Down an Unfamiliar Road

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Part I

Verse 1: Jesus and His followers were getting closer to Jerusalem. But first, they stopped near the village of Bethphage, on the slopes of Mount Olive. From there, Jesus sent two of His followers on into town.

According to Jewish archaeologists, Bethphage is a village on the downslope of Mount Olive, and somewhat nearer to Jerusalem than the town of Bethany. It lay just east of the region of Golgotha where people’s heads were counted or numbered for the census at or near the Miphkad “Numbering Altar,”¹ just to the west of the village of Bethphage on Mount Olive.

It was in this very region on Mount Olive where Jesus was later crucified after the Sanhedrin had given their final decision at Bethphage to have Him executed for what they considered blasphemy. It is important to note that in Hebrew the word “golgolet” means “skull.” Indeed, because of this, this region near Mount Olive became known in New Testament Greek as “Golgotha.”² I do not know if the writer of the lyrics, “Oh Lord I want to be in that number when the saints go marching in,” that was popularized by jazz musician Louis Armstrong, had this in mind but one thing for sure, we can all say that we are part of those who are numbered at the altar on Golgotha where the Lamb of God was offered for our sins.

We are also told that the last three scrolls of the Third Division of the Jewish Bible³ were not kept in the library rooms within the Temple that were associated with the three main compartments of the Temple. Rather, these three books were kept outside the confines of the Temple, but still in a sacred area on Mount of Olive located just outside the camp of Israel as it existed in the time of Jesus. These were stored inside the walled village of Bethphage.

This was a priestly city reckoned in the time of the Second Temple to be an integral part of Jerusalem in which the court of the Sanhedrin gave their official decisions on what the limits of the city of Jerusalem were to be, what the regulations were about the killing of the Red Heifer, the decisions to execute a rebellious elder, and where the census and genealogical records were kept to prove who was an Israelite, a Levite, and Priest, etc. These scriptures show that “the footstool of God” was reckoned as the holiest place on earth and where people were officially required to worship God. It is no accident that later Jewish authorities (when Islam began) returned to Jerusalem and went directly to the Mount Olive and called that mount “God’s footstool.”⁴

They seemed to know that God had abandoned lower Mount Moriah as the place of His “footstool” and that God was now reckoning Mount Olive (upper Mount Moriah) as the proper “footstool of God.” This was the place where people could gather at “His feet” to worship God and to learn of His ways. Therefore, it could also be conjectured that when Christ returns and His feet touch Mount Olive, which will split in two, this will be the place where He lands.⁵

According to Jewish writings, “Beth Pagi” played such an important roll that at one time consideration was given to enlarging Jerusalem to include this village and make it a part of the Temple courtyards, although there was no discussion of extending the city’s walls that far.⁶ Often the term “walls” was used in the same way we use “city limits” today, as we see in this exchange: “Rabbi Hisda observed: As to what you say, If he [an Israelite] is in a heathen prison one may not sacrifice on his behalf alone; that was said only when the prison is outside the walls of Beth Pagi; but if it is within the walls of Beth Pagi, one slaughters on his behalf alone.”⁷ In other words, being in Beth Pagi was the same as being in Jerusalem.

Jewish commentators say that the sacrifice involved here is a reference to the Passover offering.⁸ We see that the Great Sanhedrin often went there to conduct business.⁹ We are also told that there was an oven in Bethphage, as well as the one in the Temple Court, where the Showbread was baked for the altar in the Holy of Holies.¹⁰ In their commentary on the Mishnah, called “Gemara,” the Jews say: “The Two Loaves and the Showbread were valid whether baked in the Temple court or in Beth Pagi!’”¹¹

Also, the Rabbis taught: “When a person sacrifices a thanksgiving-offering, but its bread is baked outside the walls of Beit Pagi, the bread is not consecrated. If, however, the bread was baked outside the Temple Courtyard, the bread becomes consecrated even though it is not inside the Courtyard.”¹² Some scholars in the past have become somewhat confused with the term “Beit Pagi” as referring to a portion of the Temple courtyard, and therefore is not the village of Bethphage two miles away. This question was asked of Rabbi Johanan: “What does ‘outside the wall’ mean?” He replied, “Outside the wall of Beth Pagi; but outside the wall of the Temple Court, it is sanctified, and we do not require ‘inside’ to mean near.”¹³ Jewish scholars comment that Beit Pagi was, “A fortified suburb of Jerusalem, which is at the edge of the city.”¹⁴

Even so, there were boundaries to the village, as we see in this comment: “He threshed it inside the walls of Beth Pagi.”¹⁵ One Jewish commentator explained: “The outer wall of Jerusalem, added to the original limits of the town.”¹⁶ St. Jerome speaks of Bethphage and calls it “the town of priestly jaws.¹⁷”¹⁸ This indicates that many priests lived and died in this compound. This certainly changes our view of Bethany and nearby Bethphage as being sleepy villages somehow disconnected from Jerusalem some two miles away. They definitely played an important part in what Jesus the Messiah came to do.

Therefore, Jesus’ visit to Bethphage was not accidental, nor incidental, but a monumental part of His pre-creation planned journey. Early church preacher Chrysostom had this comment: “Jesus had often entered Jerusalem before, but never with so much at stake. Why were earlier visits different? They came early in the dispensation when He was not very well known. The time of His Passion had not drawn near. He mixed in without distinction, keeping His identity under wraps. Had He appeared in this mode earlier, He would not have been held in high esteem. He would only have excited them to greater anger. But by now He had given them sufficient proof of His miraculous power. The cross was at the door. He now makes Himself more conspicuous. He does not hesitate to do things that were likely to inflame them. All this happens with dramatic impact. It might have been possible for these things to have been done earlier, but it was neither profitable or expedient.”¹⁹

Verse 2: He said to them, “Go into the town you see over there. When you enter it, you will spot a donkey with her colt. Untie them both, and bring them to me.”

It was in this setting that Jesus paused on the outskirts of Bethphage and told two of His disciples to go on into a nearby town to secure a donkey. Based on the geography, the closest town would be a place called Nob. At least this is the reading of one Jewish Rabbi, even though he was a known polemic writer.²⁰ We find this town spoken of by Rabbis who talked about one invading king (some say Nebuchadnezzar, and others Sennacherib) came to Nob, when he got there: “Mattresses were piled up for him until, by ascending and sitting on the uppermost, he saw the whole city of Jerusalem.”²¹

One well-known Rabbi commenting on the words in Isaiah: “This day the army will stop at Nob and prepare to fight against Mount Zion, the hill of Jerusalem,”²² (This tells us that this king had hurried his march toward Jerusalem), “in order to stand in Nob while it is still day, since his astrologers told him, If you attack it today, you will conquer it. And, when he stood in Nob and saw that Jerusalem was small, he did not heed the words of his astrologers and began to wave his hand arrogantly: For a city like this I have mustered all these armies? Stay here overnight, and tomorrow, each one will cast his stone upon it.”²³

So Jesus gave His orders to the disciples to enter Nob, because as David said: “The earth and everything on it belong to the Lord. The world and all its people belong to Him,”²⁴ and: “I already own all the animals in the forest. I own all the animals on a thousand hills.”²⁵ In other words, everything we see around us belongs to God, it is only on loan to those He created to take care of. And just in case the person in charge of watching this donkey and her colt were to ask what they were up to, Jesus gave them a simple response: “The Master needs them.”

This was not a strange mission Jesus was sending His followers on. After all, God sent Elijah on an assignment this way, “Then the Lord said to Elijah, ‘Go to Zarephath in Sidon and stay there. There is a widow there that I commanded to take care of you.’”²⁶ God knew exactly where His Son should be in order for His divine plan, worked out before the world began, could proceed in an orderly manner. This was no ordinary design, but one that would change the world forever. So it was imperative that Jesus followed His Father’s will, and that the disciples do exactly what Jesus told them to do.

Chrysostom points this out: “Note carefully how many miracles occurred so quickly. Observe how many prophecies are fulfilled. For example, when he said, ‘You will find a donkey,’ He foretold that no man should hinder them but that all, when they heard, should hold their peace.… He had already persuaded many who had never known Him before to give up their own property and follow Him. The Jews of Jerusalem were hardly persuaded, however, even though some of them were present with Him when He worked His miracles.”²⁷

So we see that this was a historic mission Jesus was on. It could not be repeated in case of failure. It was an all or nothing commitment to what He came to do. His disciples would try to stop Him but Jesus would not be deterred. Satan would try to stop Him because he knew that if Jesus succeeded in His mission, his fate was sealed for eternity and there would be no other opportunity for escape. Yes, Jesus had to complete this task. Otherwise, all would be lost forever. For this reason the world was created and mankind was placed here. It was critical that He did not fail.

One of World War II’s most admired generals was Omar Bradley. Born in a log cabin near Clark, Missouri, he was raised by his schoolteacher father, John Bradley. He was such a bright young man that his Sunday School Superintendent recommended that he apply for West Point. He placed first in the competitive exams and received an appointment from his congressman to enter the Military Academy in 1911.

By the time he graduated from West Point, World War I was over, and Bradley was troubled by the fact that he did not get to serve overseas in the war. So when Wold War II began, it looked like he might miss being on the battlefield again. But he was not about to let that happen. So he received an assignment to Europe and eventually took command of the US Army Group, the largest single command ever held by an American general officer. He was promoted to 5-star General in 1950. He was best known to his troops as, “The Soldier’s General” because of his care of and compassion for those under his command.

General Bradley was once quoted as saying: “We are given one life and the decision is ours whether to wait for circumstances to make up our mind, or whether to act, and in acting, to live.” In this saying General Bradley is pointing out the crucial difference between patience and procrastination. Being patient involves strength of character and trust in the things we know, believing they are working out for our good whether they meet our exact expectations or not. But procrastination evinces a weakness of character and lack of trust because we’re not sure of what we know, and unsure if it will work out exactly the way we want.

This is important in life, especially when it comes to education, employment, promotion, marriage, savings, planning for retirement, etc. But it is most critical when it comes to our spiritual life. Young Samuel in the Bible was blessed in that God called his name more than once before he realized who was talking to him. However, had he not bothered to go to the high priest each time, thinking it was him, he would have never found out that it was actually God calling him for a special reason.

So the question must be asked, “How many times have you heard God’s Spirit speak to you, and why have you not bothered to find out what He wants?” God does not call unless He has a special reason. So if you haven’t answered yet, I think today would be a good day to start before it ends up being too late. As General Bradley said, we are given one life and the decision is ours whether to wait for circumstances to make up our mind, or whether to act and find out. – Dr. Robert R Seyda

My father lived in the Johnstown, Pennsylvania area growing up as a boy after my grandfather immigrated from Germany to America in 1905. He used to tell a story about the railroad in those days when workers who inspected the rails, switches, car couplings, etc., carried lanterns fueled by kerosene. We called it “coal oil” when I was young because everyone used to pour it on the coal in their stoves and furnaces. In fact, my precious grandmother thought it had medicinal properties because every time one of us children we would get a scrape, scratch, sore, or infection she would tell us, “Go put some coal oil on it.”

But the railroad issued a special type of kerosene for those lanterns that was purer than the common brand one could buy down at the local hardware store because it made the lantern burn much brighter so the worker could better see what he was doing. When a lantern with the pure kerosene was put side by side with one burning regular kerosene it was easy to spot the difference. The pure kerosene lantern light looked bright white while the mixed kerosene lantern gave off an almost orange light that was much dimmer because the flame gave off a form of black smoke.

This caused some railroad workers to cheat and use the special oil at home and put common oil in their lamps for work. So as these railroad workers went around on their job inspecting the tracks etc., you could easily spot which ones were using the good oil and which ones had switched because of the quality of light in their lanterns. Anyone caught doing this was immediately fined because they had stolen the good oil to use at home instead of using it on the job for the railroad that issued it to them.

My grandfather was a Lutheran minister for a church he helped start in Johnstown and so my dad grew up in that faith and did all the things that were expected of him. But one day a Pentecostal evangelist came to town to hold revival meetings down at the city auditorium. So his wife, along with her sister-in-law, decided to attend this revival. Every night they would come home talking excitedly about what the preacher had said. She would tell my father, “You’ve got to go hear this evangelist. We’ve never heard such preaching before.” My dad would brush it off and tell her he had been baptized as a child, gone through catechism, and received his first communion as a child so he didn’t need to do anything more to be a good Christian.

Yet they kept insisting that he should go, even if it was only once. So one night after they left, he walked down to the auditorium and stood outside under a window so he could hear what was going on inside. That was before air conditioning, so the windows of the auditorium were open and he could hear the music and singing. Then the preacher got up to preach. My dad had never heard such passionate intensity in preaching before. He became so curious that he had to see this for himself.

So he went to the front door of the auditorium and tried to open the door quietly so he could sneak in unnoticed. However, the door hinges squeaked and creaked so loudly that the people sitting in the back all turned around to see who was entering. He quickly found a seat and saw a somewhat short, stocky preacher with a balding head on the platform, preaching fervently as he waved his arms. The preacher also had an index finger on his right hand that had been partially cut off at the knuckle in an accident, and when he would say something about how people were sinning and living their lives for Satan, he would point that stubby finger toward the congregation.

It didn’t take long before my dad became suspicious that his wife had told this preacher all about him because every time he mentioned some sin that my dad had in his life he’d point that stubby finger right at him. He’d had enough, so when the altar call was given he got up and exited the auditorium and went home. But all night he couldn’t get what this preacher said off his mind. He got up around 4:30 am in the morning to go to work, and while standing in the kitchen having a cup of coffee, the conviction became so strong that he couldn’t stand it anymore. So he got down on his knees and begin to pray that if what this preacher was saying was right and that he was such a sinner, he asked God to save him and cleanse him right then and there.

My dad used to tell how all of a sudden a warm feeling cascaded over his body like a waterfall. Then he felt a heavy load being lifted from off his shoulders. Tears of joy came to his eyes as he began to thank the Lord for His forgiveness. When he stood up, he saw his wife standing at the top of the stairs with tears of joy running down her face. She told him how they had all prayed that this would happen and so they rejoiced together.

When he went to work it was then that it dawned on him that all along he had been living with the wrong kind of oil in his life that was giving off a dim light to those around him. Now he had purer oil that radiated from his life, and it would shine brighter now for others to see Jesus living inside him.

We don’t use kerosene lamps in our homes or at work today, but I’m sure anyone can understanding how pure oil can produce a brighter light than regular oil. So the question for us is this: since we call ourselves born again Christians when people look at us can they tell if we have the pure oil of the Holy Spirit burning inside us, or are we running on the oil produced by mere adherence to church doctrine, rules, and rituals? If so, maybe it’s time for a change of oil.

As a child, we used to sing this song in church:

Give me oil in my lamp, keep me burning.
Give me oil in my lamp, I pray.
Give me oil in my lamp, keep me burning.
Keep me burning till the break of day.

Refrain:
Sing hosanna, sing hosanna,
sing hosanna to the King of kings!
Sing hosanna, sing hosanna,
sing hosanna to the King!

Maybe it’s time to get out the hymnbook and begin to sing this song in earnest again. – Dr. Robert R. Seyda

–

SUMMARY OF MATTHEW CHAPTER 20

We have now completed our exciting walk through another chapter in the life of the greatest man to ever live. The prophet from Galilee named Jesus of Nazareth. He was teaching His disciples on the principles of putting others first so that you could be seen as a leader, a motivator, the person in charge. This was so contrary to the way others did it, especially the non-Jews. With them, it was always “me first.”

To make His point, Jesus illustrated this by telling a parable about the owner of a vineyard who went out early in the morning to the city square to hire some workers who gathered there everyday looking for work. He told them he would give them one silver coin as their wage. Some of them responded and went into the vineyard to work. A few hours later, the owner needed more workers so he went back to the market square and hired some more. He did this several times that day, right up until there were only a few hours left to work.

When the day ended and everyone went to the paytable to receive their silver coin, some of those who had been in the vineyard all day were shocked when those who had only been working a few hours received the same wage. They were furious and wanted to know why they weren’t paid more. So they went to the owner and demanded an answer. He calmly asked them, “What did I promise to pay you?” They answered, “I silver coin.” “How much did you receive,” he asked? “One silver coin,” they replied. “Well then,”said the owner, “you got what you were promised.”

But they were not satisfied. They wanted to know why they didn’t get more and the late hires receive less. The owner stated again, “I gave you what I promised. You agreed to work for that wage. That should be enough.” Then Jesus looked at those listening to Him and repeated what He had said earlier about how in the kingdom of God those who thought they should be treated with favor will end up at the end of the line, while those who willingly accepted what they were promised will be the first to get their reward. His point was that all who receive an invitation to be part of the kingdom of heaven are promised the same thing, eternal life. So why should those who only have a few years to labor in His vineyard receive any less than those who were given the opportunity to work for him longer? Everyone should rejoice in the fact that they were called. Older believers should be happy with younger believers, even if they are given their reward on the same day.

But Jesus had other work to do, so He headed for Jerusalem. But before He left the area of Jericho, He had a private meeting with His disciples and told them that His trip to Jerusalem would result in His being arrested by the Jewish authorities, condemned to death, turned over to the Romans for execution on a cross, but after three days He would rise to life again. Needless to say, His followers were not ready for such news. They had given up everything to follow Him. They wanted to be part of His kingdom as the Messiah when He came to power.

In fact, two of His followers conspired with their mother and asked her to approach Jesus and beg Him to make sure that when He took over His kingdom that one of them would be seated on His left and the other on His right. But Jesus was ready, and told her and the two followers, James and John, that they would first have to drink from the same cup of suffering that He was about to drink before any decision could be made as to where they would be seated in His kingdom. In fact, He told them that only His Father in heaven would make that decision.

Needless to say, the other disciples were not happy when they heard what James and John had put their mother up to. So they confronted these two sons of Zebedee and gave them an ear full of what they thought of them. But Jesus stepped in, pulled them aside and told them they were acting just like non-Jews in that each one wanted to show who had the last say. Jesus told them, “My followers don’t do that. In fact, if any of you want to be a leader, you must first be willing to be a servant.” Then Jesus pointed at Himself and said, “Watch me. Even as your leader, I did not come to be served, but I came to serve so that through my death others may have eternal life.”

With this settled, Jesus then proceeded toward Jerusalem. Along the way, two blind beggars called out for His help. And in spite of those in the crowd telling them to be quiet, Jesus did just what He was teaching His disciples. He stopped what He was doing and took care of their need for healing. As a result, they then became His followers. But little did they know that because of their being healed of blindness, they were about to witness something that no one had ever seen before.

We will look at this marvelous revelation of Chapter 21 of Matthew starting on Tuesday. God bless you for your continued hunger for His Word. And thank you for being such faithful students of the greatest life ever lived.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TWENTY

Part IX

Verse 29-30: As Jesus and His followers were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed Him. There were two blind men sitting by the road. They heard that Jesus was passing by. So they shouted, “O Lord, Son of David, please help us!”

It is significant that Jesus had just been talking about how true leadership not only involves being in command of one’s followers but also being there to serve when called on. So Matthew tells us that as Jesus and His followers were leaving Jericho, our Lord was in the crowd, giving directions to where He wanted them to go. And where He wanted to go was on a road where two blind men were sitting on the side where they could beg for alms from passersby.

When we combine what the synoptic Gospels say about this incident, verse 30 would read this way: “Behold, two blind men, Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, and his companion, were sitting by the road begging.” We are not told what Jesus did in Jericho, but since a large crowd was following Him as He left, I’m sure it was more than just passing through. Mark agrees that Jesus was leaving Jericho,¹ while Luke mentions that they were in the vicinity.² Since these men were blind, it is a curiosity as to how they found out that in the crowd passing by there strode a man who was being hailed as the Messiah. But somehow they found out, perhaps from conversations by those walking ahead of Jesus and His entourage, and so in their cry for help we see that they had either already believed Him to be so, or they felt this was the only way to get His attention.

When preaching on this, Chrysostom told his listeners: “Let us stick with the things set before us. Let us listen to these blind men, who see better than many. They were not able to see the Lord when He came near to them. They had no one to guide them. Yet they tried to make contact with Him.… Such is the nature of a determined soul. It is motivated up by the very things that hinder it.”³ Also, early church theologian Augustine includes the following in his sermon to engage his audience into thinking about what it would mean to them for Jesus to pass by: “What does it mean that Jesus was passing by? He is coming to us in time. Only for a short time is Jesus passing by us.⁴ What does it mean that Jesus is passing by? He is acting in a moment that comes to pass. Note how many things He has now done which have already passed by. He was born of the Virgin Mary in time. Is He being born always?⁵ As an infant, He was nursed. Is He still being nursed? No, He matured through the successive ages of life until He came to adulthood. Is He always growing physically? After infancy came boyhood, after boyhood came youth; after youth, He came to full human stature in several developing stages of growth. Even the very miracles that He did have ‘passed by.’⁶”⁷ Augustine obviously wanted his congregation to think of Jesus as still being present in their everyday lives, not some historical figure back in time.

So Augustine continues: “Now we read about these things and believe. They were written about so that they might be read later. But when these things were occurring they were passing by like all temporal events. Finally, not to dwell on this too long, He was crucified. Is He still hanging on the cross? In a similar temporal flow, He was buried, He rose again, He ascended into heaven. Now ‘He cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over Him.’⁸ Now His divinity abides forever; yes, even by the immortality of His body shall He never pass away. But nevertheless all those things that were done by Him in time have passed by, and having passed by they were written down in order to be read and preached to be believed. In all these things then ‘Jesus is passing by’.”⁹ Not only did Augustine see Jesus as a living being, but wanted the record about Him and His miracles to remain a living document.

There is a song we used to sing from our classic church hymnal that composer Martin P. Dalton wrote based on this text. The lyrics go as follows: “There is a story of long ago, men roamed in darkness, nowhere to go; One day the scene changed, they ceased to cry, there was a reason, Jesus passed by.” Then the chorus says: “Glory and honor be to the King, Shout Hallelujah, make praises ring; Look to the future home in the sky, There is a reason Jesus passed by.”¹⁰ So, as in Augustine’s day, we should have the same outlook today. Jesus is not some figure of the past but is ever-present with us each day.

Verse 31: The people there scolded the blind men and told them to be quiet. But they shouted even louder, “O Lord, Son of David, please help us!”

It is obvious that these blind men got attention, but it wasn’t the kind they wanted. The crowd around Jesus began to reprimand these men, telling them they were being a nuisance. Perhaps they thought such pathetic figures as these two blind men were not worthy of attention by the Messiah. However, if there were Pharisees in the crowd, no doubt they were offended because these blind men were acknowledging that Jesus was a royal descendant of King David. But trying to hush these two was like trying to tell two roosters in the early morning to stop crowing. They had the stubbornness of Jacob when he contended with the angel.¹¹ In any case, it got Jesus’ attention and He stopped. He looked over at them sitting along the road and called out to them, asking what they wanted Him to do. They were not hesitant in letting Him know exactly what their desire was.

Early church preacher Chrysostom had this appeal in his sermon on this text: “Learn this, beloved. Though we may be very unworthy and outcast, yet when we approach God with utter earnestness, we come closer to what we ask for. Just look at these men. They do not ask any of the apostles to plead for them. Instead, here is the crowd trying to shut them up, telling them to be silent. Yet they were able to overcome all these obstacles and come to Jesus himself. Yet the Evangelist does not attest to any faith in them but only to their urgency. Their earnestness sufficed above all other factors.”¹² Makes one wonder what Chrysostom would say to those today who pray more to the saints than to God?

Both early church scholars Jerome, and Epiphanius use these blind beggars as metaphors for the nations of non-Jews. Epiphanius says: “By straying through idols, they had completely wandered from the way of truth. Degenerated in the obscurity of sins, they destroyed the eyes of the heart. But the crowd rebuked them to become silent. But they shouted all the more. For with the Jews neither believing nor willing, the blinded nations were shouting all the more through faith. And for us, dearly beloved, whether envy opposes a man or the devil holds him back in darkness, let us, therefore, shout the more through faith.”¹³ What a picture this can paint in our minds today. While a dying world cries out for help, those sitting in the pews tell them to be quiet because it would take Jesus’ attention away from them, His favorites.

Some say, that had this incident occurred up in Galilee there is more probability that non-Jews were living among the Jewish population. But since it was near Jericho, this would lead to these two possibly being Samaritans, not Gentiles. However, when Mark tells this story, he notes that one of the men was named Bar-Timaeus, which is a Jewish name meaning “Son of Timothy.” For that reason, it is more plausible that because they were Jewish they understood the importance of addressing Jesus as the son of David, which was another term for Messiah, something neither the Samaritans nor the Gentiles would be aware of.

Verses 32-34: Jesus stopped and said to them, “What do you want me to do for you? They answered, “Sir, we want to be able to see.” Jesus felt compassion for the blind men. He touched their eyes, and immediately they were able to see. They then became followers of Jesus.

Maybe it was the way they said it, but regardless of how they made their request known, Matthew tells us that it touched the heart of Jesus. This should be a clue to all of us, that when we pray to God the Father, and His Son is standing right beside Him, He can still be touched by our needs. So apparently, Jesus either walked over to them or they were brought to Him, but without any further ado He touched them and they were instantly healed. In my mind’s eye, as the crowd then continued out of town toward Jerusalem, I can see Bartimaeus and his friend looking around, greeting people, seeing the scenery for the first time, but most of all, keeping their eyes focused on Jesus.

Jesus often healed the sick brought to Him or those He met on the highway simply by virtue of their faith. But here Matthew points out that it was the compassion of our Lord that was the driving force that caused His healing power to flow. This is a true example of the divine features of someone who was both God and man. That’s why the writer of Hebrews was able to declare that our Messiah is One who can be touched by our weakness and suffering.¹⁴ Chrysostom says: “Note that they did not hasten away after their cure, as happened on numerous occasions, with those who were less than grateful after receiving benefits. Not so with these two blind men, whose worthiness to receive is seen both in what they cried out and that they followed. They were persevering before the gift and grateful after the gift. For it says that they followed Him.”¹⁵

What more fitting example could Jesus give His disciples of what He alluded to earlier about a leader being willing to serve? Had Jesus possessed the mind of many in His day, He would have been too busy to stop for these two blind beggars because He was trying to please his adoring crowd. The only shouts such personalities would want to hear would be those praising them for their triumphs and victories. They would have no time for such matters beneath their dignity. But the One who was equal with God is now touched by the tears of even the most pitiful among mankind, and His heart was moved by their blindness. So it is that all of us who claim to be His followers should never let our position or station in the ministry prevent us from taking time to minister to those who seem to be the most unworthy in this world.

Matthew’s statement that they followed Jesus, is in the indicative mood, active voice, and aorist tense in Greek. That simply means, that it actually took place and showed no signs of ending. In other words, they continued to follow Jesus. This makes me wonder if they followed the Lord all the way to Jerusalem and were witnesses to what happened there in the Garden of Gethsemane, the courtyard of the high priest, the Praetorium where He was tried before Pilate, and then to the foot of Mt. Calvary.

It must break our Lord’s heart to see so many today who have had their spiritual eyes opened so they could see the truth and become His adherents but then did not continue following Him. This Christian life is not based on one meeting with Jesus at the altar of confession. Rather, it is the start of a life given to continually following the One who came to redeem and to save, leading us out of the darkness of sin into the marvelous light of His mercy and grace. This raises the question, if someone asked you today if you are a follower of Christ, if you really told the truth would you be able to say, “I am,” or would you be forced to confess and say, “I was?”

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TWENTY

Part VIII

Verse 24: When the other ten disciples heard this, they became very angry with the two brothers.

Even though these ten were close followers of Jesus, we should not be surprised by their reaction. This was supposed to be teamwork where everyone did their job so that the whole group could succeed. Now they find out that two brothers wanted special privileges. Since these two were James and John the sons of Zebedee and friends of Peter, certainly he was among those who felt the most violated. And knowing Peter as we do, there would be no reason to doubt that he was the loudest and angriest in the group who confronted these young men.

One early church writer had this to say: “Just as the two [carnally-minded disciples] sought privilege, so also the ten [carnally-minded disciples] were upset by the lack of it. For just as the two, if they had understood spiritually, would not have requested that they be put above the others, so also the ten, if they had understood spiritually that some are before them, would not have been upset. For to wish to be above all is indeed blameworthy, yet to hold up another above oneself is truly glorious. For if the apostles had not erred like this, where might they have learned that not everything that seems good to desire is good because it is deceptive? Some might argue that it is bad to desire, bad, just as greed and theft are bad. Now we know indeed that to desire a good work is good. But to covet the first place of honor is vanity. Now we are better able to distinguish between the benefit of a good work and seeking the first place of honor. For to fulfill a good work is of our will and of our work and labor, on which account the reward is ours. But to pursue the first place intrudes upon the judgment of God. I do not know if we deserve to attain any reward of justice from the first place of honor if we seek it out for ourselves.”¹

Verse 25-26a: So Jesus called His followers together. He said, “You know that the rulers of the non-Jews love to demonstrate their power over the people. And their important leaders love to use all their authority over the people. But it should not be that way with you.”

Not only did Jesus appear to anticipate this manipulation for superiority by telling about the hiring of the workers and how they all received the same pay, but it is also obvious that James and John, along with their mother, did not think it applied to them. So Jesus did what any leader would do, He called a meeting so that this could be sorted out. He does not address the spat that occurred, but He zeros in on the source, and uses an example from non-Jews to make His point. Our Lord shows His superior intelligence in doing so, because if there were any people His Jewish followers did not want to be like, it was the non-Jews.

Chrysostom shares the following in a sermon on this text: “And now Jesus corrects them, in a different way than before. Whereas before He brought little children into their midst and called them to imitate their simplicity and lowliness, now He admonishes them in a sharper way from the opposite direction. Loving to be in first place is not fitting for us, even though it may so be among the Gentiles. Such a passion becomes a tyrant. It continually hinders even great men. So it needs to be treated more severely.”² There is nothing wrong with a gifted, talented, trained person willing to be a leader. But it must be a desire to give to the group, not to get from the group; a willingness to lead from in front, not dictate from behind.

Chrysostom then goes on to say: “Note how hard the Lord punches them by comparing them with the heathen, shaming their unhealthy soul. At the same time, He removes the envy of the one and the arrogance of the other. In effect, He is saying, ‘When you, the ten, are insulted, do not be moved with such indignation. For James and John harm and disgrace themselves most by seeking the first place. That puts them among the last. For distinction within this community is not like status in the world. For the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over others, but here the very last is counted first. And if you want proof that I speak truly, look at what I am doing. Look at what I do and suffer. Let the proof of my teaching be my life. For I have done what I commend.’ For being King of the powers above, He was willing to become man and submitted Himself to be despised and despitefully treated. And not even with this lowliness was He satisfied, but He even came to die.”³

Verse 26b-27: “Whoever wants to be great must be willing to serve. Whoever wants to be a leader must first serve willingly.”

Jesus touches on a similar theme here to what we’ve found before, and that of the first being last and the last being first. However, this time, He emphasizes position rather than priority. As one early church writer put it: “With regard to this point, we were made in the image of Christ so that we might become imitators of His will and conduct. How were we created to resemble the likeness of His greatness? He indeed was able to imitate our flesh, yet we are not able to imitate His divinity. But we are being made in His image so that what seems good to Him may also be good to us, and what seems bad to Him may also be bad to us. Whoever pursues boasting, while the Lord pursues humility, is not the image of Christ. And he who is a lover of riches in this age, while the Lord is a lover of being thrifty, repels from himself the likeness of Christ. He is not a true disciple who does not imitate his teacher; nor is it a true image which is not like its creator.”⁴

Chrysostom notes this in his sermon: “It is as if He were saying, ‘I willed not even to stop at death but even in death gave My life as a ransom. For whom? For enemies. For you. If you are abused, My life is given for you. It is for you. Me for you.’ So you need not be too picky if you suffer the loss of your honor. No matter how much it is lowered, you will not be descending as far as your Lord descended. And yet the deep descent of One has become the ascent of all. His glory shines forth from these very depths. For before He was made man, He was known among the angels only. But after He was made man and was crucified, so far from lessening that glory, He acquired further glory besides, even that from His personal knowledge of the world.”⁵ So in short, this great preacher was telling his listeners: You can’t out do the Lord when it comes to lowering oneself in order to lift others up.

Verse 28: “Do as I did: The Son of man did not come for people to serve Him. He came to serve others and to give His life to save many people.”

He crowns what He has been saying with a sentiment that should become the motto of every minister and teacher of the Gospel. Just like Jesus, we have come to serve, not to be served. Contrary to conventional thinking, the disciples were not a saintly group who had no differences of opinion. Here we have a revealing incident that shows how they felt about James and John wanting the choice seats when Jesus came into His kingdom and ascended to the throne. I have to believe that they still did not understand that after Jesus rose from the grave, that death would no longer be able to touch Him and therefore He would be able to send them out to spread the good news of His kingdom, starting there in Jerusalem.

Solomon had it right when he said, “Through discourtesy, strife is produced, But wisdom is given to those who receive counsel.”⁶ That’s why our Lord took this occasion to counsel them on attitude and ethics. He pointed out how the non-Jews governed their people. A good example is what happened in Babylon while Daniel was there. We read: “Because of this the king became indignant and very furious and gave orders to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. So the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain, and they looked for Daniel and his friends to kill them.”⁷

Jesus wanted His followers to know that the way these people lorded it over others was not the way He wanted leaders in His kingdom to be in charge. And what better person could He point to but Himself. This was our Lord’s motto and He certainly practiced what He preached. What a wonderful banner to appear above every minister’s credentials and office door, “I am not here to be served, but to serve.” No one can read Isaiah 53:1-12 without knowing that our Lord was certainly fulfilling the prophecy made about the true Messiah. What better example could His disciples ask for? And what better model could we have than Jesus? None! These instructions are for those who truly want to be more like Jesus.

However, one Jewish polemic writer questioned our Lord’s statement about willingly giving His life as a ransom for others. He writes: “Afterwards, however, he said, ‘Take away this cup from me,’ and so he changed his mind.”⁸ What this German critic fails to notice is that Jesus’ prayer was to show the Father that He was going to suffer by choice unless the Father changed His mind. It was another way of Jesus say, “Father, I know Your will for me and I plan to follow through. So the only one who can change it is You.” What a wonderful example for all of us to use as a prayer to start each day of our lives. We want to live it for His honor, not ours.

The early church preacher Chrysostom has this to say: “Fear not then, as though your honor were put down. Rather, be ready to humble yourself. For in this way your glory is exalted even more, and in this way, it becomes greater. This is the door of the kingdom. Let us not then go the opposite way. Let us not war against ourselves. For if we desire to appear great, we shall not be great but even the most dishonored of all. Do you see how everywhere Jesus encourages them by turning things upside down? He gives them what they desire but in ways they did not expect. He acted this way in the cases of the covetous and of the proud. So you can see why He asks whether we are giving our donations to be seen by others. To enjoy glory? Do not do this for glory, and you will enjoy it more. Why do you lay up treasures? To be rich? Try laying up no treasures, and then you will be rich. And in this case, why do you set your heart on sitting in the first place? That you may have the honor before others? Try choosing the last place; then you will enjoy the first. That is how things work in the kingdom. If it is your will to become great, then do not seek greatness and you will become great.”⁹

So, it is clear that greatness and prestige are not what a person puts on themselves but what is bestowed upon them by others. And there is nothing more honorable and respectful than what God gives to a person by which they can praise and glorify Him. That is what the main point and purpose are, to take whatever favor God lays upon our heads to be His tools and vessels in order to carry out His will and purpose for our lives. As the apostle Paul stated so emphatically: “Everything you say and everything you do should be done for Jesus your Lord. And in all you do, give thanks to God the Father through Jesus.”¹⁰

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TWENTY

Part VII

Verse 22: So Jesus said to the sons, “You don’t understand what you are asking. Can you drink from the cup that I must drink from?” The sons answered, “Yes, we can!”

Although the request by the mother of James and John for special treatment as a favor to her two sons was surely out of place, nevertheless, Jesus was gracious and did not scold her at first. But I must imagine that the tone of His voice may have changed when He asked her, “What do you want?” This would certainly give her a clue that He knew the real reason behind her question. Nevertheless, our Lord’s response was definitely unequivocal. Jesus then used a traditional saying that most certainly was understood by the mother of James and John.

Jewish literature tells us that the word “cup” was often used metaphorically. It described either good or ill fortune, as in “My cup runs over;”¹ “the cup of His fury;”² “the bowl of the cup of staggering;”³ and “the cup of astonishment and desolation.”⁴ We also find Babylon is a “golden cup” in the Lord’s hand that made all the earth drunken.⁵ Also, we find the “cup of anger.”⁶ So, in Rabbinical writings we find the cup used figuratively for trouble and suffering,⁷ a symbol of calamity.⁸ But there is also the “cup of consolation,”⁹ that is offered to mourners. Then we read of the “cup of salvation.”¹⁰ This is a cup of thanksgiving for deliverance, an allusion, perhaps, to the wine poured for the peace-offering. So for the Jews, it could be a “cup of blessing;”¹¹ or a “cup of bitterness.”¹² But in this case here, with Jesus having just talked about all the suffering He was about to endure, the cup He spoke of could be called the “cup of suffering.”¹³

One anonymous writer of an early church commentary had this to say: “The cup and baptism are not one. For the cup is suffering, but baptism is death itself. Moreover, baptism is said to closely resemble dyed wool. For just as wool, having a natural color, is dipped so that it be colored purple or some other color, so we also descend into death as corporeal beings and rise again as spiritual beings. As the apostle said, ‘We are sown in infirmity; we rise in strength; we are sown in sordidness, we rise in glory; it is sown an animal body, it will rise a spiritual body.^‘14 Indeed, every death contains in itself suffering, but every suffering does not also contain in itself death. For there were many who suffered and were not killed; such are the confessors. They all indeed drank the cup of the Lord but were not baptized with His baptism.”¹⁵

What this writer may not have researched is what “drinking the cup” meant in ancient Jewish times. It had a very clear meaning. Scholars give us this information:

Throughout Scripture, as in the ancient Near East, the cup functions as a metaphor for an individual’s fate. In Psalm 16, the psalmist credits the Lord with assigning his “portion and cup” in life. Psalm 23 equates an abundant life with an overflowing cup, a potent image in a semiarid world. The culmination of the positive image of the cup is in Psalm 116. Here the psalmist raises the cup of salvation as a thank offering to God, in effect offering the sum of his life to his Lord.

The metaphor of the cup, like life itself, can also be negative. In numerous prophetic works, the cup retains its role as a representative of fate, but on a national level. The cup can function as a cup of wrath, a vessel pouring out God’s judgment on the nations. The nations’ drinking from the “cup of his wrath” are often depicted as lost in drunkenness.¹⁶ This personifies Jerusalem as a woman who drained the cup of wrath to its dregs. God takes pity on His city and intervenes. “See, I have taken out of your hand the cup that made you stagger the goblet of my wrath.”¹⁷ This cup is then given to the tormentors, indicating that they will suffer in their turn.

In a vision of destruction recorded by Jeremiah, God will force all the nations to drink from His cup and stagger to destruction.¹⁸ None are able to refuse it; all humanity will be judged and the wicked put to the sword. Ezekiel returns to the image of the cup of Jerusalem in a brutally explicit passage depicting Samaria and Jerusalem, representing the people of God, as two sisters who are prostitutes. The prophet calls the cup that Jerusalem drinks from the “cup of ruin and desolation, the cup of your sister Samaria.”¹⁹ For Ezekiel, the cup stands for the destruction of the two kingdoms.

Zechariah uses the image of the cup of wrath to depict the fate of the enemies of Jerusalem. He adds a twist to the metaphor by making Jerusalem itself the cup.²⁰ The author of Revelation returns to the dark image of the cup of wrath, threatening all who follow the beast with the wine of God’s judgment.²¹”²²

The anonymous writer of a commentary on Matthew goes on to say: “They say, ‘We are able.’ They say this not so much by the boldness of their own hearts as by the ignorance of the trial. For to the unknowing, war is a desirable thing, just as to the inexperienced, the trial of suffering and death seems to be a light thing. For if the Lord, when he had entered into the trial of his suffering, was saying, ‘Father, if it can be done, let this cup pass from me,’ by how much more would the disciples not have said ‘we are able’ if they had known what the trial of death was like? Great indeed is the grief that suffering holds, but death holds even greater fear.”²³

Verse 23: Jesus said to them, “It is true that you will drink from the cup that I drink from. But it is not for me to say who will sit at my right or my left. My Father has decided who will do that. He has prepared those places for them.”

Early church writers have given us some of their understanding of what Jesus implied here. For instance, Jerome says: “It is asked how the sons of Zebedee, namely, James and John, drank the cup of martyrdom when Scripture says that such an apostle as James was beheaded by Herod, but John ended life with a natural death. But if we read the ecclesiastical histories, we see it related that even John himself for the sake of martyrdom was sent into a vat of boiling oil and from there proceeded as an athlete to win the crown of Christ. Immediately he was sent away to the Island of Patmos. So we shall see that the spirit of martyrdom was not lacking and that John drank the cup of confession, which even the three boys in the furnace of fire drank,²⁴ although their persecutor did not shed blood.”²⁵

In a writing by Tertullian (c. AD 155 – 240), we read his account of the martyrdom of the apostles: “There was Peter, as our Lord, crucified; There, like John the Baptist, was Paul beheaded; There was the Apostle St. John immersed in a cauldron of boiling oil and having received no harm from it, was afterwards sent into exile to the Isle of Patmos.”²⁶

Jerome then goes on to add: “To sit at my right and at my left is not mine to grant to you, but to those for whom it has been prepared by my Father must be understood as follows: the kingdom of heaven does not belong to the one giving but to the one receiving. ‘For there is no respecting of persons with God.”²⁷ But whoever has proven himself in such a way that he is made worthy of the kingdom of heaven will receive what has been prepared, not for a person but for a life. If therefore you are such that you pursue the kingdom of heaven which my Father has prepared for the triumphant and victorious, you also will receive it. Others wish that it was spoken of Moses and Elijah, whom they had seen speaking with Him a little earlier on the mountain,²⁸ but this view does not seem at all plausible to me. The names of those sitting in the kingdom of heaven are not spoken, lest the rest be considered excluded by the few who are named.”²⁹

And the unknown writer of an early church commentary speaks to this subject: “Did Jesus not have the power to appoint whomever He wished, since it was written, ‘The Father loves the Son and gave all things into his hand?’³⁰ But Jesus did not thus criticize their request. He did not want to make them dispirited and fainthearted. For it is not easy to restore one’s strength for hoping about the future once one falls from that for which he had hoped. Moreover, the Lord did not wish to accept their request, in order not to sadden all the others. For it was necessary, to the extent that they even considered such things, to this extent that they are strengthened without the help of the Holy Spirit.”³¹

After explaining Christ’s intentions the writer then goes on to say: “If the society of that entire kingdom should be divided among these two, if John is secure at his right and James at his left, what then are we to do? For what do we now hope? For this reason, we have followed Him so that we may be found remaining with those chosen from our midst. In labor, we have been like them. But it is better that we be not like them in seeking honor. For it was necessary that they who had not yet been made spiritual should think of carnal things. For if their request was not accepted and they all were disturbed, why did they even dare to seek this very thing? How much more would the others have been disturbed if their request had been accepted? Thus Jesus neither said ‘You will not sit’ in order not to confuse the two; nor did he say ‘You will sit’ in order not to anger the rest. But what did he say? ‘This is not mine to grant to you, but my Father.’ Although kind and provident, the Father thus arranges and ordains all things so that among like-minded brothers the love of the brotherhood is not broken. See how He neither disturbed any of them or made them hopeful, saying, ‘It is not mine to grant to you, but my Father.’ For what is not promised specifically to one or two is hoped for by all.”³²

I think we all can see that this jockeying for position by James and John was only the beginning of what would continue on down through church history to this day. That’s why any appointment to a high position of leadership and responsibility should be accepted more with dread than delight. For Scripture says: “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”³³ Any plot to snag a position of power within the community of believers can only be motivated by the lust of one’s sinful nature. But when accepting such a position of power and authority that is offered freely, it must be done with the humility of one’s spiritual nature.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TWENTY

Part VI

Verse 18: He said to them, “Listen, we are going to Jerusalem. The Son of man will be handed over to the leading priests and the teachers of the law, and they will say He must die.”

As the disciples stood huddled with Jesus, I’m sure that what He wanted to tell them did not cause them to rejoice and yell, “I can’t wait!” First of all, it is clear that Jesus knew exactly what would happen to Him, and He knew it in sequence. Secondly, the fact that He was willing to share it in detail with His followers shows that He wanted them to know the whole story. But none of what He was saying should have been a surprise. Had the disciples heard or read the Scriptures they would have seen what the Messiah would encounter.¹ No doubt hearing this was tough for His disciples to swallow. They had just spoken about the cost of forsaking all to follow Him.

One anonymous early church writer goes on to say that when Jesus said, “Listen, – it is the language of being called to account so that they may store the memory of this foreknowledge in their hearts. It is even more dramatic than if He should say a third time, I predict to you the mystery of My future suffering. Having been repeated more often, it was intended to occupy their thoughts more deeply . . . All the glory of God and all the salvation of humanity have been placed in Christ’s death. For there is nothing which pertains more to humanity’s salvation than Christ’s death. Nor is there anything else for which we should thank God more than for His death.”² I’m sure the writer here did not discount our Lord’s resurrection. But it is obvious, that without His death there would have been no resurrection. It was His sacrifice that saved us, and His resurrection that preserved us.

Obviously, we can now look back and be grateful that our Lord did not hesitate nor deviate from His assigned mission of being the Son of God who became a Prophet of God so He could become the Lamb of God in order to be our Redeemer and Savior. But the disciples did not have this perspective, so we can certainly understand if they were perplexed because the One they thought to be the Messiah and would deliver them from Roman rule, was now telling them He would die by Roman hands.

Verse 19: “They will hand Him over to the non-Jews, who will laugh at Him and beat Him with whips, and then they will kill Him on a cross. But on the third day after His death, He will be raised to life again.”

Our Lord’s reference to “non-Jews” was perhaps overlooked by His listeners. They knew He was hated by the Jewish religious establishment, and up to that point had no confrontation with the occupying Romans. They were looking for an earthly kingdom to be set up, but all He talked about was a heavenly kingdom. By now, they may have all began to wonder if it was worth giving up everything to follow Him.

Something, however, should have dawned on the disciples when Jesus mentioned crucifixion because it was not one of their permitted forms of capital punishment. According to their verbal traditions it says: “Four methods of execution were entrusted to the court listed in order of their severity: Stoning, burning, slaying by the sword and hanging and thus, if one committed two capital offenses which carried different death penalties, he would be liable to the more severe of the two.”³ Crucifixion by non-Jews was also not new. Josephus reminds us that Pharaoh crucified the chief baker once he was freed from prison where Joseph was incarcerated in Egypt.⁴ He also describes the horrible and vicious acts of King Antiochus who came over from Antioch and ransacked Jerusalem.

Jewish historian Josephus says: “But the best men, and those of the noblest souls, did not honor him (Antiochus), but did pay a greater respect to the customs of their country than concern as to the punishment which he threatened to the disobedient; on which account they underwent great miseries and bitter torments every day; for they were whipped with rods, and their bodies were torn to pieces, and were crucified, while they were still alive, and breathed. They also strangled those women and their sons whom they had circumcised, as the king had appointed, hanging their sons about their necks as they were upon the crosses. And if there were any sacred book of the law found, it was destroyed, and those with whom they were found miserably perished also.”⁵ So they had more to fear from those Jews who were willing to consort with the Romans for political reasons than they did those who had religious differences with our Lord.

The anonymous writer we mentioned before now adds this: “Why does Jesus predict to them the mystery of His suffering? Because every adversity that arises suddenly for people seems beyond hope and is very serious. But when we prepare ourselves against it, when it overtakes us expecting it, it is found to be lighter than it would have been if it had come unexpectedly. Therefore Jesus announces to them His future death so that when that day of suffering arrives, it might not disturb them since they were aware that these things were about to happen. Recall that the apostles, who had been so often forewarned about His future death, nevertheless, when He was arrested, were all scandalized and left Him. How much more would they have been scandalized if they had not been forewarned?”⁶

Verse 20: Then Zebedee’s wife came to Jesus and brought her sons along with her. She bowed before Jesus and asked Him to do something for her.

Apparently, as the word spread, James and John’s mother heard about it and decided to take matters into her own hands. Aside from her forced request, it is quite evident that the mother of James and John sincerely believed that Christ did have a coming kingdom to inherit. This partially mitigates harsh criticism against the foolishness of the petition. Christ’s response to the mother’s request indicates clearly that He knew of her sons’ instigation. His response suggests strongly that the two of them were with their mother when she approached Jesus with the premeditated question.

Chrysostom points toward the cause of the bewilderment in the minds of the disciples that may have led to this request. He says: “It troubled them deeply to hear not only about His death but about Him being mocked and scourged and the like. For when they considered His miracles just done, the possessed persons whom He had delivered, the dead whom He had raised, all the other marvelous works which He was doing, and then heard about His death, they were amazed, if it should be the case that He who did these works would then be destined to suffer. Therefore they fell even deeper into confusion. They were believers, but now disbelieved, and could not understand His sayings. So far at least were they from understanding clearly what He said that the sons of Zebedee simultaneously came to Him and spoke to Him of precedence for their future.”⁷

Also, the reaction of the other ten disciples substantiates the premise that the mother was being used because they immediately confronted James and John, not their mother. Here once again Christ reveals another prerogative which the Father alone possesses. Such things as exclusive powers, individual knowledge, and sole authority among the members of the Trinity cannot in any sense be equated to an earthly similitude. They exist in the realm of perfect love, perfect unity, and perfect harmony. We would all like to strive for that, but only the divine Godhead can make it function flawlessly.

Chrysostom goes on to comment: “It seems that both the mother and the two sons of Zebedee together came to Jesus, with the purpose of making their supplication stronger and in this way to prevail with Christ. Take note of well how Christ responds to them, and you will see better through their motive since the request was doubtless their own, but they put forward their mother to make it.⁸”⁹

Verse 21: Jesus said, “What do you want?” She said, “Promise that one of my sons will sit at your right side in your kingdom and the other at your left.”

Let’s remember, this all goes back to the original question in 18:1, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” and compounded by the question in 19:25, “Who can be saved?” If the future was going to be so bleak, then both the mother and her two sons wanted to know where they would be in the scheme of things. And since they both forsook what they were doing with their father, it would be a shame if it all turned out to be for nothing.

Early church bishop Hilary made this comment: “The literal sense of this is that the mother begged the Lord for the sake of her two sons. But the spiritual sense is deeper and full of symbolic significance: Think of the analogy as that between the disciples of John the Baptist and the apostles. Both [groups] suffered. Both [groups] were to die. They were the two sons of Israel who were struggling against the Pharisees. After John had suffered and died, some of his disciples came to inquire of the Lord. The supplication is that both [groups] of these callings might be equally treated in the kingdom, since both [groups] believed in the gospel of Christ.”¹⁰ Scholars question why Hilary of Poitiers here interprets the two sons of Zebedee as analogous to the two dispensations of John the Baptizer and the Lord Jesus is a mystery, but it well illustrates the tendency in early church exegesis to look for some analogy, even if feeble, when numbers of any sort emerge in the sacred text.¹¹

But there is no need to be so eclectic in our examination of why this even occurred and just what these two disciples and their mother had in mind. It was a case of human pride, and not one of spiritual humility. They came to Jesus to tell Him what they wanted to be, instead of coming to ask Him what He wanted them to be. Remember, they gave up their place in their earthly father’s business, now they were wanting to know what position they would hold in their heavenly Father’s business. At this point, our good Lord could have advised them to read what the Psalmist said: “For promotion comes neither from the east nor from the west nor from the south. God is the Judge: He puts down one, and exalts another.”¹² And since that’s the way it was in Jesus’ day; and since Jesus is still Lord of the kingdom, then it remains the same today. No believer should be worried where they will stand in relationship to Christ up there, but be most concerned about where they stand with Christ down here.

William Blake, English poet, painter, and visual artistry pioneer, was infatuated by biblical prophecy and the proverbs, so between 1790-93 he composed his own prophecies and proverbs. Among them, we find this: “The hours of folly are measured by the clock, but of wisdom: no clock can measure.”

How often have you heard someone say, “If I could only have those five minutes back again I would never have done what I did.” Or something like this: “That was the worst ten minutes of my life.” Almost everyday, someone is heard lamenting what they did as a prank or without thinking as a waste of time. It seems that such folly imprints itself on the mind in an indelible way so as to make it impossible to erase or forget.

But have you ever heard anyone complain because they spent too much time on things that were successful, enjoyable, and worth doing? I doubt it. As a matter of fact, when things are going right and there is contentment of heart and satisfaction of mind, you are more likely to hear someone say, “I hope this never ends.” This then should give everyone a formula by which to measure their own use of time in things that can be determined as a worthwhile or worthless use of time. Especially, when it comes to our spiritual life and service to God.

If you find yourself just turning the pages of the Bible so you can say you read it, or constantly looking at the exit door during worship, hoping it will be over soon so you can go do the things you really want do, yet be able to tell everyone you went to church or giving away old clothes and food items that have expired just so you can brag about your generosity, that’s folly. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “folly” as: “the lack of good sense or judgment: a foolish act or idea: foolish behavior.”

Not only is it that these things themselves are wrong, but they also do not promote seeking knowledge and gaining wisdom. It has been proven that when you become absorbed in reading and studying God’s Word, or in carrying out directions from the Holy Spirit with all your heart and soul, it’s amazing how two hours can seem like only twenty minutes, and you come away knowing something new you could have never learned any other way. – Dr. Robert R Seyda

William Blake, English poet, painter, and visual artistry pioneer, was infatuated by biblical prophecy and the proverbs, so between 1790-93 he composed his own prophecies and proverbs. Among them, we find this: “The hours of folly are measured by the clock, but of wisdom: no clock can measure.”

How often have you heard someone say, “If I could only have those five minutes back again I would never have done what I did.” Or something like this: “That was the worst ten minutes of my life.” Almost everyday, someone is heard lamenting what they did as a prank or without thinking as a waste of time. It seems that such folly imprints itself on the mind in an indelible way so as to make it impossible to erase or forget.

But have you ever heard anyone complain because they spent too much time on things that were successful, enjoyable, and worth doing? I doubt it. As a matter of fact, when things are going right and there is contentment of heart and satisfaction of mind, you are more likely to hear someone say, “I hope this never ends.” This then should give everyone a formula by which to measure their own use of time in things that can be determined as a worthwhile or worthless use of time. Especially, when it comes to our spiritual life and service to God.

If you find yourself just turning the pages of the Bible so you can say you read it, or constantly looking at the exit door during worship, hoping it will be over soon so you can go do the with the things you really want do, yet be able to tell everyone you went to church or giving away old clothes and food items that have expired just so you can brag about your generosity, that’s folly. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “folly” as: “the lack of good sense or judgment: a foolish act or idea: foolish behavior.”

It isn’t that these things themselves are wrong, but that they do not promote seeking knowledge and gaining wisdom. It has been proven that when you become absorbed in reading and studying God’s Word, or in carrying out directions from the Holy Spirit with all your heart and soul, it’s amazing how two hours can seem like only twenty minutes, and you come away knowing something new you could have never learned any other way. – Dr. Robert R Seyda