“You must unlearn what you have learned.” I wish I were quoting from a book of wise sayings I had been reading, a rich theology text, or even a classic novel. But, sadly, the well from which I draw quotes isn’t as deep and wide as I wish it were. That quote is from Yoda in the movie The Empire Strikes Back as he’s training Luke in the ways of the Jedi.
But even though the source of the quote is not as impressive as I wish it were, it is relevant to the Christian life. Once any of us is converted, repenting of our sins and placing our faith in the crucified and risen Lord, we may well feel like we’re all of the sudden waking up in a new world, where the laws of living have all been changed. No longer is it that you must look out for yourself first or constantly fight to make sure that people recognize your importance or contribution. Rather, you have a heavenly Father who watches over you, cares for you, and will bless you in his kingdom even for those things which you’ve done in secret. And we could think of many other examples from how you use your money to how to interact in relationships to how you raise your kids that often are areas where a person has to drastically change in mindset and approach as he becomes a Christian. In the applicable words of Yoda, “You must unlearn what you have learned.”
When we come to Matthew 20:17-28 I think that’s largely the message that Jesus is giving to his disciples. He’s been teaching them much about life in the kingdom of God over these last three chapters, and they’ve been slow to understand. One reason I say they’ve been slow to understand is because they keep asking the same question without hearing his answers. Chapter 18 began with the disciples asking Jesus about who is the greatest in the kingdom because they had this desire for greatness. They want to be exalted. And he had put before them a child simply didn’t register on the status scale in that day and didn’t fight for worldly fame, saying, “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom” (18:4). He had repeated that lesson by telling the disciples to let the children come to him, for they picture what we must become to enter the kingdom. And yet in our text we’re looking at this morning, we find them again aiming to a place of exaltation in the Lord’s kingdom. Therefore, Jesus makes clear once more that “the natural human concern with status and importance . . . must be unlearned by those who belong to God’s kingdom.”1 Their mindset must change.
But before we look at the disciples with our judgmental glare, it’s perhaps best for us first to acknowledge that we may well need the same change in mindset. Perhaps there are a number of things we need to unlearn ourselves. After all, don’t we sometimes covet the success achieved and adulation given to your coworker or peer when it outpaces your own? Now, ask why that is. What motivates that covetousness? Isn’t it simply that they’re getting something that we prize? We want that success, and we want to be the object of that adulation? But why? I mean, isn’t it enough that the God who created the world and everything in it looks upon us approvingly? It certainly should be, but that takes a real change in mindset to think that way.
Imagine you had a severe allergy to peanuts. Any time you’d eaten peanuts or even peanut oil your reaction was so severe that it’d nearly cost you your life. Then, after years of crafting your life and thoughts around avoiding peanuts, the doctor does some tests and confirms that you’re no longer allergic to peanuts. It’s not as if every one of your habits and reactions that have become second nature to you are going to change overnight. You may walk into a place, smell peanut butter and involuntarily have some visceral reaction. Your whole life can change, but you’re going to have to unlearn what you’ve learned your whole life.
That’s what Jesus is showing his disciples. And this may well be what we need to understand today as well. Because it may well be that just as the person who is healed of a peanut allergy is unnecessary held captive to a pattern of avoiding peanuts at all costs, you and I may be held captive to a pursuit of worldly greatness and prestige that need not control our lives.
What then is it that we are to see and understand from our text this morning? The first is that,
This is the main thing that the disciples need to unlearn as Jesus reorients their thinking. Right after Jesus foretells his death and resurrection for a third time (this time with more details than before), James, John, and their mother approach Jesus to ask for a favor. The way it’s worded in verses 20-21 is kind of humorous. Matthew writes, “Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. And he said to her, ‘What do you want?”
Now, part of sermon preparation means trying to read the text carefully and slowly so that you are able to analyze it thoroughly. And those verses struck me as odd. Why would Matthew tell us that the mother of James and John asked for something without telling us what she asked for? Or, if she indeed asked for something, why would Jesus then answer, “What do you want?” The flow of conversation simply didn’t make sense to me.
However, what helps is the parallel text in Mark 10:35 where Mark tells us that they came to Jesus, saying, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” Now, we see what’s going on. James, John, and their mother began this conversation with Jesus by trying to rope him in. They began by asking something like, “Will you do for us whatever we ask of you?” And Jesus, instead of answering, wisely asks, “What do you want?” So, although they didn’t get that commitment from Jesus early on, they proceed, saying, “Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom” (v. 21).
To sit at the right and left hand of the king at his throne are the places of highest honor. James and John had just heard Jesus talk about sitting on a throne in his kingdom with the apostles sitting on twelve thrones around him (19:28), so they’re thinking, “If we’re all going to be sitting on twelve thrones, we might as well try to get the places of highest honor.
Now, I want to get to the details of Jesus’ answer in a bit, but his ultimate answer is that it’s not his to grant who will sit at his right and left hand in his kingdom. Rather, his Father has prepared that seat for individuals of his choosing. James and John get no assurance that they will hold this place of honor.
However, Matthew tells us that the other ten were indignant at the two brothers. And I don’t think they were indignant because they thought they should have reflected more humility, especially after Jesus just foretold of his death. No, I think they were indignant because these two tried to get something they wanted. They were probably indignant because they wished they’d thought of it first. If any of them had, they’d have been right there asking Jesus the same thing.
One reason we know they were indignant for completely unholy reasons is because in verse 25 Jesus calls them all together to correct them. He doesn’t just call the two. All of them were still thinking the same way, still concerned with power, prestige, and status, just as they had been back in 18:1 when they asked Jesus, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
At that time, Jesus had put a child in front of them to point them toward the humility that must characterize them. Now, he takes another tactic that will hopefully be planted deeper in their hearts. He points out that rulers in the Gentile world are about ruling and exercising authority. That is, they delight in being in positions where they are exalted over their brothers and can rule over them. But then Jesus says in verse 26, “It shall not be so among you.” That, I believe, is the main thrust of this text. Believers cannot prize, aim for, and make as a goal status and authority over others in this age.
This can’t be what consumes us. This pursuit is one thing that must be unlearned as believers. Brothers and sisters, if we become saddened or filled with covetousness because the guy down the street is given a position of greater authority, recognized as having greater status, and is receiving recognition that you’re not, then it is a sure sign that we’re more like the twelve in this text than we like to imagine.
Out in our lobby, right as you walk in the door, we have two candles sitting on a table between two chairs. Imagine two children walk in side-by-side on a Sunday morning when suddenly one runs over, grabs the candles, and starts eating them, cramming each of them into his mouth, chewing on them, and ingesting them as quickly as he can. And the other child, seeing this, begins to wail and lament loudly, saying, “But I wanted to eat those candles.”
Your response to that wailing child could include a number of elements, but one of them would no doubt be, “You’re upset because you’re desiring something that you shouldn’t even desire. Candles aren’t meant to be eaten. Why would you be upset that you’ve missed out on doing something (i.e. eating a candle) that was never a fitting goal in the first place?”
Couldn’t we ask ourselves that same question when we’re upset that our neighbor achieved status and authority in this age? This isn’t to say that our neighbor is doing something improper is he’s given status and authority. But it is right to say that the desire to be exalted, rule over, and exercise authority over others for the sake of your own exaltation simply isn’t a fitting goal for a believer. It’s as out of place in our hearts as a desire to eat candles would be. As believers, we can’t let authority and status in this age be our goal.
“What then would be a fitting pursuit?” we might ask. That’s the question I want to spend the rest of our time answering. I have three brief answers:
Instead of our goal being having authority over and ruling over others, our goal should be serving others. Ministering to them and exalting them. After Jesus says, “It shall not be so among you,” meaning our pursuits shouldn’t be authority and status, he offers a positive pursuit, saying, “But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave” (v. 26-27).
Jesus tells us that a worthy status goal for his people is that of a servant or a slave. Nobody in this world says, “I just hope some day I get to be a servant or maybe even a slave.” That’s not how man’s sinful heart works. We want to be lifted above others, have others serve us, and have others recognize our greatness. But Jesus tells us we’ve stepped into a reordered world when we become citizens of his kingdom, and these very things must be our goals.
Nathan and Tom are two of our pastors who are twenty and seventeen years older than me, respectively. Aaron, I’ll brag on your in another setting, for there is plenty that I can say to that end. But these two men, Nathan and Tom, have lived longer, accomplished more, and are superior to me in so, so many ways. In the real world, my task should be to fix their coffee and obey their commands. But do you know what the first thing Nathan Young said to me when he came to our church in 2001? He said to me, a twenty-three year old kid at that time, “I’m here to serve you.” He was five years older than I am right now telling me, “I’m here to serve you.”
Tom came on staff a little over four years ago, and you’d have thought based on the conversations he was having in his office with church members and perspective church members that his job was to build me up before others so that they thought more of me than they should. Now, do you realize how crazy that is? Two men who have every reason to make sure everyone knows they’re superior to me delight in serving and exalting me. What these two men did and do is the Christian’s pursuit. You seek to serve and exalt others.
And, of course, it evokes in me a desire not to be outdone by them in this task, and I’m the one with the microphone! They make me want to emulate them (and outdo them!) in serving and giving honor.
Now, no doubt you’ve experienced the same thing. This is where the community of believers, that is, the church, can be a completely counter-cultural picture to the world, where we can long to outdo one another in terms of serving and showing honor. We can say to those worn by the pursuit of authority and status, “It is not so among us.”
But you may say, “Well, I’ve not been on the receiving end of service from those who are my superiors as you’ve noted with Tom and Nathan.” The answer, however, is that you’ve been on the receiving end of service from one much, much greater, for Jesus notes in verse 28, “Even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Christ, the God-man, God the Son incarnate, came to serve us, even to the point of laying down his life for our redemption. If one who is infinitely superior to us in every way can serve us even to the point of dying for us, it is inexcusable for us to think that we are above serving and showing honor even among the least of our brothers and sisters. We must pursue serving others.
But that’s not all. We can also say that,
Now, you might think that the call to a believer is simply to be in some kind of neutral place in the world. That is, if we do not follow the path that those in the world take that somehow they might simply leave us alone. Maybe they would just see us as other countries see Switzerland.
But it doesn’t work that way. When we don’t go the path of the world but instead pursue obedience to Christ, it typically entails suffering. One reason for that is because the Lord wrote his law on men’s hearts, so they stand condemned. Therefore, when they see you not joining in on their sinful ways or encouraging them in their sinful pursuits, you often become the object of attack. In fact, in the early church there was so much persecution of Christians for so many seemingly insignificant reasons that the saying was developed, “If it does not rain, blame it on the Christians.”
So, when James and John are asking about being in places of honor in the kingdom, Jesus quickly reminds them that the road to glory is filled with suffering. In fact, that’s the first part of his answer. In answer to their request, he says in verse 22, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” Now, the cup in Scripture is an image for judgment and suffering. Jesus is saying, “Do you really want to go down the path of suffering?” And after they say they’re able, he indeed confirms that they will suffer as his followers, saying, “You will drink my cup” (v. 23). And indeed they did. James was the first apostle martyred and John had to live in exile.
But James and John aren’t exceptions. To follow and obey Christ not only means that we do not pursue authority and status in this age, but it also means that we will face suffering for obeying Christ. We’re going to be in situations where we choose to obey Christ, knowing that it will result in suffering.
And if that seems odd, then remember that we are not above our master. And remember what he said in verses 17-19. He tells his disciples very clearly that in Jerusalem, he’ll be condemned to death, mocked, flogged, and crucified. That’s what is going to happen at Jerusalem. But note his first words in verse 18. He says, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem.”
Now, how do you bring these together? Jesus was choosing to go to Jerusalem and Jesus knew that in Jerusalem he would be condemned, mocked, flogged, and crucified. Here’s how you bring them together. Jesus was intent on obeying his Father, and obedience meant for his earthly mission that he would go to the cross and die. That’s why Paul wrote in the text we heard read earlier that Jesus was obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. He chose to obey, knowing it would cost him his life.
And if we’re united with him by faith, he calls us to take up our cross as well. He calls us to obey him, even when it means experiencing suffering on his behalf. This is why Paul writes that we will be glorified with Christ “provided we suffer with him” (Rom 8:17) and why Peter writes, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed” (1 Peter 4:12-13). Obey, even when it results in sharing in the sufferings of one who obeyed even to the point of death on the cross.
And finally,
Jesus not only predicts his death in verses 17-19 but also his resurrection. And we know that he walked obediently even to the point of death by setting his eyes on the joy of resurrection, exaltation, and the salvation it would bring, for the author of Hebrews tell us that it was “for the joy that was set before him” that he “endured the cross” (Heb 12:2).
Similarly, Jesus doesn’t tell his followers that there is no sense in which greatness is okay. Rather, he simply tells them that if one would be great, he must be your servant, and if one would be first, he must be your slave. That is to say, Jesus directs our attention to the glory of eternity. Don’t pursue authority and status in this age; pursue the blessing of your Father in eternity. It’s along the same lines as Jesus telling us not to pursue riches here but store up treasure in heaven or not to pursue praise here but rather pursue the reward of your Father in heaven.
Let us obey Christ, even when it means we’ll share in his sufferings by fixing our eyes on the sharing in his glory that will be ours at the resurrection. That’s how we walked obediently in this age, by fixing our eyes on the age to come.
Therefore, this morning, perhaps we need to unlearn some things that have dictated much of our thinking and pursuits. But the exhortation is not simply negative. Rather, we can now pursue service, obedience even when it entails suffering, and a glory that is so great the sufferings of his age aren’t worth comparing with it (Rom 8:18). And that glory is certain because of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, whose redeeming work we’ll celebrate again as we now come to the table. Amen.