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. 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.” (Matthew 20:20–21 (ESV)
Matthew recorded Jesus’ disciple’s failure to comprehend the full meaning of His predicted death, burial and resurrection. Simon Peter passionately protested such a fate (16:21–23). The second prediction prompted the disciples to argue about who was the greatest among them (17:22–18:6). Note they did not argue as to who of them would suffer the most.
At this time, the disciples should have known better. However as one commentator observes, “they are dense and display their ignorance again immediately after Jesus predicts His death for the third time (20:17–19).”
Today’s text tells of a mom approaching Jesus on behalf of her two sons. Matthew identified her has the mother of the sons of Zebedee. The sons would be James and John; two of the three closest disciples of Jesus (Matt. 17:1).
“Who was this “mother of the sons of Zebedee”? Why is she not simply called “Zebedee’s wife”? As to the last question, Zebedee, still definitely alive and active in 4:21 (cf. Mark 1:20), may have died. It is also possible that the designation results from the fact that this mother’s request concerns her sons, not her husband. We simply do not know. As to the first question, certainty is lacking here also. The theory that she was Salome, the sister of the Mary who was the mother of Jesus, and that she was accordingly an aunt of Jesus, so that James and John, her sons, were his cousins, can be called a reasonable inference from a comparison of three Gospel references (Matt. 27:56; Mark 15:40; and John 19:25),” states Dr. William Hendriksen.
The woman displayed an outward humility in kneeling before the Lord. However, you have to wonder if this was just a ploy to hide her true intentions in persuading Jesus to comply with her request. Who better to sit on either side of Jesus in His kingdom than his cousins James and John? Was this not how the world of kings and other dignitaries works? Do not a leader’s closest advisors and followers receive the prime positions of designated power? See Exod. 17:12; 2 Sam. 16:6; 1 Kings 22:19 (2 Chron. 18:18); Neh. 8:4.
“The indirect intercession of a motherly woman was often more effective than a man’s direct petition for himself, in both Jewish and Roman circles (see 2 Sam 14:2–20; 1 Kings 1:15–21; cf. 2 Sam 20:16–22). In this case, however, it does not work,” explains commentator Craig Keener.
The issue at hand is what constitutes true greatness in the kingdom of heaven and in the church? Remember, the last will be first and the first last (Matt. 20:16).
Soli deo Gloria!
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