Wednesday Bible Study: What Jesus asked, Part 21

 

Our next passage has a complex set of lessons to which I had to apply the Kalko Rule to get the full sweep- 10 verses before, ten verses after.  And in that light, we see three ways of coming to Jesus, and three ways He will respond.

Our story starts at the tail-end of the parable of the master who hired groups of men at different times of day...

Mat 20:11  And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house,
Mat 20:12  saying, 'These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.'
Mat 20:13  But he replied to one of them, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?
Mat 20:14  Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you.
Mat 20:15  Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?'
Mat 20:16  So the last will be first, and the first last." 

So here, the men of the parable came to Him GRUMBLING.  Acting as if the Master was a magic d'jin that owed them something.  To them, the Master gave only what He gave everyone else- and justified it the way any of us would: "I'll do with My stuff what I choose".  Point being, coming to Christ in an air of entitlement will only get you what you would have gotten anyway, through God's general mercy to all men: Mercies such as food, sunlight, oxygen, rain in season.

But our central passage has a request of a different kind:

Mat 20:20  Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something.
Mat 20:21  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."
Mat 20:22  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."
Mat 20:23  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."

To break this down:  First, the question has gone from a grumbling, "you owe me" attitude to a at least polite, "May I have this?" And this is a more common way of approaching God, but still wrong.  Because, ask yourself the MOTIVE: Why did she want this?  Did she not realize that she was asking out of pride, and pride is a request that only gets answered if God is ready for you to fall...

Pro 16:18  Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

Thus, He told her she didn't know what it was asking.  Because, not only was it from wrong motives, but it would have lead to wrong consequences.  And, on top of that, it was a request that dug into the Father's prerogatives, and thus was only going to get one answer:

Rom 9:14  What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means!
Rom 9:15  For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."
Rom 9:16  So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.

But if you want a request to be answered, the RIGHT way to go about it came next:

Mat 20:30  And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, "Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!"
Mat 20:31  The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, "Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!"
Mat 20:32  And stopping, Jesus called them and said, "What do you want me to do for you?"
Mat 20:33  They said to him, "Lord, let our eyes be opened."
Mat 20:34  And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him. 

 

 

So let's go through the differences here.  First is how they came:  They cried out!  They had something they truly needed, and asked not for it first, but for MERCY.

So Jesus brought them over.  And notice, His call hinted action of HIS part, unlike the other responses.  Which is because, they didn't come with a demand they thought owed them.  They didn't come with a desire they really didn't need, and wouldn't have wanted if they got it. But the came with a need, seeking mercy.

Third thing to catch hold of: when they told Him what they sought, the wording changed. The first request made in the parable translated as a demand.  The second from the boy's Mom was a desire.  This time, their reply translates that they "laid out before Him" what they needed. They had a request, not a demand, and they had a reason, not just a desire.

And, He had mercy on them.  He answered. 

And did you notice the last?

... and followed him. 

They CHANGED their lives based on what He gave them!  Which brings us full circle:  He doesn't owe US, WE owe HIM.