Matthew 20:17-28

[0:00] And we're going to begin at verse 17, but as usual I just need to do a very quick recap.! The last few chapters of Matthew's Gospel, and for those of you, for Marie in particular, we've been going through Matthew's Gospel from start to finish.

[0:15] So in the last few chapters what we've seen is the Lord addressing attitudes of heart. He's been putting in front of the disciples a kingdom way of thinking, where they've been saying, well, who's going to be the most important in your kingdom?

[0:32] And the Lord has said, actually, the one who serves the most, the one who is the most humble, the one who doesn't seek to put himself forward is going to be the one who comes first.

[0:46] In order to be first in the kingdom, you've got to be least. You've got to deliberately put others in front of yourself. So he dealt with the cost of discipleship in chapter 16 and verse 24.

[1:00] And then he dealt with the matter of rank in the kingdom in chapter 18. He also dealt with the need for us to be forgiving and restorative. So making every effort to restore a brother or sister who had fallen, not just to wag the finger and, you know, Yabu sucks, but to try to restore them to fellowship wherever that is possible.

[1:28] In chapter 19, he dealt with attitudes in marriage and divorce, and he showed his attitude towards children. And he spoke to the rich young ruler about the impossibility of achieving salvation for yourself, that it had to be a gift from God. It's not something you can go out and work for.

[1:47] And just before today's passage, you remember last week, he spoke of the parable of the labourers in the vineyard. And that brings me to a point that I missed last week.

[2:00] And it was thanks to a mixture of Adrian and Malcolm that I kind of got this back, which was we talked about the Lord giving everyone the same wage, didn't we?

[2:13] Everybody got a denarius, regardless of whether they worked the whole day or just the last hour. The point that I missed, which is a vital point, is the Lord paid the same price for every single one of us.

[2:28] Now, there wasn't a different price for you and for me. You know, well, I've been saved 30 years. Well, I've been saved five minutes. No, he paid the price for all sinners, one price.

[2:39] So the full denarius, if you like, was paid for every single sinner. And so in that regard, we can't put ourselves in any kind of hierarchy one over another.

[2:50] He paid the full price. And now we're going to look at, he's going to be speaking to the disciples for the third time in this gospel about his approaching death.

[3:03] The first time he speaks about his death in this gospel is in chapter 12 and verse 39. And he simply presents the facts there that he's going to die and he is also going to be raised.

[3:17] And he does it a little bit in a parabolic sort of way because he refers to Jonah. And like Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale.

[3:29] So the son of man will be three days and three nights in the earth. So there is a parallel use there. And then in chapter 16, verses 21 to 23, he indicates that the Jews will be implicated in his death.

[3:43] He says that the scribes and the Pharisees are going to have him put to death, which is awful because they're the ones who have been teaching the Jewish people to expect Messiah and teaching everything about him.

[3:57] So the fact that they're implicated in his death is an awful thing. And now in this account that we're going to read, he indicates the manner of his death, which is by crucifixion.

[4:11] So let's turn to Matthew 20. I kind of feel that I ought to apologize in advance because trying to get this particular talk sorted out in my head was very difficult this week.

[4:25] For reasons I won't bore you with. But the Lord will fill in the gaps, I'm sure. So we're looking at verse 17.

[4:36] And Jesus says this. He says, As Jesus was about to go up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside by themselves.

[4:47] And on the way, he said to them, behold, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death. And will hand him over to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify him.

[5:02] And on the third day, he will be raised up. Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Jesus with her sons bowing down and making a request of him.

[5:15] And he said to her, what do you wish? And she said to him, command that in your kingdom, these two sons of mine may sit one at your right and one at your left. But Jesus answered, you do not know what you're asking.

[5:29] Are you able to drink the cup that I'm about to drink? They said to him, we are able. He said to them, my cup you shall drink. But to sit at my, to sit on my right hand and on my left is not, this is not mine to give.

[5:43] But it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my father. And hearing this, the ten became indignant with the two brothers. But Jesus called them to himself and said, you know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them.

[6:00] And their great men exercise authority over them. It is not this way among you. But whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant.

[6:10] And whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave. Just as the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.

[6:27] So. This is also the occasion when he implicates the Gentiles in his death. So he's previously implicated the Jews. And now he's saying he's going to be handed over to the Gentiles.

[6:40] And that they're going to have a hand in his death as well. The point worth remembering here, and you can find a direct reference to it in the book of 1 John. He died for the sins of the whole world.

[6:54] So he died for both Jew and Gentile. And both Jew and Gentile put him to death. And he died for them anyway. Because he loved them. Which is a remarkable thing, is it not?

[7:06] And as we go through the first few verses of this, this passage, what we see is Jesus lays out here prophetically the timeline for the rest of Matthew's gospel.

[7:20] So it's all stated before it happens. But Jesus outlines exactly what's going to happen. And to some extent, when. The first thing he says is, the first thing we read is, he's going up to Jerusalem.

[7:34] As Jesus was about to go up to Jerusalem. This is the final journey to the cross. But it starts, I don't know precisely how long before.

[7:47] But it starts with, in order to be crucified on Passover, he has to be in Jerusalem for that to happen. He's on his way up to Jerusalem. But he's going from where he is in this place called Perea, which is an area of countryside in Judea, where he's been going from village to village and preaching the gospel.

[8:08] But he's making his way to Jerusalem, which is where he will meet his death. And we know from these prophetic statements that he knows that's what he's going there for.

[8:20] He's not going to be suddenly taken by surprise in Jerusalem and put to death. And he's telling them in advance. In verse 18, we are going up to Jerusalem and the son of man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes and they will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles.

[8:42] So. They're going up to Jerusalem and. It happens over the next few chapters up to chapter 26.

[8:53] So you've got this fulfillment of this prophetic word of Jesus over several days and over several chapters of this gospel. He will then be delivered to the chief priests and scribes.

[9:05] You read about that in chapter 26, verses 27 to 75. That whole process of handing him over. They'll condemn him to death. We read about that in chapter 26, verse 66.

[9:17] Delivered to the Gentiles for mocking and scourging and crucifixion. All of chapter 27 is devoted to that. And then he says he will be raised.

[9:29] Chapter 28, verses 1 to 20. So he's mapped out what they are about to experience. And then the rest of Matthew's gospel, as we go through it, will unravel that bit by bit with all the events that take place.

[9:45] So he's describing the final hours before his own death and most importantly, his resurrection. I find it moving to know that he knew the utter barbarity of the death he was going to suffer and went anyway.

[10:05] It's very clear if you just flip to Matthew 26 for a moment. In verse 51, you have the account of Peter reaching out.

[10:18] It's not named in this gospel as Peter, but it's Peter that reaches out and chops the ear off of a man called Malchus. So he struck the slave and cut off his ear.

[10:30] And verse 52, Jesus says, put your sword back into its place for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword. And then he says this, or do you not think that I cannot appeal to my father and he will at once put at my disposal more than 12 legions of angels?

[10:48] How then will the scriptures be fulfilled which say that it must happen this way? So he is determined that the scriptures will be fulfilled even when presented with potentially an opportunity to avoid the cross.

[11:02] That is a depth of love that is beyond my understanding. But the fact that he would go through such a dreadful ordeal for me and for all of us, I just find that moving.

[11:18] In fact, it caused me to question something and we'll get to it when we get to the account of the Garden of Gethsemane. But when Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, one of the things he said was, Lord, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.

[11:33] And at that time, he was sweating drops of blood and he was in a great anguish, the scripture says. And normally preachers assume. That he's saying, if it be possible, let the cup of the cross pass from me, make it so I don't have to do this if it's possible.

[11:53] But not my will, but yours be done. But I find myself wondering whether he was actually saying when he was going through this. I mean, sweating drops of blood is actually a known condition and it normally results in death.

[12:10] And one can suffer an anguish so deep that it kills you. And I wonder if he was saying, actually, Lord, let this cup pass from me so that I can still get to the cross.

[12:22] Now, I don't know. But it strikes me that he wanted to get through it. In the book of Hebrews, we read that it was for the joy that was set before him that he went to the cross.

[12:38] So everything in his heart wanted to get to the cross. Why? Because he knew it was the only way to deliver us who he loved. The generations to come.

[12:50] So I tend towards that thinking, but I'm open to correction on that if people think I'm wrong. The other thing that we must.

[13:01] It's not on the surface of the scripture here, but Jesus was not only describing his own future. In one sense, he was describing the future of these disciples. They had chosen to follow him and they were going to follow him to Jerusalem.

[13:18] And eventually they were going to follow him to violent deaths themselves. All of them were supposed to be martyred. John kind of.

[13:29] They tried to boil him in oil, but he wouldn't die, which is a bit amazing. But they were all. They all followed him right through to death.

[13:40] And they only died those deaths for us. They didn't die for their own sakes. They had nothing to gain from dying for the faith.

[13:50] But they're dying for the faith, passed on the word of God to the rest of us for 2000 years so that we've still got a Bible to read. So they did it for us in a sense.

[14:02] And God gave them immense courage to do that. Because when you get into the book of Acts, you realise that these disciples were in hiding. They were scared.

[14:14] And then Pentecost happened. Another story for another day. But Pentecost happened and they were suddenly filled with courage and determination.

[14:25] So I believe they were endowed with this courage by the Holy Spirit. But as I say, we'll get to that as we carry on. Verse 29 of the chapter.

[14:41] So we go back to chapter 20. This is what I got muddled with just now. Verse 29, slightly beyond the passage that we're going to today.

[14:54] As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. So he was approaching Jerusalem from Jericho. And when you approach Jerusalem from any direction, everything is up.

[15:07] Jerusalem is set up on a mound or a mountain or a knoll. And so whether you're coming from north, south, east or west, you go up to Jerusalem.

[15:20] Jerusalem is the most important city in the world. It was then and it still is now. You rarely get through a day without hearing about Jerusalem and Israel in the news.

[15:31] And it's full of tumult and full of turbulence politically and militarily. There's always it comes under phenomenal attack.

[15:45] Jerusalem is named in the Bible, not just once or twice, not just 10 times or 20 times or 100 times. 600 times.

[15:56] It's the focus of the scripture and it's the focus of all efforts, both righteous and unrighteous on this earth. At the moment, there are forces coming against Israel, political and through Hamas and others.

[16:10] There are things going on where the agenda is to get rid of Israel. And it's this tiny little dot of a country surrounded by its enemies and it survives.

[16:23] And in fact, it doesn't only survive, it prospers. And you realize the hand of God is on that nation because he promised to preserve it. And we know from other studies we've done and will do that things get very nasty in Israel.

[16:40] But in the end, Israel will be preserved. And all those who come against it will not. Despite being completely outnumbered.

[16:51] The last example of it, I think, was the Six Day War in 1967, where 14 million Jews defeated 144 million Arabs.

[17:06] Numbers don't seem to matter in this game when God has got his hand on a nation. So. It's referred to in the scripture, not only as Israel, but also as the holy city, the city of God, Zion and so on.

[17:21] So it's God's special city. It's God's chosen city. And it's not that they get everything right. It's just that God has said in his word it will be preserved.

[17:32] And he watches over his word to perform it. And Israel is here to stay. And I really feel sorry for Christians who don't appreciate that because they are praying against Israel instead of for Israel.

[17:46] And the command of scripture is that we should pray for Israel, for the priests, for the peace of Jerusalem. It's the city over which, if you just flip back to Matthew 23 in verse 27.

[18:01] 27. What you have is Jesus weeping over Israel. In fact, if you start in verse 25.

[18:13] Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence.

[18:25] You blind Pharisee first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish so that the outside of it may also become clean. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones.

[18:42] So you too outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. Now, this is tearful stuff. It's God's heart aching over Israel because at this time it has rejected him as their Messiah.

[18:59] And then in Matthew 21 and verse 24, you have a destiny for Israel.

[19:14] And this is just after the fig tree has withered before their eyes. He went to the fig tree and he cursed the fig tree and came back the next day and it had withered.

[19:27] And he said, thus I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, be taken up and cast into the sea, it will happen.

[19:39] And all these things you ask in prayer, believing you will receive. So the analogy was being made between the fig tree and Jerusalem.

[19:49] The fig tree was dying and Jerusalem was going to die, which of course we know happened in AD 70. But then in verse 24, it says, and I will also ask you one thing, which if you tell me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things.

[20:04] And that's the wrong verse because it doesn't make any sense. Matthew 21, verse 24. There's a verse in here that says Jerusalem will be trodden down of the Gentiles.

[20:21] We will find that reference at some point. The destiny of Israel is to be trodden down of the Gentiles until the time of the Gentiles was fulfilled, which sounds like it should be Matthew 24.

[20:36] And maybe verse 21. Anyway, find it another time. Otherwise, we'll be here all morning. Jerusalem is the world's barometer. We know which season of world history we are in because of what we see happening in Jerusalem.

[20:51] And by the way. By watching that, we know we are in the last season. Now, I have no idea how long that season will be.

[21:04] But we are in the last of the last days. If you think of it as a clock face, we're at five to twelve. And that could be.

[21:15] That could be a decade or it could be a hundred years. I have no idea. But I do know that if you follow the scriptures, we are in the last season for Jerusalem. And then we read.

[21:27] So let's move on. We read back to chapter 20. In verse 25, Jesus calls to himself the disciples. He calls them to himself.

[21:39] And I've jumped over a few verses to which I'll return in a moment. But he's gathered them around himself. In verse 17, he took the twelve disciples aside.

[21:51] And then in verse 25, he called the disciples around himself. And we tend to think of this like a bit of a business meeting, you know. He just called them around him. Gather round, lads.

[22:01] I've got something I want to tell you kind of thing. But the Greek gives you a different perspective on this. The Greek word used is paralambano. I haven't a clue if I've pronounced that right.

[22:13] Which carries the idea of taking unto yourself or taking aside for your own purposes. And it carries warmth and love and compassion. This wasn't just some kind of business meeting.

[22:26] This was a heartfelt desire to convey things to the disciples that they needed to know. Because he knew he wasn't going to be with them for that much longer.

[22:39] And the response we might have expected from this intimate moment and sharing is not what the disciples gave. You know, if you think that crucifixion, he just announced he was going to be crucified.

[22:52] And he was going to be sentenced to death by both Jews and Gentiles. You would have expected something like, what? No! Crucified? It's the most barbaric death that anyone could suffer.

[23:06] As I've said before, from history we learn that the longest time recorded for somebody to die by crucifixion was 13 days.

[23:18] It was the most painful and excruciating and bloody and barbaric death anyone could suffer. So you would have expected these disciples to go, that's awful!

[23:30] What have you done to deserve this? You've only ever loved people. But they just seem to be interested in asking for a better status.

[23:42] And we know from conflating that there's an account of this in Mark's and Luke's gospel as well as Matthew's.

[23:55] That mum was there with her two boys and all three of them were addressing their request for preferential treatment to Jesus. And you think, why? Why would they do this?

[24:05] Now, there are quite a few teachers, and I think there's something in this. But again, when things are not expressly on the surface of Scripture, you have to be careful.

[24:18] But they probably had in mind an earthly kingdom. They were under Roman rule. And so they always had this view that the purpose of Jesus' coming would be to take victory over the Roman oppressors of the Jews.

[24:33] And so in their mind, it might have been a simple pragmatic thing. Jesus is going to take over. The disciples would logically be his deputies when he did.

[24:47] And it's better to be number one and two than number 11 and 12. And it could have been in their minds as simple as that. And hence he said, you don't know what you're asking.

[24:57] And it could be that they had not perceived that the kingdom Jesus spoke of was a heavenly kingdom, not an earthly kingdom. And it had nothing to do with getting rid of the Romans. It had to do with paying the price for the sins of the world.

[25:12] There are quite a few scriptures that lead you to believe they don't really get this. The amount of transfiguration as they're on their way down. And Jesus tells them that he's going to die and he's going to rise again.

[25:23] They kind of don't get it. They don't understand. And they might feel that they have some leverage in Jesus choosing them because it transpires.

[25:36] And we'll have to explore this in a moment. It transpires that they were almost certainly related to him. It seems that they were probably James and John were probably first cousins of Jesus.

[25:47] We'll come back to that in a moment. So when you get your thinking straight and realize this is a heavenly kingdom, then the king of heaven, God the Father, is the one who would decide who gets to sit where.

[26:05] Now, they'd already been told that when the kingdom is set up, they'll be seated on 12 thrones and they'll be judging Israel, the 12 tribes of Israel. So, yeah, you can see where their confusion might have come from.

[26:22] So who is this woman, the mother of James and John? She was the wife of Zebedee. And I'll go into this in more detail in a moment. But she was the wife of Zebedee and was a woman named Salome.

[26:35] And she's not named here, but her name is given, if you want to turn there, Mark 16. A gospel to the right, Mark 16. 16 verse 1.

[26:48] When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James and Salome, brought spices so that they might come and anoint him. So Salome is named in there. There were two women with this name in the Bible.

[27:02] One was righteous and the other not. Righteous Salome was a follower of Jesus and was present at the crucifixion and was among the women that attended the tomb, as we've just read, just after the resurrection.

[27:15] The other is the stepdaughter of Herod Antipas, who's one who danced erotically at Herod's party. And if you've been on the Christianity Explored course, there's a whole section on that. She's not named.

[27:26] And we get the fact that her name was Salome from the historian Josephus, but the scripture does not name her, I think, for obvious reasons. So it seems fairly certain that Salome was the sister of Mary and the mother of Jesus.

[27:40] Sorry, it was the sister of Mary, the mother of Jesus, which would make James and John first cousins of the Lord. And we'll look and see if we believe that in a moment. But this is a useful thing.

[27:53] I'll mention this and then I'll move on to that. In the series, we've got a series coming up on where did the Bible come from and how can we trust its accuracy and all that? That'll be after Easter.

[28:03] We're going to have a little break from Matthew and do this series. But this means if you think of. James and John.

[28:15] And then the other James, James, the brother of Jesus. And Jude. Who was also a brother of Jesus. Half brother.

[28:25] Same mother, different dad, obviously. The of these four, at least three of them contributed to the scriptures. The scriptures are being written by Jesus's family who were with him all the time.

[28:39] And it lends more. It lends more to the accuracy of what's portrayed. None of them had anything to gain from supporting the accuracy of scripture.

[28:53] They only, you know, it's what led to them all being martyred. They had a life to lose if they persisted. But they did persist because they knew it was true. So let's quickly look at this.

[29:05] A little bit of detective work. In the Gospel of Matthew, James and John are identified as the sons of Zebedee. So that's Matthew 4, 21. Matthew 4, verse 21.

[29:19] So Jesus is selecting his disciples. He's already come across Peter and Andrew. And then in verse 21, going on from there, he saw two other brothers. James, the son of Zebedee.

[29:31] Zebedee. And John, his brother, in the boat with Zebedee, their father, mending their nets. And he called them. So they were called by Jesus. And they were the sons of this man called Zebedee.

[29:45] If you then go to Matthew 27, verse 56. There were these women at the cross.

[29:57] The scene is that they're standing near the cross as Jesus is crucified. And it says, among them was Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James and Joseph.

[30:12] And the mother of the sons of Zebedee. So the mother of the sons of Zebedee was at the cross. And so whoever that was is the mother that is now standing before the Lord campaigning for them to get special treatment.

[30:32] If we then go to. Now, this is where I've got the wrong. Mark 15, verse 40, not 16. Maybe that's where I misprinted it. Mark 15.

[30:43] And verse 40. Which says, there were also some women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James the less and Joses and Salome.

[31:03] So Salome was there overlooking the crucifixion and the mother of the sons of Zebedee was there looking at the crucifixion.

[31:19] And then final reference for this bit of detective work. John chapter 19. John 19, verse 25. Therefore, the soldiers did these things, but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister.

[31:39] Salome. Mary, the wife of Clopas and Mary Magdalene. So these are when the ladies came to the tomb to minister to his body.

[31:51] So the conclusion from all that, from Matthew's account, we know that James and John were the sons of Zebedee. And by comparing Matthew and Mark, we discover that Salome was the name of the wife of Zebedee and the mother of James and John.

[32:04] And from John, we see that Salome was Mary's sister. So when you put all that together, you finish up with this fact that these boys that Jesus at one time called them Boanerges, sons of thunder, were actually his cousins.

[32:23] I just thought that was worth knowing and worth knowing that it does withstand a bit of scrutiny. So they all asked for preferential treatment.

[32:35] Now, he says to them, we need to go back to Matthew 20. 20. In chapter 19 and verse 28, he'd already told them, you who have followed me in the regeneration, when the son of man will sit on his glorious throne, you also shall sit upon 12 thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel.

[33:02] So he'd already told them that. But then says to these guys, as we read through chapter 20, he says, verse 22, you do not know what you're asking.

[33:19] Are you able to drink the cup that I'm about to drink? And they said to him, we are able. Well, the challenge is, can you drink the cup I'm about to drink?

[33:31] Now, if you've got a King James version, you might also have added in a phrase that says, and can you be baptized with the baptism I'm about to be baptized with?

[33:43] The King James and the New King James and one or two other translations include that. The majority that the ESV and the New American Standard don't.

[33:55] But it's in Mark's gospel anyway. So the question was almost certainly asked. And there's an argument over which manuscripts you follow as to which one is correct.

[34:08] It doesn't matter because the Bible still covers that statement. So what does it mean? Well, cups. I think I've got a. Oh, there we go.

[34:19] Cups and baptisms. Cups in the Bible refer to the means by which people receive from God either blessings or judgment. You drink the cup of judgment or you drink the cup of blessing.

[34:32] So it's a it's a metaphor for taking something into yourself in great measure. Gulping from a cup. Baptisms always refer to something that symbolizes death and resurrection in some way.

[34:50] Sometimes it's just a ceremonial washing. More often than not, it's by full immersion. And the symbol is that you're washed clean by immersion. That you go into the baptismal waters in one state and you come out in a renewed state in some way.

[35:08] So it symbolizes that. So when Jesus says, can you drink the cup that I'm about to drink from? He knows we turn to some.

[35:19] Let me get the reference right. Psalm 75, verse six. Psalm 75, like many of the Psalms, is a messianic Psalm.

[35:33] It speaks prophetically things concerning the Messiah when he comes. And there are several places I could have gone for this. Verses six to ten.

[35:49] Psalm 75. Not from the east nor from the west. Nor from the desert comes exaltation. But God is the judge.

[36:01] He puts down one and exalts another. For a cup is in the hand of the Lord and the wine foams. It is well mixed. And he pours out of this.

[36:14] Surely all the wicked of the earth must drain and drink down to its dregs. Now that's the cup that Jesus is speaking of.

[36:24] The cup that he has to drink on our behalf so that we don't have to drink it. So when he says to these disciples, can you drink the cup I'm about to drink?

[36:35] The answer should have been, no, no way. But they are deceived. And so they, yeah, yeah, we can drink the cup that you're about to drink. No, you can't.

[36:46] You would never handle it. And anyway, you're not going to be able to raise yourself from the dead after it's all done. Surely all the wicked of the earth must drain and drink down its dregs.

[37:00] But as for me, I will declare it forever. I will sing the praises of God to Jacob. And all the horns of the wicked he will cut off.

[37:12] But the horns of the righteous will be lifted up. So you've got this picture of the wicked having to drink this cup of God's wrath to the dregs. And the righteous being able to drink, if you like, a different cup where they will be lifted up.

[37:27] Now, the cup that Jesus is about to drink is the one that we should have drunk. And we're spared from drinking it because Jesus drinks it for us. Revelation 14, verse 10 gives us a very similar, much more directly related to Jesus.

[37:47] But Revelation 14 and verse 10. Back of the book to those of you. I'm sure you know where Revelation is by now. And this speaks of those who worship the beast in the end times, the time the beast comes.

[38:07] And it talks about those who are going to worship the beast and they've received the mark of the beast. And in verse 10, he will also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of his anger.

[38:20] And he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. So, you know, boys, you can't drink the cup that Jesus is about to drink.

[38:37] But then, in terms of baptisms, of course, yes, they could go to death. But they could not go to a death that would pay the penalty for the sins of the people for whom they had died.

[38:52] Only God can do that. Because only God is sinless and therefore doesn't need a sacrifice made for him.

[39:05] So, they've got this idea that they can do this and they clearly can't. But then Jesus says, back to Matthew 20, in verse 22, sorry, verse 23, he then says, my cup you shall drink.

[39:29] Having said, you can't drink the cup I'm going to drink and you can't be baptized with the baptism I'm going to be baptized with. He then says, you will drink my cup.

[39:42] That was prophetic of their deaths. They were going to experience the same kind of treatment and the same kind of death that he was going to experience.

[39:54] So, it wasn't to suddenly change his mind, which I have heard some teachers say, oh, he obviously changed his mind at this point. No, he didn't.

[40:05] What he said is, there's part of what I'm going to do that you will be able, that not only will you be able to do, but you will do, you will die martyrs' deaths for other people, not just for yourself.

[40:20] And with all that, he says, if we go to verse 25 and on, he points to the rulers of the Gentiles. What he's saying is this, I'll try and be as succinct as I can.

[40:34] What he's saying is this, you are used to a hierarchy where you lord it over each other. Where if you're in charge, if I put you in charge of someone, you manage them.

[40:47] You give them instructions, you dictate to them to some extent, you pat them on the back if they do it well, you get on their case if they do it badly, but you are a domineering influence.

[41:02] That's the way the Gentiles do it, and that's not the way of the kingdom. In verse 26, it's not this way among you, but whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant.

[41:16] You have to be prepared to be humbled and to serve, and you rule by kindness and compassion and servitude. You don't rule with a big stick. And as we've often come across before, and you'll read it in Ephesians 5 if you turn there another time, not this morning, but our calling is to emulate Christ.

[41:38] And it says here, just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. In the kingdom of God, we rule by emulating Christ.

[41:55] And that's me. God, Father, thank you. Thank you for this direction from Scripture to watch our hearts and to not make demands on you, but to serve you, and to not try to rule one another with a stick, but to serve you.

[42:16] Oh, Heavenly Father, just change our hearts, we pray, that we would become humble of heart and that we would seek to do your will sacrificially where necessary and understanding that the price you paid, the cup you drank, the baptism that you were baptized with is not one that we could have done.

[42:41] There is nothing we can do to earn our salvation. We can't even come close. But we are so grateful for what you did to release us. In Jesus' name. Amen.