What do you want?

Matthew 20:17-28
"Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee...asked him for something. And he said to her, 'What do you want?'

Usually I think of the question as Jesus asked it of the blind man, whose courage to express his heart's desire became part of his healing. Here, though, we encounter one of the times Jesus said 'No.'

Off the top of my head I can think of two other times. Once, when Jesus healed a man, the man asked to follow Jesus and Jesus refused him, sending him back to his village. The other famous time I remember is the Canaanite (or Cyro-Phoenician) woman who got Jesus to change his mind about healing her daughter.

Here, on the way up to Jerusalem, comes another mother, with her sons James and John--and kneels!--to ask that they may sit at his right and left side when Jesus comes into his kingdom. He is going to refuse, and to top it off Jesus doesn't even respond to her but turns to the sons, asking, "Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?"

"We are able," the sons said to him (the ones he had nicknamed "sons of thunder"). What are they thinking? He has just told him he'll be mocked and crucified!

"And you will drink my cup," he tells them--but the right and left hand business "has been prepared by my Father."

Wow. First, Jesus appears a bit rude to the kneeling mother and speaks directly to the sons. OK, she was speaking for them, it's clear. There was what we nowadays call a triangulation going on. She was willing to get down on her knees and beg for something they clearly wanted for themselves.

The funny thing is that elsewhere, Jesus has promised the disciples that they will sit with him in glory to judge the 12 tribes.
That glory was still to come, however. First, must come the cup of suffering. And they will share that, he assures them.
They will share the cup of his blood at the Last Supper; and they will share the cup of his martyrdom I'm sure.

Traditionally, Jesus' response is read to mean the Father prepared two thieves who will be crucified at his right and left hand in a week's time. But the real point of the pericope (if you're still reading this) is the teachable moment for all the disciples, including the ten who are now expressing irritated rivalry with James and John: "The rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them.... It shall not be so among you."

Jesus' kingdom is different; it is a kingdom of service. Whenever we find ourselves hankering after glory and worldly authority
this is our answer. We're going to share his glory all right; but not before sharing the hard parts. And we're going to share his cup because he first shared ours.