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The question is never about the position you hold or to which you aspire; it is about the cost.

Remember those two students in the leadership training class of Jesus Christ— James and John, Zebedee’s sons? Their

desire to become leaders and attain positions of influence and greatness among their peers was conveyed by their mother to their Master-Teacher, Jesus Christ, in this statement:

“Grant that one of these two sons of mine will sit on Your right and the other on Your left in Your kingdom . . . Look, I want my sons to be Your vice presidents” (Matthew 20:21).

Jesus more or less responded: “You don’t know what you are asking. Number one: Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?” (see Matthew 20:22).

The word cup here is not literal. It is a Hebrew idiom, a symbol for price or cost. Jesus used this word again in the Garden of Gethsemane:

Matthew 26:39

Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be tak en from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

As the story in Matthew 20 goes, the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to this great master and philosopher Jesus Christ asking that her two sons have preferred positions of leadership in his organization. The question is: why did she go to Him? It could be that her sons sent her. Scripture does not say that they sent her, but it says she came.

Matthew 20:20

Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, k neeling down, ask ed a favor of him.

They might have told their mother: “You talk to Jesus for us, and tell him that you would like for your two sons to have the top positions when He establishes His kingdom.”

Is this a woman motivated by motherly love, looking out for her kids, as your mother would look out for you? Or are the sons so embarrassed or so secretive that they want advantage over the other ten that they hide behind their mother? Or are they playing to the emotions of the Master, thinking, “Oh, He listens to a woman more than He listens to us. Oh, we will be in trouble because the other guys will be angry. If they get mad, we’ll say, ‘It was not we who asked. It was our mother.’ ”

Maybe her husband told her to petition Jesus on behalf of their sons. Perhaps she did it on her own. Parents desire greatness for their children. Zebedee’s wife wanted her sons to be great. Parents want their kids to be great even if they do not have money and cannot afford to help them. They do anything to usher their children to greatness— nag the teacher if they feel their child is being held back, pressure the coach to put Sonny in a game, spend their life’s savings on their children’s education. It is why people in poor countries risk so much to immigrate to wealthier nations, even if they must do it illegally and expose themselves to danger.

Most parents today would admit, “Boy, that’s true, I want my kids to be great. I want my kids to make it.”

Jesus is saying, “Your kids can make it. And you don’t need to have an Ivy League education for your kids to make it; and they don’t need that either. They need to discover their gift.”

So, here was a mother being a typical parent who wanted her kids to be great. “I want my two boys— when You come into power, when you establish your domain— I want one to be on Your left, one on Your right. Make an offer to my boys. Forget the other ten. Let their parents take care of them. Take care of my boys.”

The desire for greatness is normal. The common way people

attempt to achieve it is to try to beat the system. The sons of Zebedee, James and John, were trying to beat the system, lining up all their ducks in a row, making sure there is a place for them when Jesus takes command.

This is a normal human experience, but Jesus exposes it.

Jesus responded to her in an interesting way. He was tender with her, very tender. His answer was, “Do you know what you are asking?” His question is loaded. It could have multiple meanings:

1. You do not know what you are saying.

2. What you are asking for is not fair to the others.

3. What you are asking for, I really cannot give you.

All of these could be a part of the answer, but the third one is more likely the principal one.

The Bible says He turned to the sons, which implies that they were probably standing behind Him or aside, letting their mother do the talking, and asked, “Can you drink of the cup that I drink?”

Matthew 20:23

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.”

That idiom— sacrifice and cost.

His response to them was, “First of all, what you are asking

— you don’t understand that you don’t get it this way. The way you are trying to do this is not the way you are supposed

to go about it. I know people do it this way. I understand the system. I can accept the fact that you are trying to do it, but this is not going to work. It never works.”

Continuing to explain, He, in effect said, “First of all, let’s start off with the question of cost. I didn’t get where I am, because I preferred to be here. I got where I am, because I paid a price.”

When the other ten heard what James and John asked, Jesus had to deal with discord among His own staff. They were angry, arguing about who was the greatest. They were jockeying for position— trying to get into other people’s spots. His response? Ultimately, that whoever wanted to be great must first be a servant, a slave even (see Matthew 20:27).

In explaining this to His associates, He did not use the Greek word for servitude,diak onos. He used the word that means “to give yourself out.” The word in Greek is doulos, meaning

“slave, bond, voluntary servant.”