Strong Women
Notes
Transcript
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.”
Did you know that Bruce Lee has a faster older brother? Sudden Lee
Started reading a horror story in Braile, something bad is about to happen I can feel it.
To Jews life was before the kingdom and after… life now may be before and after 9/11 he was telling us he was bringing the kingdom in now… thats why your kingdom come… he has done it in Jesus now… and she is saying when that time comes can my two sons have some authority, can they be the second and third in command....
Look at how it says she is kneeling before him.... and the world is divided into those two groups… people that have knelt before Jesus and those that havent…You get the authority on everything in my life....its not enough to just come and say that service was good, even as a Christian you have to kneel before him and say its whatever you want to do… and Jesus forces you to make a decision about what you are going to do with him, and you have to decide if you will bow before him or not...
And Jesus looks at her kneeling and says what do you want… and this is different in the way the world views God, and he says What do you want
The whole idea is that you have to reach out to him in prayer and he actually wants to hear from you and know how you are feeling and know your angers and fears and frustrations. Look at David in the psalms… in one of them hes I love you God… next I hate you.... and most of us are afraid to go there. In CHristianity we get a god that actually cares and wants to know, but no other place do their gods care about you
God doesnt just look at woman and say dont have an impact… and here is a mother and shes playing this mother bear role Women love their kids they want to fight for them and do anythign for them… and this woman is like look I want my sons to be more important than anyone else...
THey watch her and how she carries herself and how she lives her life and How she loves and accepts people..
Prpverbs 31 is military language… she buys… it means she hunts it out and brings it back,,, she bear… not buys it… she goes and hunts it and drags it back… she puts on clothes… literally she girds her loins with strength.... its saying she is in the midst of a war.... don’t shy away from who you are and what God has called you to do.... and she says can you let them have influence
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.”
HE is saying you don’t even understand what you are asking right now… and he is looking at them and saying rhetorically no.... whe you pray that, do you even realize I can say no.. and underneath her prayer life she still recognizes that the most important thing she can do is bring them closer to Jesus.
It is very important to stress that the heart and soul of the Christian existence is not ultimately about being Christlike, however much that might be a good thing. It is rather that we would be united with Christ. SO much contemporary reflection on the christian life speaks of discipleship as becoming more and more like JEsus. There are two potential problems viewing this Christelikeness as teh Christian ideal and the goal of church, On the one hand, this is problematic because Christlikeness is actually dreivative of something else, namely union with Christ and to pursue it on its own actually distracts us from teh true goal of the Christian life.
20:52
You need Jesus first in order to be like him, you cant be like him unless you are actually close to him, some of you are trying to defeat lust in your life and you are just walking around on your own, I gotta get this right… and you arent pushing in to him to allow him to change you… You gotta push in and get close to him if you want to be like him.
Here is the other level of what she is doing, she is saying this is what is important, that you get close to him, and we function like we are the most important person in our childrens lives, and one day we will die and they will be alone, thats why we need to fight for our kids to love Jesus and not us… we gotta fight for it.. we could be the best worldly parents there are but if we dont push him a little harder we fail… we gotta get our children to love Jesus more than they love us...
Look at what he said....
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.”
Hes actually referring to the cup of suffering hes about to drink. He’s actually starting with what the cost is going to be, not the things we are doing, the exact opposite of the prosperity gospel… he comes out of the gate and says you are going to have a cup of salvation. Its fascinating the true new testament definiation of dsicipleship is suffering… sell that… you arent going to be insulated from your friends turning on you… life is going to happen to you, because the world is broken… but you are in good company… and he wants to lay out this model of discilpleship that costs....
And they answer....
We ARE able.
Are you able to suffer dudes… and they are like YES… he is like I put the bar pretty high, and here it is
2 Corinthians… when the idea that God is love gets laid down and that His son died and rose again… sometimes when that goes out… its the smell of life… for others its the smell of death… and it causes them to stumble… some people hit it and they need more…
Hes like can you do this, are you willing to take this challenge? And I want you to say Yes I can meet what you are laying down.
Thats the spirit!
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.”
You will suffer… its coming…
Some skeptics say it was made up by people. right… they wanted to make up a religion… here are some great stories… lets create a religion.
Historians: you know why these documents are so powerful… Jesus says I cant do that.... and this would be counterproductive to the idea of trying to move him forward… 20 chapters he is more than a man… you wouldn’t put this story in there… that would be so counter productive. dont put that story in… youre god… yep… when are you coming back… no clue… you are all powerful right… yep… what do you mean… why would you put that in there… didn’t you just argue he is god… so why is he talking to himself… and historians say thats why its so trustworthy.. they didnt take it out… and its there becasue that is just how it happened… there is nothing else they can say
You could not heal them… didn’t you create them? Just delete that… no… historians say thats exactly why its there… because thats how it happened… its what the writers saw.
Jesus is definitely an interesting character
We pat people on the back for any type of interest in Jesus, but this text asks a deeper question… it asks, what is your motive… what is her motive.. she wants them close for power.... not can you save them… can they be a part of the kingdom… but she wants them to have POWER...
THis story says whats your motive for following.. its not enough to just be interested.... its not just becasue it makes you look better in the community… but why are you orbitting around him.... ask him what is your motive… is it pure?
Look at the next story...
Vs 21… what do you want....
Next week
vs 32 …what do you want me to do for you
Lord open our eyes.... I want a better life,,, I want to not suffer… and for some people its I just want to know you more… I want to grow in you… I Want to abide in you… so ask this question for ourselves.....