Sacrifice

Big Idea of the Message: Jesus called His disciples to accept that His death was necessary, and its purpose was to redeem all humanity.

Self-Desire

Why does the Bible speak so much about peoples “self-desire”;

Because people, in my opinion, are more so focused on self (me, myself and I) that we will miss the big picture;

Here we have two disciples of Jesus - James and John - who were the two of first three disciple - who had the closest access to Jesus and His teachings looking out for self;

People either consciously or unconsciouly ask this question of themselves regularly “what’s in it for me?”;

James and John, as we read here, were no diferent;

Why do you think they wanted such a position of honour and power - because they missed the point of the kingdom Jesus spoke about;

The Jews want freedom from Rome, they wanted to be under their own authority, they wanted a kingdom of their own and some thought Jesus was a means to that end;

CSB Study Bible: Notes Chapter 20

Jesus had promised that his disciples would sit on twelve thrones ruling over Israel in the renewal of all things (19:28–29). Now James and John sought, through their mother, to gain prominence over their fellows. Along with Peter, they were members of Jesus’s inner circle.

What are you wanting for yourself as you service Christ?

Reality Check

In v. 22 Jesus basically is asking “do you really understand what would be involved”;

Now of course Jesus was very aware that they had missed the point, they thought He had been speaking of an earthly kingdom and they wanted to get their self-desires secured;

However, Jesus was speaking of the cross and the scarifice of His life for others;

Today are we any different in desire than James and John, do we really understand what is involved in serving Christ;

Do we grasp the reality check of “Sacrifice”;

“The death of Jesus is an act of obedience, not of negligence or misguided understanding. Jesus came to die for the sins of the world. Believers must understand that Jesus’s death was the only way we could experience the freedom we seek.” Ministry Pass.

Jesus’ closet disciples missed the point, so what are the chances that we will too;

“The necessity of Jesus’ passion (‘had to,’ NEB; ‘was destined to,’ JB) lies in the divine ordering of history (see also 9:11; 13:7, 10). More precisely, Jesus must suffer because his understanding of the will of God runs counter to that of the religious authorities: members of the governing council, officiants in the community’s liturgical life, and authorized interpreters of Scripture.” Ministry Pass.

Selfless-Desire

Now the request of James and John’s mother was not a done in secret - the other disciples heard it and were a little frustrated to say the least;

When I read this scripture I think of Veruca from the movie Willy Wanka’s Chocolate Factory and the famous line of “I want it know!”;

She was not willing to wait and was self-focused and very selfish which caused frustration with the others;

James and John truly did not know what they were asked for which was a complete scarifice of self - including death;

Jesus tells all the disciples that being first and being in the limelight - meaning the center of public attention - does not a disciple make;

However the exact opposite is what is needed to be His disciple;

Let’s look at v. 27 and 28 again;

We are called to be Christ like, to share His love, compassion and concern;

We are told to leave self-desire for selfless-desire;

We are to remember exactly where Christ met us, as a sinner, to where He is leading us, to His side;

Without a shared, living memory of who Jesus Christ was, there would be no faith community with a distinctive Christian identity. Without a living encounter over time with who Christ is in our midst, there would be no unfolding of Christian life and ministry. Ministry Pass

The Cross

Application Point: We cannot consider the death of Jesus without accepting that our need was the reason for it.