You Cannot Attain Greatness Without First Passing Through the Wilderness

We must be servants to one another. Ultimately, it does not matter how far we rise in our service to the Lord, how much success we have, or how much recognition people give us for the good work we do; we must always remember that we are servants, people who serve others. We must not feel that we are special. We must always retain that deep humility when we serve our fellow human beings.

In Matthew chapter 20, we are presented with an interesting situation. Verse 20 says: “Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Him with her sons, kneeling before Him”—before the Lord—“and asking Him for something. And the Lord asks her: What do you want? She said to Him: Command that in Your Kingdom these two sons of mine may sit, one at Your right hand and the other at Your left.”

The way the mother presents her request to the Lord is interesting. The mother of these sons of Zebedee says to Him: “Command that these sons of mine...” There are two things there: on the one hand, she assumes that the Lord is an arbitrary ruler, that He simply says whatever He pleases and people have to obey Him, whether it is just or unjust. So she says, “Command.”

Notice that she has this mentality of lordship, this mentality of command and control. There is no consideration for others there. Instead, she says to the Lord Jesus Christ: Hey, give the order, because You have the right, and that is how things are done in the world. Simply give the order that these two sons of mine... In other words, there you can see something of this woman’s attachment to her two sons and the selfishness in “these two sons of mine” or “my sons.” There is an unhealthy attachment there, a desire on this mother’s part to protect her sons’ interests, even at the expense of the rights of others.

This woman is thinking the way people in the world normally think: My family, my home, my interests—I am going to present them to the one who has every right to defend those interests, and I am going to ask him to give an authoritative order so that what I desire in my heart will be done, and these two sons of mine will sit at the Lord’s right and left when He is seated on His Throne.

She understands that Jesus Christ will ascend and that one day He will have complete Lordship, but she is very interested in having the two most favored places beside the Lord in His royal court occupied by her two sons. Here there is a mentality of power, of personal gain.

Then the Lord surprises her with a very interesting question and statement. The Lord says: “You do not know what you are asking Me.” This woman did not understand what lay behind that request. She understood neither the ignorance of the Kingdom’s values that her request revealed nor the cost of authority in the Kingdom of God—what would have to happen for her request to be granted. And we will talk a little more about that later.

But He says to her: “Woman, you do not know what you are asking,” and here is the key question: “Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink and be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?”

In other words, the Lord is saying: You are asking for authority and rule for your two sons, but are you willing to pay the price for that to happen? What is the cost of having authority in the Kingdom of God? Well, the cost is going through a process of being broken, a process of pruning, of preparation, of being tested, of being humbled, of being brought to understand who we are, so that then, with complete humility, we can approach the Kingdom of God and use the resources of the Kingdom properly.

In the Kingdom of God, brothers and sisters, things are very mysterious. You cannot attain greatness without first going through the desert. You cannot reach resurrection Sunday without going through crucifixion Friday. You cannot reach the point of being used by God in miraculous, wondrous ways without first enduring a long wait, a lengthy time in which God forms us, works on us, and brings us to be like His Son, so that our service to the Lord may reflect the values of the Kingdom of God.

These values of the Kingdom of God are humility, simplicity of heart, meekness, seeking the Father’s Glory and not our own glory, doing nothing that brings reproach upon the Kingdom of God, being so immersed in the Presence of God and so focused on seeing His Will done that we have no time to think of our own gain. And for that, a costly journey is needed, arduous work by God in our lives to form us and thus make us fit to be used supernaturally.

That is the way. The way to the resurrection is through the cross. The way to greatness is through the humbling of the inner self. This woman did not understand this; she simply wanted to put her sons in positions of command immediately instead of allowing God to take them through a process.

If we want greatness in the Kingdom of God, we must go through that same process; we cannot cut short God’s dealings in our lives. We will look at this passage again later, and I hope this has been a blessing to you. I greet you in the Name of Jesus. Amen.