The Economy of the Cross: Matt 20:17-28 - Now as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, 18“We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death19and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!”20Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him.21“What is it you want?” he asked. She said, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.”22“You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?” “We can,” they answered.23 Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.”24 When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. 25 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.26Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,27and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—28just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” All of Matt chapter 20 is about the Kingdom of God. It has great insights to the way that God has established His own Kingdom and how we should gain to understand more about it, especially since we are considered “Ambassadors of that kingdom”. · I think that since we are going to have such a strong focus on the serving through this year, in particular this summer we should understand some key principles of God’s Kingdom economy.· The first 7 words of the first verse of Matt 20:1 – For the Kingdom of heaven is like… He then proceeds to tell his disciples a parable about a vineyard owner and some workers. · It literally is setting the stage for the next section which we read just a moment ago. It is as if Jesus is attempting to press upon their minds and hearts that some of the things that they think are right about this world and the way it works are actually completely upside down in God’s kingdom. · It’s as if we are all living in the upside down (from Stranger Things) and God is living in the right side up. The thing is we think (much like the disciples that we have it the correct way). 3 key points about this passage I want to us to grab hold of and try to apply to our own lives. Not just tonight but embrace them as the “new normal” we should be trying to live within. 1. Kingdom economy is not like the economy of this world. Vs:22 - “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?” “We can,” they answered. Jesus plainly told them many times that His kingdom was not of this world. In fact in John 18 when he is arrested he states – My kingdom is not of this world if it were my servants would fight that I would not be arrested. So Jesus was operating on a different OS. His priorities, mission and work were directly connected to that Kingdom and the principles that were set forth to rule within it! To prove it – Jesus speaks of a cross but they were speaking of a crown. They were looking for position with Jesus when he would rule on His throne. Jesus quickly tells them that “you don’t know what you are asking”. We know that the others were feeling the same way as James and John. Because later on the in text were told that the “others” were indignant with the 2 brothers! They only had the guts to approach Jesus (well through their mommy) and seek this position with Him in the Kingdom. I can imagine why. They were seeing Jesus do amazing things like heal the sick, feed the hungry, raise the dead, control the weather, cast out demons, rebuke the Pharisees… Of course you would begin to wonder to yourself, “what do I get out of all this?” It’s only natural to begin to think that way. It is after all our normal human nature. Which only proves my first point all the more. The first step that Jesus brings them to is to help them understand that they truly don’t know what they are asking…. 2. There are no short cuts through the Kingdom. Vs:23 - Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.” Jesus declared to them that there is a cup that must be accepted in order to move forward in the kingdom. Cup – is symbolic of the life of a person. It is symbolic...
