Matthew 20:22, commentary and pictures

Jesus met the request of James and John with their mother for the highest places beside Him in His kingdom by asking whether they could share His coming suffering and death, and they confidently answered that they could without understanding what closeness to Him would cost. The cup He would drink and the baptism He would receive mean sharing His own suffering, trial and violent death in a life of self-denial, humiliation, sacrifice and service rather than ease and advancement. He answered that they would indeed share His suffering — James by imprisonment and death by the sword and John by long years of labor, reproach and persecution — yet places of honor are not given by favoritism but are reserved for those for whom they are prepared. Sharing His glory requires bearing His yoke first, for the cross comes before the crown, and true greatness in His kingdom is the reverse of the world's, belonging to the humble servant and minister to others after Christ's example. Following Him therefore means denying self, taking up the cross, enduring trial and reproach and devoting life to doing good, even through the fearful anguish of the final time of trouble before deliverance, in hope of reigning with Him.

Request in Context

Jesus spoke these words amid His clearer prediction of His betrayal, suffering, death and resurrection as His trial drew near, setting before the disciples His coming suffering, shame and death. The disciples did not understand what He said because they expected the kingdom to be established soon. They expected the Messiah as a conquering prince to sit on David's throne and gather the nations under His rule, applying to His first coming the prophecies of His second coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, while ignoring the condition of entire obedience and loyalty to the will and Word of God.

The request came from the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee, together with her sons. James was one of the three closest disciples to Christ. They wanted special closeness and the highest places of honor beside Christ in His kingdom, understood as a temporal kingdom with Christ as Israel's King. They did not understand what their request entailed and did not grasp the cost of that closeness.

The request was self-exaltation and unworthy ambition to be equal with or higher than another in honor or position. It revealed a spirit of self-seeking and self-exaltation that Christ's teaching had not subdued. It stirred rivalry and contention among the disciples over who would be greatest and have the first places, for following Him was turned into a basis for rivalry rather than a call to share His work in cooperation without division.

That contention was first stirred up by Judas the betrayer, who shared the hope of worldly honor and position. When Christ humbled Himself to wash the disciples' feet, Judas concluded He could not be Israel's King. His hopes were crushed and he decided there was nothing to be gained by following Christ. He refused to repent and confess his sins, determined to disown Him as a deception, and while already negotiating the betrayal and possessed by a demon resolved to betray his Lord. The question about the cup and baptism was asked while Jesus was going to rejection and crucifixion, and it tested whether James and John could endure the suffering that lay ahead.

Meaning of Cup and Baptism

The cup Jesus was to drink and the baptism with which He was to be baptized mean sharing His own suffering, trial and violent death that He must endure, not honor or a throne beside Him as King. The question was put to James and John while He was going to rejection and crucifixion, to test whether they could endure the suffering that lay ahead, culminating in death. Their confident answer that they were able came true, for James was seized by Herod, thrust into prison and summoned to execution by the sword, and John endured long years of labor, reproach and persecution as a faithful witness, showing that loyalty to Christ may involve suffering with Him.

To drink that cup and share that baptism is to pledge a life patterned on His, made understandingly, rather than seeking ease or a better position in this life. It means self-denial, humiliation, privation, hardship, sorrow, sacrifice for others and suffering in doing good, even to giving up life, surrendering personal wishes and pleasure to duty and service. One who has borne little hardship and has chosen ease cannot claim to have tasted that cup or baptism, and those who refuse to help people in need contradict the commitment to follow Christ and imitate His self-sacrificing example. Those who cheerfully endure such privation and suffering without murmuring may share His glory in the heavenly kingdom, but those who will not endure it have no part with Him.

Christ Himself took the bitter cup apportioned to humanity and bore its sin, iniquity and suffering, bearing the iniquity of the bitter cup of sin that humanity was appointed to drink. In its place He offers mercy, blessing and salvation. Those who follow Him are therefore to accept devotion, trial and self-denial, endure trials, devote themselves to helping others and imitate His life of service and sacrifice rather than shrink from hardship or seek glory with Him while refusing His path of suffering.

That cup also represents a bitter trial given to purify and cleanse the heart. Murmuring and complaint make it more bitter, and if the trial does not accomplish its purpose further trials may follow. Patience, endurance and prayer sweeten it and allow it to achieve its purifying purpose and bring honor to God.

Even then the bitter cup and trials are held to the followers by a Father who loves and cares for them, so that enduring trials, accepting the cross and drinking a bitter cup does not mean they are outside His providence.

Answer and Its Fulfilment

James and John did not know what they were asking when they sought the highest places of honor beside Christ in His kingdom. They recalled His words about trial and suffering, yet they did not understand the cost of that closeness, for the cup and baptism meant sharing His own suffering rather than sitting on thrones of status. With mistaken focus on honor and confident trust in their own strength they answered that they were able, loving Him and longing to be near Him without grasping what that nearness entailed.

Jesus answered that they would indeed share His suffering, and their confident answer was to be made understandingly, since following Him pledges a life patterned on His own. The places of honor they sought were not granted through favoritism but were reserved for those for whom they were prepared. Their desire for honor thus stood in contrast to the sacrificial life required, a life of self-denial, humiliation, sacrifice for others, and suffering in doing good.

That word came true in their different lots, for James was killed by the sword while John endured as a faithful witness through long years of toil, labor, reproach, and persecution. When Herod seized James, thrust him into prison, and summoned him to execution, James understood more fully than ever before that the cup and baptism pointed to suffering even unto violent death. His experience, together with John's prolonged endurance of affliction and persecution for Christ's name, shows that loyalty to Christ may involve suffering with Him, whether brief unto death or prolonged through a lifetime.

Their weakness had already been exposed in Gethsemane, where Jesus' question about drinking His cup and sharing His baptism tested whether they could endure the suffering that lay ahead. Faced there with His supreme sorrow and the coming betrayal and death, they were asleep when He needed their prayers and failed to stay awake to witness with Him. In that hour they would not have dared to claim they could share His ordeal, for their earlier confidence in their own strength had failed and their love and willingness alone were not enough to withstand the test. What they did not fully understand at first they later grasped when the Holy Spirit enlightened them.

Suffering Before Honor

Sharing His glory requires first bearing His yoke and burdens and learning His meekness and lowliness day by day, for the cross comes before the crown. James and John did not understand what they were asking when they sought the highest place, nor the cost of the honor they asked for, since before sharing glory they would have to bear hardship and suffering with Him. Their willingness to suffer does not earn positions of honor, for those places are not granted through favoritism but are reserved for those for whom they are prepared and are connected with character and self-conquest through Christ. The cup and baptism point to trial and suffering, not to a throne, and though they answered confidently that they could share it, they did not comprehend what sharing the suffering and sacrifice by which glory is gained would mean.

The honor and glory of His kingdom is the reverse of the honor and glory of this world. Whoever would be great must be a humble minister to others, and he who would be chief must be a servant, even as the Son of God was a minister and servant to men. Followers are to show love and humility, take His life as their example, follow His steps, deny self and serve others rather than seek rank or worldly distinction, and He gives the faithful places of honor even when they do not seek them. True greatness among His disciples does not consist in worldly dignity or honors but in close and faithful imitation of His life and manners. In His earthly pilgrimage He was most poor, casting off all worldly rule and honor, and His meekness and humility stand in contrast to pomp and pride and temporal dominion.

The sons of Zebedee in desiring worldly honor, with Peter also offending in the same way, acted contrary to following His steps, and that desire is an error not to be followed. Their request was self-exaltation and unworthy ambition to be equal with or higher than another in honor or position, and the answer reproves the spirit of self-seeking and self-aggrandizement as contrary to divine love. Those who would serve God must renounce self-exaltation and be faithful in humble duty to expect divine favor. Being favored by heaven or belonging to a people with great privileges does not guarantee a place in God's kingdom, for people called heathen would be saved while those who neglected their opportunities and failed to value the truth would be cast into outer darkness.

Those who cheerfully and willingly endure privation and suffering without murmuring, as He did, may share His glory in the heavenly kingdom, but those who will not endure it have no part with Him. Drinking His cup and sharing His baptism means willingly enduring privation, hardship and suffering as He did and undergoing self-denial, sacrifice, suffering and persecution for His sake. A person who has borne little hardship and has chosen ease cannot claim to have tasted that cup and baptism, for following Him requires surrendering personal wishes and pleasure to duty and service for others rather than seeking ease or a better position in this life. Those who have not shared in the Son of God's sufferings and come through great tribulation cannot truly appreciate the price of heaven's inheritance or enjoy its glory. Those who live for self and avoid sacrifice have not shared in those sufferings, and only those who have partaken of His sufferings, come through great tribulation, and been cleansed by the Lamb's blood can enjoy heaven's glory. His followers cannot expect to enter His kingdom by an easier path than His, but must accept humiliation, sorrow, hardship, self-denial and toil as He suffered and gave Himself to save others, looking to Him crucified and willing to suffer with Him and enter the kingdom through much tribulation in hope of reigning with Him. They refuse the cup and baptism when they choose ease, avoid sacrifice and lack courage to accept the consequences of truth, yet they cannot have both the world's favor and His favor.

Final Trial and Discipleship

The cup and baptism are suffering to be shared, and the same suffering is required of God's faithful people in the final crisis, the time of trouble and Jacob's trouble and the loud cry, when before deliverance they must pass through fearful anguish, severe distress, agony and danger, with apparent threat of death and likelihood of dying at their enemies' hands. Their distress is not ended immediately because God's will is not yet fulfilled, and the appointed suffering must first be endured before deliverance comes. Even angels must wait while they pass through this trial.

The painful delay in deliverance is part of the answer to their prayers and is not abandonment or proof that God has left them. God will guard those whose names are written in the book and for His name's glory deliver those who wait for Him. The waiting exercises faith, hope and patience that have been too little exercised, testing and strengthening them before God brings the end.

In that trial they remain submissive to God's will, trust Him to save even when death is threatened, wait patiently and trustingly, and plead earnestly for rescue. Following Jesus therefore involves denying self, taking up the cross, and following Him through hardship as well as honor. It means accepting humiliation and sorrow, self-denial, sacrifice, trial and reproach in order to do good for others, serving others and practicing self-denial and self-sacrifice as He did, even to giving up life. Those who carry His message may have to sacrifice, endure reproach, and go where the work is difficult, and willingness to do so brings a precious experience in the things of God. Accepting that fellowship allows a believer to suffer with Christ in hope of reigning with Him, imitating His life of service and sacrifice rather than shrinking from hardship, devoting life to helping others, and not seeking glory with Him while refusing His path of suffering.

Enduring suffering for Christ's sake is needed before ministers are prepared and consecrated to help others. Following Him is not a basis for rivalry over greatness but a call to share His work. Christians are members of one body in Christ and are to cooperate without division or contention in serving others as they use God-given abilities, denying self and serving. Greatness in His kingdom belongs not to those who seek worldly distinction, and Christ gives the faithful places of honor even when they do not seek them.