Matthew the apostle wrote about, “Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said unto them, 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. And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again. Then came to him the mother of Zebedee's children with her sons, worshiping him, and desiring a certain thing of him”, and in chapter twenty and verse twenty-one of his book, Matthew shares how Jesus asked her, “what do you desire?” where we read:
And he said unto her, What do you desire? She said unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit,
the one on your right hand, and the other on the left, in your kingdom.
The verse reads, “And he said unto her, What do you desire? She said unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, ...”. Matthew began with the words, “and he said” or “and Jesus uttered, declared, proclaimed and responded” “unto her” which means “to the mother of Zebedee's children”, “what do you desire” or “what to do have in mind, intend, purpose, wish and love”? “She said” which means “The mother of Zebedee's children uttered, declared, proclaimed and responded” “unto him” which refers to “to Jesus”, “Grant” or “speak, command and say” “that these my two sons” or “that the mother of Zebedee's two male offspring” “may sit” which means “will be seated, appointed and conferred”. Matthew shared how Jesus responded by questioning the mother of Zebedee's children as to what she wanted, and the woman answered to have her two sons to be “conferred” by Him.
The verse goes on to say, “... the one on your right hand, and the other on the left, in your kingdom.” Matthew continued with the words, “the one” or “one of the mother of Zebedee's sons” “on your right hand” which means “at Jesus' right side which is the place of honor or authority”, “and the other” or “and the other son of Zebedee”, “on the left” which means “at Jesus' left side which means of good name and of good omen”, “in your kingdom” or “within Jesus' royal rule or dominion”. Matthew wrote how the mother of Zebedee's children wanted her two sons to be in the positions of authority in Jesus' Kingdom.
When we meditate upon Matthew's words in this verse, we see how this mother desired to have her sons put in exalted positions in Jesus' Kingdom. She believed He would eventually obtain His Kingdom, and she wanted her boys to have an advantage there. These two sons were none other than James and John who were part of Jesus' inner circle among the disciples, and their mother wanted them to be promoted above all the others. We might imagine the response of the other disciples when they heard this, but suffice it for now to realize God wants a relationship with every person through His Son Jesus, and He alone decides who will be in positions of authority. Many do not blame this mother for her request, however, let all who read these words know God is not respecter of persons and His desire is that everyone come to Him and let Him decide who sits in seats of authority.
Next time Matthew writes how Jesus said to the mother of Zebedee's children, “you know not what you ask”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book
“Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the
marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the
Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms
Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County"
in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com
; http://www.barnesandnobles.com
; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
No comments:
Post a Comment