the Father to His dying breath, which meant that the Father could raise Him. His faith in His Father made the resurrection possible.
(Application / Prayer) A thought: God does not call us to aggressively go forth a snatch people for Him. He calls us to become Him. In letting Him transform us, we will naturally try to help others, but baptism counts are not what He is looking for. Examples of His love embodied in humans are what He wants. God can plan and carry out those plans over years. All I need to do is to live with You moment by moment. My job is not to fight the war with aggression. My job is to be at Your service. I am not the commander of hosts. I am a servant of the Commander of hosts. I am only an effective leader as far as I can be Your servant carrying out Your commands. A leader is a servant to others, but most of all a leader is a servant to You.