Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favour of him. ‘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 the kingdom.’ ‘You do not know what you are asking,’ Jesus said to them. ‘Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?’ ‘We can,’ they answered. 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.’ – Matthew 20:20-23
The woman wanted her sons to be given the right to sit along side Jesus. But the seats have already been reserved for people. Even if we do not drink the full measure of the cup of Jesus we must all be willing to drink of the cup. Drinking of the same cup signifies a spiritual path we all must walk along if we are to experience the same kind of spiritual development that was evident in Jesus’ life.
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. Not so with you,. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave just as the son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many – Matthew 20:25-28
Following in Jesus’ footsteps requires humility. Yet humility does not come as a direct result of our actions for all to see and to say ‘there goes a humble servant’. What is spoken of is a hidden humility that comes from the heart and seeps through into our actions.
The use of the word ‘Ransom’ shows that our lives are not our own, but have been paid for. It emphasises the fact that we are held captive to a false doctrine of scarcity and frugality until we awake to the power of the spirit.
We are living a new wave of consciousness. The old order released Gods children from physical bondage, the new order releases us from spiritual bondage.
