TEXT: MATTHEW
20:20-23
Then the mother of Zebedee’s
sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favour
of him.
“What is it you want?” he asked.
She said, “Grant that one of these
two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your
kingdom.”
“You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to
them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?”
“We can,” they answered.
Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from my cup, but
to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those
for whom they have been prepared by my Father.” (Matthew 20: 20-23)
At every point in life, we feel like bypassing a process
or requirement so that we may need not to go through the necessity of life for
us to achieve our goals. We feel like exempting ourselves from particular
requirements or procedures, we want to be great but we don’t want to pay the
price of greatness.
John the Baptist wanted to exempt Jesus from being
Baptised because he thought it was not necessary, he knew that Jesus did not
commit any sin, and he is his superior, but Jesus believed that for you to
become who God wants you to become in life, you must fulfil all righteousness
and do things the way they are meant to be. He made John to baptise him because
he came to this world as a man, and he wanted to lay example for us to follow.
Jesus wanted to do all that is required of all human beings to inherit the
kingdom of God. He laid the example for us so that we would learn not to bypass
any kingdom requirements for us to fulfil purpose. The mother of Zebedee’s sons
came to Jesus, kneeling down and asking Jesus for a favour that Jesus should
make her children to sit on his left and his right in his kingdom.
The woman was lobbying for her children to seat at the
throne of honour, but she wanted the children to bypass the requirements needed
for the seats. Because Jesus did not bypass his own requirement to his
successful ministry, he refused to accept the favour that the mother of the
disciples wanted. Many believers are like the mother of these disciples, they
lobby their way up the ladder of success or ministry. If you bypass the
requirements needed, the blessing and fulfilment of the office will bypass you.
If you don’t pay the price, if you fail to meet the
requirements, if you cut corners to climb the ladder of success, your
functionality in that office may be a serious struggle with little or nothing
to show for it. There is always an exam before promotion, and if you were not
the one that sat for the exam and “you came out in flying colours,” how are you
going to defend your result? How effective and efficient are you going to be in
your work place, when you are working with a result you do not merit?
Definitely failure is inevitable!
“Jesus said to them, you will indeed drink from my cup,
but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to
those for whom they have been prepared by my father.” (Matthew 20:23). After
having the requirements and experience, you need to wait for God to promote
you. Don’t run ahead of God, He will launch you out in His own time. It does
not matter if you are at the bottom of the ladder, when it is time; He would
bring you to the top of the ladder.
Copyright altarofpraisewithbolatito 2013
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