Matthew 20:20 - 28

20 Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him.

21 And He said to her, “What do you wish?”

She said to Him, “Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom.”

22 But Jesus answered and said, “You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”

They said to Him, “We are able.”

23 So He said to them, “You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father.”

24 And when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers.

25 But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them.

26 Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.

27 And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave—

28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

The mother of James and John, who were the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus and showed respect to him as one would to one of authority before asking him a favor.

The apostles and many still misunderstood the idea of Jesus' kingdom of heaven, many believed to would be an earthly kingdom and there would be those persons who would have a higher amount of prestige and authority than other followers of Jesus.

There were many reasons the men did not understand what they were asking for, one of them was the persecutions, torture, and execution Jesus would endure and those wanting to be closely aligned to him would endure, so He asked them, the cup and baptism figuratively represent the persecutions Jesus and His followers would endure.

They would experience the same kind of persecutions Jesus experienced. However Jesus did not have the authority to give out honorable to positions in the hierarchy of the kingdom of heaven. Only God could give the honor for whom it was prepared.

The other ten apostles heard this exchange between Jesus and the sons of Zebedee. They were quite upset about the ambition of the Zebedee brothers. The apostles were told in chapter 19 they would all have important positions in the kingdom which should have satisfied all of the men.

In verse 25 Jesus reminds his disciples that His kingdom is different than the kingdoms of the world. In the kingdoms of the world the rulers use their authority and power to show how much better they are than those of lower positions. They impose their will upon their subjects and fellow citizens.

He points out in His kingdom the ones who will be the greatest will be the ones who serve the others.

And in verse 27 he points out the one who wants to be first will be like a slave to the others.

And Jesus used himself as the greatest example, He came to be the king of this kingdom but he spent his life serving the multitudes as the greatest of servants, and then made the ultimate service by giving His life for all of mankind to be able to live.