Matthew 20:20-28
The mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Jesus with her sons, and kneeling before him, she asked a favor of him. And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Declare that these two sons of mine will sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” But Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” He said to them, “You will indeed drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left, this is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”
When the ten heard it, they were angry with the two brothers. But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”
It is hard for us to believe that people really change. This moment is recorded by Matthew not to show how selfish James and John were but perhaps to show the transformation that took place in their lives by following Jesus.
Acts 11:27-12:3
At that time prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. One of them named Agabus stood up and predicted by the Spirit that there would be a severe famine over all the world; and this took place during the reign of Claudius. The disciples determined that according to their ability, each would send relief to the believers living in Judea; this they did, sending it to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.
About that time King Herod laid violent hands upon some who belonged to the church. He had James, the brother of John, killed with the sword. After he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. (This was during the festival of Unleavened Bread.)
James went from thinking he was special and deserved to sit at Jesus right hand, a position of honor to being willing to give up his life for others. This is no small miracle. Too often we remember others for their faults. I don’t think Matthew was memorializing one of James and Johns lower moments just to embarrass them. I don’t know all the reasons he recorded that moment. But I don’t want to overlook the transformation that took place in their lives.
John records for us the night before Jesus was crucified he told his disciples that he was giving them a new command. “Love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this that he lay down his life for his friends.” James is the first apostle to live that out.
James wanted people who weren’t part of their group to stop doing good because they weren’t part of their church. James wanted to call down fire on a town of people for not believing. They wanted to positions of power when they thought Jesus was going to be an earthly king. And yet we read that James laid down his life for the church. Loved like Jesus loved.
In his book, “Good To Great” author Jim Collins makes the observation that people don’t change. While he agrees that we all grow and change our patterns and likes and dislikes and things about our lives change as we mature and grow older but who we are at our core never really changes. If you are a glass half empty person, you will likely always be a glass half empty kind of person. If you are methodical in your approach to work, you will likely always be that way he asserts. We might love playing tag with out friends when we’re young, then baseball, then golf and then pickleball when we’re in our fifties. The externals change but who we are and how we process our day to day life doesn’t change. I agree.
That is why I find this to be a miracle. But it is one that is, or at least should be, common among Christians. Those who are ignorant will be known for their wisdom. Those who are stingy will be known for their generosity. Those who are arrogant will be known for their humility and on and on.
The great love that Jesus talks about: Laying down our lives for others is at the heart of transformation. James laid down his life long before Herod put him to the sword. It is when we consider the needs of others as more important than our own that we are loving with the love of Christ. It is when we value how others are affected by our actions above how we are affected by our actions that we are understanding how to lay down our lives for others. When we graciously respond to the interruption of our day by others, we are loving as Christ has loved us.
The only way we will ever change is from the inside out. The only way we can understand Christ’s love is by understanding the Cross. The only way we can understand the cross is by laying down our lives for others. The only way we can lay down our lives is by understanding the cross. It is a chicken egg thing. Yes Christ first loves us. But the only way we understand that love is by loving others in the same way. The only way we can really do that is by understanding Christ’s love for us. The more we practice Christ’s love, the more fully we understand it and yet we don’t practice it because we fully understand it. We practice it so that we understand it more fully.
If I am practicing Christianity for any other ends other than dying to self, then I am going the wrong way. Jesus gave up life with the Father, lived in meager circumstances, had no place to live, accumulated no wealth and died a humiliating painful death associated with a criminal. He calls me to follow him. Where do I think this is going? I have to believe that it is leading to death. And not just death but to resurrection! Resurrection can only occur after death has occurred. Death to “self” resurrected and free from sin and death and fear and insecurity and everything else that keeps me from life. He is calling me to follow Him to a new life. A life empowered by love and the Holy Spirit. A life free from fear, free from clinging to life because death has already happened.