"The Cup" Matthew 20b Dec 8 2024

Intro & Scripture

Good morning

We will be wrapping up Matt 20 today

Last week, we looked at the parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard

Do you remember the theme?

Many who are first will be last, and the last first

Keep that in mind because that theme is still in effect

There are a total of 28 chapters in Matthew

In the next eight chapters, here are some highlights we will look at:

The Triumphal Entry - as Jesus enters Jerusalem

Jesus cleanses the Temple

Many more parables

Jesus talks about end times

Jesus is tried, mocked, tortured and killed on a cross

The Resurrection

The Great Commission

This morning we will finish Chapter 20, beginning at verse 17

There are three main sections:

Jesus Foretells His Death

A Mother’s Request

Jesus Heals Two Blind Men

Jesus Foretells His Death a Third Time

Verse 17 tells us that Jesus is going up to Jerusalem - he takes his twelve disciples aside and he tells them this

Read this along with me -

Matthew 20:18–19 ESV

“See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”

(Pray…)

The tone in Matthew is changing dramatically - Jesus is now on his way to Jerusalem to die for our sins

This is his third time explaining in detail, to his disciples what is about to happen to him.

He speaks of himself in the third-person

“Son of Man” doesn’t just mean that Jesus was human

Son of Man is actually a Messianic tile to express his:

Heavenly origin

Earthly mission

Future glory

In the four Gospels, “Son of Man” is used by Jesus 80 times

Mostly in Matthew

The term is Messianic

Remember - the title of this series is

God With Us - Discovering the Gospel of Matthew

The term, “Son of Man” was a title Jesus used for himself

And Matthew referred to it a lot to remind the Jewish people that Jesus was the Messiah

A reminder that the Messiah is “God With Us”

Remember, Matthew was written primarily for the Jews

So, we come once again where Jesus tells his disciples that he will die

Do you remember the rule whenever Jesus tells his disciples that he will die on a cross?

With a couple of exceptions, he always includes the Resurrection

“…mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day”

By telling his disciples that he is willingly to be delivered over to be crucified and that he will be raised on the third day - Jesus is proclaiming a mini-Gospel

In a few verses, Jesus will refer to “the cup” that he is about to drink

What does he mean by the cup?

That he will willingly be delivered, be mocked, tortured, and crucified on a cross

This is what God was willing to do to redeems us and save us

A Mother’s Request

Are there any mothers here?

One thing I’ve noticed about mothers -

They possess an incredible ability

To live vicariously through their children…(child accepted to Harvard Medical…)

In this next story -

The mother of James and John approaches Jesus

Jesus: “What do you want?”

Mother: “I was thinking that you can have my two lovely boys sit at your left and right, in your kingdom”

Imagine this

Do you remember the theme that is still in effect?

“Many who are first will be last, and the last first”

And here is this mom of these two disciples, asking Jesus, on the spot, to make her boys the most important of all other human beings

As if she can just walk up to Jesus and try to sway Jesus to see her boys as something extra special

I can just imagine the private conversation she had with her two sons prior to all of this

This is right before the disciples are leaving on a long trip to Jerusalem with Jesus -

and mom is making them a sack lunch for the trip

Mom: “Well, it’s obvious that out of the Twelve, you two are the best”

Boys: “Mom!”

Mom: “I want you to march right up to Mr. Jesus, and tell him what we talked about”

Boys: “Mom!! We’re not going to do that!”

Mom: “Well then, I will”

So this mother walks right up to Jesus - with her boys, by the way

I can imagine how embarrassed they must have been

But they actually go along with the mother’s request

They might have figured - “We’ve got this far, maybe Jesus will go along with this idea of sitting next to him, after all”

But she approaches Jesus with a lot of boldness - because that’s her boys

She’s attempting to compel Jesus to commit to the seating arrangement for her two sons in his kingdom

In a public setting, I never pick my seat - I let my wife do that

I trust my wife to choose our seats because she has a keen eye for social dynamics and seating arrangements

She's much better at this than I am, so I defer to her judgment to ensure we have an enjoyable experience

Otherwise I’ll hear all about my poor choice on the drive home

If some of you are wondering where you’re going to sit in heaven, let me give you some hope

Ephesians 2:5–7 (ESV)

...even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ...and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus...

We don’t need to worry where we’ll sit in heaven

God has that all figured out

Back to the story

The Scripture says her sons were with her - these are grown men, btw

Remember, this is after everything Jesus had been teaching about: Last - first...first - last

And she has the boldness, or audacity to ask Jesus to make her sons the greatest

Jesus: “You don’t even know what you’re asking”

He then turns to these grown boys: “Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?”

We know that Jesus turned his attention to these two disciples because it then says -

They said to him, “We are able.”

I don’t think they had a clue what he really meant

Then Jesus said this -

Matthew 20:23 (ESV)

“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.”

This whole interaction with the mom and her sons apparently caused quite a stir among the other ten disciples

The Bible says they were “indignant at the two brothers”

Who knows how much this whole thing got out of hand, but Jesus called them together and said this -

Matthew 20:25–28 (ESV)

“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Jesus is giving us the greatest lesson on “the last first - the first, last”

Look at what he says!

“But whoever would be great among you must be your ______.” Your what? Your servant!

He goes on -

“…and whoever would be first among you must be your ________.” Your what? Your slave!

This is the definition of greatness according to Jesus

Then he wraps it up by saying, “…even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

That’s the cup he must drink

Jesus took this entire theme of “last, first - first, last” and made it about himself

He humbled himself and came down to earth in human form

He humbled himself and became a slave, a servant for us

He was willing to lay down his life for us

Jesus is the greatest because he made himself last

We have on display, the perfect example of humility, Jesus, who put himself as last, and became the greatest -

The King of kings and Lord of lords!

Look at this passage from Philippians -

Philippians 2:5–9 (ESV)

...Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name...

This is all about Jesus

But at the same time, this is a lesson for all of this

He told the disciples they will also drink the cup

The "cup" means wrath and his death on the cross

James was the first apostle martyred (Acts 12:2) and John was exiled (Rev 1:9)

Not all of us will be martyred or exiled, but all of us were crucified with him

"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me." Ga 2:20.

By the way,

The Twelve didn't just sit there and watch Jesus drink the cup at the Last Supper, they partook of it with him

And we are commanded to do the same

This is what communion means - we drink the cup - and remember the cup of wrath Jesus had to drink

The communion cup represents what he did - and how we were transformed as we entered that New Covenant

The New Covenant - which was paid for by the blood of Jesus

Our old, sinful lives were nailed to that cross

That’s what it means to become a Christian - that we drink the same cup Jesus drank

Our old lives nailed to the cross

And we were raised a new creation in Christ

“It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me!”

Christianity is not about trying to be better people

It’s about repenting, and putting your faith in Jesus, so he can make you a completely new creation

Please don’t miss this -

The message of the Bible is not: “try really hard to be good”

The message of the Bible is: It’s impossible to be good according to God’s standard

But God sent his Son to be a servant, and to die for all of us

And when we put our faith in him - we die with him - and become new!

That’s the New Covenant

A covenant based on God’s grace through faith

The Old Covenant was between God and man - It was God’s rules and man’s ability to keep those rules

But the New Covenant is between the Father and the Son - and we are the beneficiaries of this New Covenant

We are the fortunate recipients of God’s wonderful grace

Jesus Heals Two Blind Men

Now we come to the last six verses of Chapter 20

Jesus Heals Two Blind Men

Jesus and his team are coming out of Jericho, on their way to Jerusalem -

Less than twenty miles away

And there was a great crowd following Jesus

I looked it up:

Jerusalem is 2,550 ft

Jericho is -1,200 ft below sea level

That’s an ascent of 3,750 Jesus and his disciples took

That’s quite a climb

So, they’re heading out on their journey

And there’s two blind men sitting by the road

They can hear, from the crowd, that Jesus was passing by

They cry out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!”

But the crowd rebuked them and told them to shut up

But what do you suppose those two men did?

They cried out even louder, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!”

And the Bible says that Jesus stopped because of them

And Jesus said, “What do you want me to do for you?”

I love how Jesus always asks folks what they want

He never assumes what they need - he makes them make their specific request

Now, did Jesus know they were blind, and they wanted to see?

Yes. I’m sure everyone could in that crowd could figure that out

But it’s just like when we pray, isn’t it

God knows our needs - he knows what we’re going to ask before we ask it

But he is loving and merciful and allows us to be part of the process

Just like when we do things for the Lord - God is quite capable of accomplishing what he wants done

But he includes us in that work

And he includes us to talk with him

He wants us to get specific when we pray to him

Whenever someone asks me, “Why does God even bother with having us pray to him?”

I like to respond, “Just imagine what it would be like if there was no such thing as prayer - imagine if God didn’t listen to you”

Without talking to God, where is the relationship with him?

We don’t pray to bend his will, we pray to walk closely with him and to discover his will

Again, Jesus says, “What do you want me to do for you?”

“Lord,” they both cry out, “let our eyes be opened.”

And the Bible tells us that Jesus had compassion on them - and he touched their eyes - and immediately their eyes opened and they could see

Could you imagine that encounter - to personally experience the loving compassion from the Son of God

That’s why we pray - so we can experience God responding to our prayers

I also want to point out -

Within chapter 20, this is the second encounter Jesus has with two men

First, James and John with their mother

And then these two blind men

Notice the motivation of the two brothers - they were trying to be the greatest

Now, look at the motivation of these two blind men - they just wanted to see

The Bible says that when they recovered their sight, they followed Jesus

Our prayer should be, “Lord, open my eyes so I can see you and follow you.”

Closing

As I close - there’s one more observation I see when I read about Jesus healing the two blind men

Jesus was busy

He and his disciples were setting out for a steep hike

He was on his way to Jerusalem to fulfill his job to die for you and me

He was busy, on his way to accomplish the greatest thing in the history of the world

And these two blind men cry out to Jesus

Even the crowds rebuke them - but they cried out all the more, “Lord have mercy on us, Son of David”

You know what’s amazing about Jesus?

That even in the midst of him carrying out the most important mission ever -

Is that he stopped (the Bible actually said he stopped)

Asked them what they needed

Heard their request

And with compassion, he touched their eyes, and they were healed immediately

What is your prayer today?

Here’s what’s amazing - God is not too busy to listen to you

I pray that you will cry out to God

I pray that he will open your eyes so that you can follow him

I pray that you will learn to be a servant of those around you

(Pray…)

Communion

The Lord’s Supper is similar to The Passover from the OT.

It celebrates the fact that the Lord delivered his people from Egypt - and delivered his people from his own wrath

Today, we celebrate Communion which holds the memory of Christ’s death on the cross

The death of Jesus on the cross delivered us from the desolate wilderness of our sin

And saves us from the coming wrath of the Lord

When we take communion, there is a sense of past, present, and the future

Past: Communion looks back in remembrance of Christ’s death on the cross

Present: It is a celebration of the New Covenant we are in

Future: It causes us to look forward to when we will celebrate with Jesus face to face

(Pick one…)

Matthew 26:26–28 ESV

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Luke 22:19–20 ESV

And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 ESV

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.