Title: Human Greed/Matthew 20:20-23
Contents
I. Foolish Expectations
(Matthew 20:20) At that time the mother of the son of Zebedee brought his sons to Jesus and bowed down to him, asking what they asked (Matthew 20:21) Jesus said to him, "What do you want?" command that one sit at your right hand and one at your left.
A. Personal wishes (expectations)
Every human being has their own wishes. Therefore, it is often seen that a person's appearance changes according to his wish. In other words, if your wish is large, you become a great person; if your wish is small, you become a small person; if your wish is holy, you become a holy person; Even if that wish or more is not necessarily fulfilled, by working towards it, you become a person close to it.
B. People's Desires
But these three desires arise from our human nature.
That is, the first desire is caused by a mixture of things like instinct and selfishness. The second desire comes from conscience and is related to the law, and the third desire comes from human nature. The saints should sublimate these things well so that they can be beneficial in achieving God's wealth and holiness.
C. Consequences of Greed
We humans have many desires and desires. If we control these things well, we give them satisfaction, fullness, and nobility, but if we do not control them well, we will end up with failure and disappointment. Excessive greed leads to opposition to God. (Psalm 78:18-20).
You become a selfish person who thinks only of yourself, and as a result, you are opposed to God. Also, we do not know that we have enough. (Isa. 56:11) No matter how good something is, we find better things and only better things, and we will not be satisfied. And they choke the gospel, making it unfruitful, and committing ungodly deeds (Romans 1:24-32).
II. the cup jesus wants to drink
(Matthew 20:22) Jesus answered and said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup I am about to drink?" They said, "I can."
A. The cup of Jesus and our cup
The cup Jesus is about to drink is the cup of death. As the cup of death that must die for us, Jesus prepared and drank this cup throughout His ministry on earth.
Meanwhile, God gives this bitter cup of death and suffering to his beloved only begotten Son, and Jesus gives this cup to his beloved disciple and to the saints.
The cup given to us is first the cup of salvation and second the cup of glory. Therefore, it can be said that the cup of Christ is the privilege of God for believers. But anyway, this cup means suffering. It means the suffering of the world and sometimes even death of the body. But this is necessary because believers are purified and qualified as believers through suffering.
Thus, the sufferings of the believer coincide in many ways with the sufferings of Christ. The saints should not deny this. If you reject this cup, you are also rejecting the glory of being with Christ. The saints must not forget that only by drinking this cup can we reach the glory of Christ and participate in it.
B. Dispensing of the Cup of Christ
Just as the cup of Christ's sufferings leads to glory, so the cup of glory passes to us if we follow Christ. If those who believe in Christ through suffering become His true disciples, Christ gives them a dignified position.
In Jesus, the honor acquired through suffering is given to those who have suffered. That is the fulfillment of the promise and means that we will receive the redemption of Christ that has already been prepared.
Thus, it reveals the essential source of redemption, a complete guarantee of glory to the believer, and a testament to God's immutability. Therefore, if we are upright believers, we must drink from the cup of Christ. Until a place is prepared for us, we suffer persecution in order to keep our faith. The cup of our sufferings grants us a crown of honor.
III. Compensation is the sovereignty of our Heavenly Father
(Matt 20:23) He said to them, "Surely you will drink of my cup, but it is not mine to give them to sit at my left or right side, but for whomever my Father has prepared, they will receive."
A. What the disciples think of rewards
What we should desire is first salvation, the second a bitter cup, and the third glory. But John and the other disciple tried to drink only the cup of salvation and glory without the second cup of bitterness.
This is not the wish of pure love for Jesus, but the wish of an impure motive to gain glory. So Jesus tells us that even if we drink the bitter cup, the glory on either side depends on the Father's decree. The disciples did not think of glory itself as pure heavenly things, but as temporal glory.
That's why Jesus said that whoever wants to become great will be a servant. But, like the Jews, the disciples thought of mistreating others. They fought to be higher than others. We must keep in mind that the church is always ruined by those in charge.
B. God's Reward
Contrary to what the disciples thought, the Lord Himself set the example. The Lord drank the prepared cup, suffered the crucifixion, died on the cross, and received the resurrection of eternal life. Later, as the Lord showed the way of eternal life and salvation, the disciples could also realize the true meaning of salvation and become perfect.
He taught me that rewards are not about wealth, social status, or physical strength, but rather humility, service, and true love in the heart.
In other words, he taught us that the true ideal must be realized by each of us and that it must not fail in any life.
C. Criteria for True Rewards
The Lord did not condemn our ambitions, but wanted to point out what is true. Christ regarded his disciples as kings, but their royal rule was different from the monarchs of this world.
We can see this principle in the words of the Bible (Daniel 12:3).
Therefore, the standard of true reward is humility. Humility is such an important virtue of the saints. Without humility, saints are like salt that has lost its taste.