Just like a Mother

Matthew 20:20 Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him.

Just like any other ambitious mother, Zebedee's wife, Salome, wants the best for her sons. She senses that there is going to be a leadership succession dispute, so she wants to get her oar in before the rest of the disciples catch on. She's looking for her sons to be elevated to higher posts, and wants Christ's glory, popularity and power to be bestowed upon James and John. They have left their father's lucrative fishing business (he had two boats) for Jesus, so she wants something in return.

The catch is that she doesn't fully understand what kind of business Jesus is in. It's not about power and glory, it's about service and sacrifice. When she asks if her sons can sit at the right and left of Christ in His Kingdom, she's thinking of the two most powerful positions next to the King. And when she answers Christ's question about whether her boys can drink from His cup, she's thinking that it is something honorable and exclusive, a symbol of royalty and authority.

What she doesn't realize is that her boys' answer, which is rash and foolish, destines her sons to martyrdom and exile, rejection and persecution. The glory that she seeks for them is a life of servitude and sacrifice, of loneliness and suffering. The elder brother, James, would be beheaded by King Herod about fifteen years later. The younger brother, John, although he would live to a ripe old age, would be exiled and cut off from the Christian community for most of his latter years.

I guess the whole episode reminds us of the old Appalachian saying, "Watch what you pray for, because you just might get it."

Prayer: Lord Jesus, help us to be careful about what we think we need and want from You. When we pray today, give us guidance to ask for those things that glorify You, and that they will really be what we need, as opposed to what we desire. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.