Matthew 20:20-28

A Request for James and John

20:20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, and kneeling down she asked him for a favor. ¹  20:21 He said to her, “What do you want?” She replied, ²  “Permit ³  these two sons of mine to sit, one at your ⁴  right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” 20:22 Jesus ⁵  answered, “You don’t know what you are asking! ⁶  Are you able to drink the cup I am about to drink?” ⁷  They said to him, “We are able.” ⁸  20:23 He told them, “You will drink my cup, ⁹  but to sit at my right and at my left is not mine to give. Rather, it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”

20:24 Now ¹⁰  when the other ten ¹¹  heard this, ¹²  they were angry with the two brothers. 20:25 But Jesus called them and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions use their authority over them. 20:26 It must not be this way among you! Instead whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, 20:27 and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave ¹³  – 20:28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom ¹⁴  for many.”

[20:20]  ¹ tn Grk “asked something from him.”

[20:21]  ² tn Grk “said to him.”

[20:21]  ³ tn Grk “Say that.”

[20:21]  ⁴ tc A majority of witnesses read σου (sou, “your”) here, perhaps for clarification. At the same time, it is possible that the pronoun dropped out through haplography or was excised because of perceived redundancy (there are two other such pronouns in the verse) by א B. Either way, the translation adds it due to the requirements of English style. NA²⁷ includes σου here.

[20:22]  ⁵ tn Grk “And answering, Jesus said.” This is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[20:22]  ⁶ tn The verbs in Greek are plural here, indicating that Jesus is not answering the mother but has turned his attention directly to the two disciples.

[20:22]  ⁷ tc Most mss (C W 33 Ï, as well as some versional and patristic authorities) in addition have “or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” But this is surely due to a recollection of the fuller version of this dominical saying found in Mark 10:38. The same mss also have the Lord’s response, “and you will be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized” in v. 23, again due to the parallel in Mark 10:39. The shorter reading, in both v. 22 and v. 23, is to be preferred both because it better explains the rise of the other reading and is found in superior witnesses (א B D L Z Θ 085 Ë^1,13 pc lat, as well as other versional and patristic authorities).

[20:22]  ⁸ sn No more naïve words have ever been spoken as those found here coming from James and John, “We are able.” They said it with such confidence and ease, yet they had little clue as to what they were affirming. In the next sentence Jesus confirms that they will indeed suffer for his name.

[20:23]  ⁹ tc See the tc note on “about to drink” in v. 22.

[20:24]  ¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[20:24]  ¹¹ tn Grk “the ten.”

[20:24]  ¹² tn The word “this” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[20:27]  ¹³ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 8:9.

[20:28]  ¹⁴ sn The Greek word for ransom (λύτρον, lutron) is found here and in Mark 10:45 and refers to the payment of a price in order to purchase the freedom of a slave. The idea of Jesus as the “ransom” is that he paid the price with his own life by standing in our place as a substitute, enduring the judgment that we deserved for sin.