{"id":139,"date":"2022-04-06T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-06T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/?p=139&2022"},"modified":"2022-04-04T18:00:28","modified_gmt":"2022-04-05T00:00:28","slug":"prayers-not-answered-matthew-20-20-28","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/prayers-not-answered-matthew-20-20-28\/","title":{"rendered":"Prayers Not Answered: Matthew 20:20-28"},"content":{"rendered":"
Focus Passage: Matthew 20:20-28 (GW)<\/div>

\u00a020<\/sup> Then the mother of Zebedee\u2019s sons came to Jesus with her two sons. She bowed down in front of him to ask him for a favor. <\/p>\r\n

\u00a021<\/sup> \u201cWhat do you want?\u201d he asked her. <\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0She said to him, \u201cPromise that one of my sons will sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.\u201d <\/p>\r\n

\u00a022<\/sup> Jesus replied, \u201cYou don\u2019t realize what you\u2019re asking. Can you drink the cup that I\u2019m going to drink?\u201d <\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWe can,\u201d they told him. <\/p>\r\n

\u00a023<\/sup> Jesus said to them, \u201cYou will drink my cup. But I don\u2019t have the authority to grant you a seat at my right or left. My Father has already prepared these positions for certain people.\u201d <\/p>\r\n

\u00a024<\/sup> When the other ten apostles heard about this, they were irritated with the two brothers. 25<\/sup> Jesus called the apostles and said, \u201cYou know that the rulers of nations have absolute power over people and their officials have absolute authority over people. 26<\/sup> But that\u2019s not the way it\u2019s going to be among you. Whoever wants to become great among you will be your servant. 27<\/sup> Whoever wants to be most important among you will be your slave. 28<\/sup> It\u2019s the same way with the Son of Man. He didn\u2019t come so that others could serve him. He came to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many people.\u201d <\/p>\r\n

Read Matthew 20:20-28<\/a> in context and\/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!<\/p><\/div><\/div>\r\n

This passage, and its parallel passage (Mark 10:35-45<\/a>) have an interesting distinction, which leads us into the big idea for this journal entry.<\/p>\r\n

In Matthew\u2019s version, James and John come to Jesus at the prompting of their mother, while in Mark\u2019s version, James and John come and give their request alone. This difference is both significant and minor compared with the actual request.<\/p>\r\n

This difference is significant because in our lives, there are two places that can bait us into failing. The first, relating to Mark\u2019s gospel, is that we seek power and status for ourselves, which builds pride up in our hearts, and this pride leads us towards destruction. The second, relating to Matthew\u2019s gospel, is that other people\u2019s praise and elevating us can grow the seeds of pride in our hearts. We might not intend to ever become prideful, but place us within a high profile position for a period of time, and pride might grow in our lives, also leading us towards destruction.<\/p>\r\n

The difference is actually pretty minor though when compared with the actual request: status and position above others. The request for status, even if it isn\u2019t you asking for status for yourself, sounds an awful lot like Lucifer asking to be exalted in heaven to a position equal with God.<\/p>\r\n

However, this question leads us to the big idea in this passage: We can ask Jesus any question without the fear of condemnation. However, not every question\/request we ask of Jesus will be answered how we want it to be.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

We could imagine Jesus ridiculing these disciples and\/or their mother for asking the request, but instead Jesus probes deeper. He asks follow-up questions, before letting them know that these positions are already reserved.<\/p>\r\n

We can ask Jesus any question, or make any request to Him, but we must always remember that just because we\u2019ve asked, that doesn\u2019t mean that He will answer with the response we want. However, He will respond with the answer that is best for us \u2013 with eternity as His perspective<\/strong>.<\/p>\r\n

This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus<\/strong> \u201cReflective Bible Study\u201d package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here<\/a> and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!<\/em><\/p>

Subscribe<\/a> to this blog and never miss an insight.<\/em><\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This passage, and its parallel passage (Mark 10:35-45) have an interesting distinction, which leads us into the big idea for this journal entry. In Matthew\u2019s version, James and John come to Jesus at the prompting of their mother, while in Mark\u2019s version, James and John come and give their request alone. This difference is both […]","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-text"],"nelio_content":{"autoShareEndMode":"never","automationSources":{"useCustomSentences":false,"customSentences":[]},"efiAlt":"","efiUrl":"","followers":[],"highlights":[],"isAutoShareEnabled":false,"networkImageIds":[],"permalinkQueryArgs":[],"series":[],"suggestedReferences":[]},"yoast_head":"\nPrayers Not Answered: Matthew 20:20-28 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/prayers-not-answered-matthew-20-20-28\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Prayers Not Answered: Matthew 20:20-28 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This passage, and its parallel passage (Mark 10:35-45) have an interesting distinction, which leads us into the big idea for this journal entry. 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