Latest / Reformed Thinking / Crowns in the Shadow of the Cross: Ambition, Suffering, and Sovereignty (Matthew 20:20–23)

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Crowns in the Shadow of the Cross: Ambition, Suffering, and Sovereignty (Matthew 20:20–23) · Reformed Thinking

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  So imagine attending a really solemn funeral for a beloved
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  friend. Oh wow, yeah, that is a heavy
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  scenario to start with, right? It is a tear filled service,
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  right? The casket is being lowered into
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  the ground and the grieving widow is standing there weeping,
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  just, you know, completely shattered by the loss.
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  That is just heartbreaking to even picture.
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  It is, but now imagine a Co worker of the deceased walking
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  right up to that widow. OK.
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  And he pulls her aside and he asks, hey, since he's gone, can
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  I take over his corner office? Wow.
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  I mean, that is just completely inappropriate.
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  It really is. It sounds entirely unthinkable.
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  Yeah, staggering display of carnal ambition right in the
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  middle of a tragic. I precisely well, welcome to
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  Reform Thinking. I am thrilled you are joining us
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  today. We are very glad you were here
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  with us. We were taking a theological and
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  exegetical look at a moment in biblical history where human
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  ambition was, well, that grotesque.
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  We are looking at Matthew chapter 20, verses 20 through
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  23. Yes, and to help us unpack this
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  passage, we are drawing insights from 2 incredibly detailed
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  theological commentaries. Right, the first one is called
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  Crowns in the shadow of the cross.
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  And the second one is the cup of wrath and the decree of glory.
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  Both of these sources bring a lot of weight to our discussion
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  today. They do, so our mission for this
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  deep dive is highly specific. We are putting the fallen human
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  heart right under the microscope.
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  We are going to examine the innate sinful desire for self
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  exultation that lives inside all of us.
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  And we will contrast that fleshly ambition with the
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  substitutionary suffering of Jesus Christ.
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  But before we get into the historical background, I want to
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  ask you, the listener, a direct question.
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  A very convicting question, honestly.
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  Yeah, have you ever caught yourself doing the right
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  religious things, but with a secret desire to be noticed,
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  praised or elevated above others?
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  I think we all have to admit we struggle with that.
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  Right. Maybe you volunteered for a
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  highly visible role at your. Church or you offered a very
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  polished prayer in a group setting.
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  And while your mouth was speaking spiritual words, your
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  mind was wondering who was admiring you.
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  That is the specific condition we are analyzing today, this.
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  Biblical text exposes the pride hiding right behind our most
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  pious religious language. When you realize the sheer
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  audacity of what the disciples demand right after Jesus
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  predicts his own torture, it makes his response completely
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  shocking. It really does.
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  So to grasp the sheer weight of that shock, we have to
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  meticulously set the historical stage.
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  Right. Let us look at the year.
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  It is approximately 8033. We are standing on the dusty
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  ascending Rd. leading up to Jerusalem for the Passover
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  feast. And the socio political climate
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  at this time is suffocating. 1st century Judea is a nation
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  completely crushed under the iron heel of Roman occupation
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  and. When we talk about Roman
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  occupation, we are not talking about a mild administrative
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  oversight, no. Not at all.
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  The Jewish people are subjected to crushing taxation that leaves
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  families destitute. There is a brutal military
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  presence on every corner. And they face the constant daily
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  humiliation of being a conquered nation living in their own
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  promised land. Because of this intense,
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  grinding oppression, the religious and political
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  atmosphere is absolutely electric with messianic fervor.
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  Right. The disciples, along with the
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  broader culture, are intensely expecting a militant Davidic
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  king. They are looking for a political
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  conqueror who will violently overthrow the Roman.
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  Empire. Someone to cast out the
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  occupying legions and establish A literal terrestrial Kingdom.
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  A Kingdom where Israel is restored to global dominance.
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  They're dreaming of a military triumph, not a spiritual
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  atonement for sin. Yeah, they possess a category
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  for a conquering king who brings judgement to their enemies.
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  But they have absolutely no category for a suffering king
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  who brings salvation through his own death.
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  They want the glory of the King. But they are entirely blind to
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  the redemptive historical necessity of the Cross.
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  That is the loaded, highly pressurized environment in which
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  this infamous request is made. And that historical backdrop
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  makes the literary juxtaposition of this story so jarring.
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  It really does. When you look at the structure
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  of Matthews Gospel, you quickly realize this event does not
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  happen in a vacuum. Right.
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  Just three verses prior in Matthew 20, verses 17 through
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  19, Jesus pulls the 12 disciples aside.
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  He isolates them from the crowds on the road to deliver his third
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  and most graphic passion prediction.
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  He tells them plainly that he is going to be betrayed to the
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  chief priests and condemned to death.
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  He says He will be handed over to the Gentiles, mocked,
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  scourged and crucified. He lays out the gruesome, bloody
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  reality of his impending substitutionary death.
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  He does not use metaphors here, he uses the literal terminology
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  of Roman execution. And then the very next paragraph
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  introduces the mother of James and John asking for Thrones.
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  It gives you theological whiplash, honestly.
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  Jesus speaks of his crucifixion and they immediately try to
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  secure their political appointments.
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  Yeah, it goes right back to your funeral analogy.
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  So when Salone, the mother of Zebedee's sons, approaches
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  Jesus, she actually adopts a physical posture of reverence to
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  make this demand. Yes, she does.
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  I am looking at the notes from our sources and it seems like
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  she is using the physical language of worship to make a
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  highly manipulative political play.
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  That is exactly what is happening.
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  How does the Greek text describe her approach?
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  Well, the Greek syntax reveals a terrifying hypocrisy in her
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  actions, and it is something we need to look at closely.
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  OK, let us break that down. Matthew uses 2 specific verbs to
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  describe her approach. First she approaches which in
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  Greek is Prosser choumai. Then she kneels, which is
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  prossky news. And that second word is
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  significant, right? Yes, this word proskaneesh is a
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  recognized attitude of worship, deep reverence and total
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  submission. So outwardly, she looks like a
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  humble, devout follower bowing down before her Lord.
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  But this outward posture of worship completely masks a
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  highly calculated political petition.
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  She's using the physical language of reverence to cloak a
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  fleshly grab for authority. And the specific request she
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  makes is loaded with massive significance.
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  She asks that her two sons sit at his his right hand and his
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  left hand in his Kingdom. We have to understand the Royal
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  Court context of the ancient Near East to see what she is
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  actually demanding here. Right.
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  The right hand and the left hand were not simply comfortable
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  chairs at a banquet table. Not at all.
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  In an ancient Royal Court, these were the prime ministerial
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  seats. They were the positions of
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  supreme delegated authority. The person on the right hand was
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  second in command and the person on the left was third in
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  command. Out ranking everyone else in the
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  entire empire. Think of Joseph in Egypt,
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  restoring only to Pharaoh, but commanding everything else.
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  She is asking for her sons to be the chief viziers of a restored
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  nationalistic Israel. This is a naked demand for
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  absolute supremacy over the other 10 disciples.
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  The raw ambition is staggering, but Jesus looks at them and
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  responds with a devastating statement.
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  He says you know not what you ask.
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  Now I have to push back a little here because this behavior
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  absolutely baffles. Me.
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  I think it baffles a lot of people when they read it.
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  I mean, these men, James and John, are in the inner circle.
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  They are. They have witnessed the dead
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  rays. They heard the Sermon on the
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  Mount with their own ears. And they have walked intimately
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  with the Incarnate Son of God for three years.
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  How can their theology, the Kingdom, be so completely
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  backwards at this late hour? It is a great question.
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  They are standing literally in the shadow of the cross and
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  they're acting like ruthless political operatives.
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  Trying to secure cabinet positions before the election is
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  even over. How is this level of spiritual
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  ignorance even possible for true born again believers?
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  The answer to your question takes us straight to the
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  Reformed doctrine of total depravity.
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  OK, let's get into that. It highlights the reality of
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  remaining corruption in the life of a justified believer.
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  Right, because regeneration is a real and miraculous work of the
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  Holy Spirit. It gives a person a new heart,
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  but it begins a lifelong process of sanctification.
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  It does not instantly eradicate the flesh.
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  Exactly. The disciples are genuinely born
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  again, but their flesh still defaults to earthly categories
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  of status, dominance and self preservation.
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  By nature, fallen humans want the crown before the cross.
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  We want the glory of the resurrection without the
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  Crucible of suffering. The disciples cannot grasp a
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  theology of the cross because their remaining sin is actively
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  resisting it. And this scene highlights the
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  terrifying deceitfulness of sin. Notice that the disciples did
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  not ask for gross outward sins. They did not ask for wealth or
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  for the destruction of their enemies.
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  They asked for proximity to Christ.
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  They used holy spiritual vocabulary to conceal a worldly
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  desire for superiority. This warns us that pride often
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  wears a religious mask. It is entirely possible to use
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  the things of God as a ladder for personal prominence, you
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  know. You can crave a position in your
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  local congregation, cloaking it in the language of ministry or
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  calling. When the actual driving force is
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  a desire to be exalted above your peers.
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  That brings us to a massive Christological contrast in this
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  passage. We see 2 completely different
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  trajectories colliding on the road to Jerusalem.
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  On one side you have the disciples who are aggressively
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  maneuvering for an ascent to glory.
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  They are trying to climb the ladder, secure the Thrones and
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  elevate themselves above the rest of the group.
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  And on the other side, you have the King of the Universe.
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  Who is deliberately, consciously moving toward a descent into
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  absolute humiliation and death? He is stepping down into the
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  agony of the cross while they are trying to step up into the
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  palace. Because the disciples are so
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  ignorant of the true cost of the Kingdom, Jesus redirects their
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  attention. He pulls their gaze away from
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  future status and forces them to look at impending suffering.
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  He asks them a question that changes the entire trajectory of
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  the conversation. He asks, are you able to drink
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  the cup that I am to drink? This imagery of the cup is
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  fascinating. In our modern context, a cup
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  just holds a beverage. But our sources point out that
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  this is not a generic metaphor for having a hard time.
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  What is the theological weight of this cup imagery in the Old
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  Testament? This is a crucial exegetical
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  point. In the original Greek text, the
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  term is poterium. OK.
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  To understand what Jesus means by this, we have to trace its
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  theological roots back through the Old Testament prophets.
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  Where the Hebrew equivalent is Cos.
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  Right. When modern readers hear the
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  word cup in this context, they often assume it is just a
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  metaphor for physical pain. Or maybe martyrdom, or the
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  struggle of a Revolutionary War against Rome.
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  But in the prophetic literature, specifically in Isaiah,
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  Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, the cup is a highly specific, terrifying
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  image. It is the forming chalice of
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  Yahweh's unmitigated holy indignation against human sin.
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  Why a cup? In the ancient world, a cup was
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  a meticulously measured portion dealt out by a host at a
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  banquet. The prophets use this imagery to
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  show that God's justice is not a chaotic, uncontrolled explosion
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  of anger. It is meticulously measured,
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  perfectly exacted portion of wrath or sin.
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  And the guilty Sinner is forced to drink it down to the very
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  dregs. In Isaiah 51 it is called the
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  Cup of Staggering. So Jesus is not asking them if
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  they can handle a difficult political campaign or survive a
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  physical beating by Roman guards.
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  No, he is pointing to the absolute fury of the Father's
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  justice against the rebellion of humanity.
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  This is a cup that he alone is stepping forward to consume in
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  the place of his elect. And the response of the
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  disciples is absolutely chilling in its arrogance.
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  Without missing a beat, they look at the Incarnate Son of God
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  and boastfully reply, We are able.
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  Let us just stop and think about the magnitude of that statement.
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  I want to offer an analogy to highlight the sheer absurdity of
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  human inability in the face of God's holy standard.
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  I would. Love to hear it.
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  Comparing their answer to reality is like watching a
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  toddler walk up to a massive 10,000 ton freight train.
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  OK, and the toddler grabs the steel wheels with his tiny hands
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  and confidently declares that he can deadlift the entire train
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  over his head. That is a brilliant way to put
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  it. It is not just wrong, it is
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  utterly delusional. Their response exposes the
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  universal human delusion of self righteousness.
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  Every time we think we can earn our salvation or satisfy God's
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  law by our own performance, we are standing next to James and
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  John. Saying we are able.
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  We have no idea the crushing weight of the divine justice we
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  are claiming we can bear. That toddler analogy really
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  drives the point home. Their boast reveals a total lack
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  of understanding regarding their own spiritual bankruptcy.
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  In addressing this delusion, we see Christ fulfilling his
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  threefold office perfectly. To break that down simply,
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  theologians often describe Christ's work in three roles.
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  Prophet, Priest and Kim. As prophet, he corrects their
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  carnal misunderstanding of the Kingdom, revealing the hard
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  truth of the suffering that must occur.
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  As priest, he is actively preparing to offer himself as
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  the spotless sacrifice. Preparing to drink the very cup
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  he is speaking about. And as King, he asserts his
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  divine authority over the nature of his realm, dictating the
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  terms of true discipleship. This exchange forces us to
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  grapple with the doctrines of Christ's active and passive
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  obedience. Let me explain how these
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  mechanisms work. Please do.
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  Active obedience means Jesus lived the perfect, sinless life
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  that we completely failed to live.
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  Fulfilling every positive demand of God's law.
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  And passive obedience means he willingly suffered the penalty
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  that we owed, absorbing the wrath of God on the cross.
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  Christ alone, as the sinless God man, possesses the infinite
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  capacity to drain the dregs of divine judgment.
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  A mere human would be crushed for all eternity under a single
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  drop of that cup. This reality exposes the fatal
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  flaw of Arminianism and any system of works righteousness.
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  No human being has the ability, the will, or the inherent
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  righteousness to satisfy the Father's justice.
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  Jesus is the exclusive cup drinker.
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  Through his substitutionary atonement, he takes the cup of
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  trembling out of our hands. And he drinks it dry so that we
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  never have to taste the wrath of God.
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  After Jesus acknowledges that, they will indeed experience a
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  measure of suffering for his sake.
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  Meaning they will face persecution and martyrdom as his
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  followers. He firmly removes the
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  distribution of Kingdom honors from the realm of human effort.
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  He takes the pursuit of glory completely out of their hands
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  and places it entirely in the hands of the Father.
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  He states that the seats at his right and left will be given to
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  those for whom it has been prepared by my father.
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  Now I want to ask for some theological clarification here
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  because this text can be confusing for a lot of readers.
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  It definitely can be. If Jesus says that granting
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  these seats is not mine to give, does this imply that the Son
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  lacks divine authority? That is a common objection.
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  Is Jesus subordinate in his divine essence to the Father?
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  How does Reformed theology synthesize this statement
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  without compromising the Trinity?
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  That is a highly critical question.
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  This text is frequently twisted by those who deny the deity of
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  Christ. Claiming it proves he is less
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  than God. To answer it properly, we have
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  to look closely at the Greek grammar and then at our
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  systematic theology. OK, let us start with the
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  grammar. Jesus uses a specific Greek verb
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  here, hodomi masti, which is a perfect passive indicative.
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  Theologians call this the divine passive.
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  This grammatical structure indicates an action that was
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  completely finished by God in eternity past.
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  With the results of that action continuing firmly and
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  unchangeably into the present. Jesus is pointing directly to
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  the Reformed doctrine of God's eternal decree.
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  Right. If we consult chapter 3 of the
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  Westminster Confession of Faith, we find the biblical teaching of
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  unconditional election. The architecture of the coming
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  Kingdom. The rewards The specific
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  placement of every single St. These are fixed realities.
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  They were established in the immutable counsel of the Triune
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  God before the foundation of the world.
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  Before Genesis 1 even occurred. Therefore, when Jesus says it is
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  not mine to give, he is not denying his ontological equality
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  with the Father. We look to the Westminster
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  Confession, Chapter 5 concerning Providence to understand the
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  economy of salvation. Christ's statement reflects his
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  perfect willing submission within his mediatorial mission.
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  As the Incarnate Son, the Mediator of the Covenant of
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  grace, he delights in carrying out the Father's exact decree.
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  He does not act independently of the Father's eternal plan.
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  His words display the breathtaking beauty of his
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  obedience as the God man, not a lack of innate divinity.
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  The specific point about the sovereign decree completely
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  shatters modern pragmatism. And the prosperity gospel that
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  is so rampant today? Think about the messaging you
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  hear constantly in modern religious culture.
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  You are told you can manifest your destiny.
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  You are told you can volunteer your way into spiritual
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  authority. Or give enough money to
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  manipulate God into granting you prestige in a larger platform.
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  But this verse crushes that lie into dust.
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  Human ambition cannot alter the sovereign decree.
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  You cannot hustle your way to the right hand of the King.
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  The seats have already been prepared in eternity past.
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  This text destroys the idea that the church is a corporate ladder
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  for ambitious people to climb. It forces us to view our place
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  in the body of Christ through the lens of God's unchangeable
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  will. Rather than our own aggressive
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  networking. Having established these high
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  doctrines of substitutionary atonement in the eternal decree,
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  we must apply the law and the Gospel directly to the modern
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  Christian life. In reformed theology, we
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  frequently utilize the three uses of the law to properly
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  handle a text like this. Think of it this way, the first
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  use of the law acts as a mirror. When you read this passage, it
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  should reflect your own wretched reflection back to you.
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  It exposes our own zebedee like craving for platforms.
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  Our desire to be acknowledged and our complete inability to
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  drink the cup of God's standard. It shatters our pride.
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  Then the gospel announces the good news.
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  Christ drank the cup of wrath for us.
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  He fulfilled the law's demands in our place.
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  Once we rest in that gospel truth, we move to the third use
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  of the law, which acts as a guide for the believer.
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  Because our salvation and our ultimate standing are secured by
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  Christ and decreed by the Father.
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  We are freed from the exhausting rat race of self promotion.
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  We are now guided into a life of grateful, humble obedience.
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  Ministering to others not to gain rank, but out of immense
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  gratitude for the grace we have received.
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  I want to push this application right into the heart of modern
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  evangelicalism. Please do, it is very needed.
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  Look at our church culture today.
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  We are obsessed with celebrity pastors.
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  We are obsessed with personal branding marketability.
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  And scaling ministries to reach the maximum number of consumers.
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  We treat the bride of Christ like a Fortune 500 company.
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  We measure greatness by social media reach, book sales, and the
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  size of the crowd. But Jesus contrasts this entire
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  system with his own Kingdom. He points to the Gentile rulers
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  who lorded over their subject. Who use their authority to
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  dominate and extract value from people.
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  He says that shall not be so among you.
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  He calls his followers to slave like submission.
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  The path to greatness in the Kingdom of Christ is the path of
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  washing feet. It is the path of obscurity and
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  sacrifice. If you are pursuing ministry to
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  be seen, you are operating under the Gentile mindset, not the
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  mind of Christ. That is a necessary and sharp
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  warning. You really.
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  But we must also see how this passage provides massive
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  stabilizing comfort for the afflicted believer.
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  That is a beautiful point. Let us talk about that comfort
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  if. You are a Christian experiencing
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  obscurity if you are enduring loss or facing persecution in
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  your workplace or your family because of your faith.
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  You need to hear this the. Cup of discipleship you are
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  drinking is not an accident. Your suffering is not a sign
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  that God has lost control or that you have failed to manifest
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  enough blessing. If God has sovereignly decreed
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  your specific place in his Kingdom.
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  Whether that involves a public, visible role or a hidden, quiet
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  life of faithful endurance. You can rest with total
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  contentment in his immutable purpose.
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  You do not need to fight for relevance.
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  The Father has prepared your place.
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  The Son has secured your soul by drinking the cup of Wrath.
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  And the Spirit will sustain you in whatever trials He ordains
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  for your sanctification. You can let go of the anxiety of
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  status and simply rest in the sovereign goodness of God.
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  As we summarize this deep dive into Matthew 20, we see the core
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  clash revealed in the sources. On one side, we witness the
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  relentless, exhausting human vanity that constantly seeks a
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  crown without a cross. We see our own desperate
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  attempts to exalt ourselves above our brothers and sisters.
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  On the other side, we see the breathtaking majesty of the
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  Savior. Who deliberately stepped down
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  into humiliation? Who willingly drank the foaming
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  cup of divine wrath to its very dregs?
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  All to secure our redemption. Therefore, we offer a final
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  pastoral call to you, the listener.
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  Flee from the wretched idol of your own merit.
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  Stop. Saying I am able and confess
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  that you are entirely unable. Reject the exhausting cultural
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  pressure to seize a platform and build your own Kingdom.
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  Take refuge entirely in the imputed righteousness of Jesus
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  Christ. Recognize that because Christ
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  drained the cup of divine judgement on the cross.
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  The cup that is now extended to you as a believer.
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  The cup you partake of at the communion table.
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  Is a cup of sheer mercy and New Covenant life.
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  He drank the wrath so you could drink the grace.
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  That is the beautiful truth of the gospel.
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  I want to leave you with a final lingering question to ponder on
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  your own as you go about your day.
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  It is a question that really changes how you view your entire
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  life. If the highest honors and the
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  exact deed details of your place in the coming Kingdom have
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  already been prepared by the Father since before the world
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  began. How does that reality completely
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  free you from the exhausting burden of trying to prove your
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  worth to anyone today?