easyenglish.bibleBooks > A Study of the Gospel (Good News) of Matthew >

Matthew 20:20–34

The surprise

Jesus wants his disciples to serve other people. They must not give orders to people all the time.

‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ The disciples asked Jesus this question. (Read Matthew 18:1–5.) Jesus did not give a direct answer. Instead, Matthew recorded several incidents in Jesus’ life. He gave examples of Jesus’ teaching too. These things showed what ‘citizens of the kingdom’ should be like. Then this passage gave a clear answer to the earlier question.

In the previous chapters, Jesus taught things about real disciples. They:

Think about all these things. Then what Jesus said will not be a surprise. Nobody else has ever taught the things that Jesus taught. He had already said much. So people should have expected his teaching here. People use human methods and human standards to make themselves great. (Read Matthew 20:24–25.) But they cannot become great in God’s kingdom in that way. (Read Matthew 20:26a.) Those who follow Jesus must be different.

James, John and their mother did not understand this. (Read Matthew 20:20–22.) The mother’s request for her sons was natural. They were Jesus’ special friends (Matthew 17:1). They may have been cousins of Jesus too. (Compare Matthew 27:56 with Mark 15:40 and John 19:25. These verses have an interesting idea. Salome may have been the mother of James and John. She would also be a sister of Jesus’ mother.) In Jesus’ time, it would be right to make use of relatives in that way.

But Jesus completely refused to agree with that idea. Instead, he referred to his own example. He served humbly. That is what it still means to be really great. (Read Matthew 20:27-28 especially.) For James, this would mean that he would die for Jesus. (Jesus suggested this in Matthew 20:23.) John would have to go far away from his friends and family. The authorities would send him to an island called Patmos. (Read Revelation 1:9.) All the disciples would suffer in some way. Their daily life would include hard discipline. There would be difficult circumstances. Their work with people would often make them sad too.

The humble Messiah who suffers

Up to this time, Jesus had not wanted people to know that he was the Messiah. (Read Matthew 16:20.) But now, he was going to Jerusalem city for the last time (Matthew 20:18). So Jesus would not keep things secret any more. He had spoken about certain things. Now the time had come for them to happen.

The blind men called him ‘the son of David’. This was a Jewish title for the Messiah. Jesus accepted the title. Jews believed that the Messiah would do miracles. This belief came from the OT. Here, Jesus did a miracle. It confirmed the OT prophecies about him. (Read Isaiah 29:18 and 35:5-6.)

So, Jesus accepted the title, Messiah. Then he did a miracle that proved it. He really was the Messiah. But he showed what sort of Messiah he had come to be. The title ‘son of David’ had a special meaning in Jesus’ time. The Romans ruled the Jews at that time. So the Jews thought that the Messiah would bring them national freedom. He would give the Jews freedom from the Romans.

But Jesus wanted them to think about another part of Messiah’s work. So he did a miracle. Isaiah  had promised it many years before (Isaiah 35:5). Isaiah told about that other part of Jesus’ work too. It was much greater than to give sight to blind men. But the Jews had neglected that other part. It was that the Messiah would suffer.

Matthew emphasised that Jesus felt pity and sympathy (Matthew 20:34). This was like the ‘servant who suffers’ in Isaiah. (Read Isaiah 42:1–4 and Isaiah 52:13-53:12.) Isaiah described someone who would die. He would cancel the effects of sin. Jesus was showing that Messiah would not save the Jews from the Romans. He would save men and women from the effects of their sin. (Read Matthew 20:28.)

In the Bible, ‘sight’ was often a sign. It described spiritual sight. Jesus gave the blind men physical sight. Then they followed Jesus. Matthew thought that this meant something. The word ‘follow’ sometimes had a religious meaning. It described what a disciple should do.

So, people received spiritual sight from the Messiah. Then they must follow Jesus. They must show the same love for people that Jesus showed for them. Their love must not be selfish. That love must show very much pity and sympathy too.

Questions

  • Read Matthew 20:20–28 again. Think about specific situations in your life. They could be at home, at school or at college. They could be at work. Or maybe you have no work. They could be at church too. How could the teaching in these verses help you?
  • How could the members of your church be ‘servants’ in society? Think about specific things that you could all do.
  • There are many social needs. They are national and international. How much should Christians do about these needs? First, answer this question about yourself. Then, think about the members of your church.