Matthew 20:22 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Jesus answered, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?" They said to him, "We are able."

NIV: "You don’t know what you are asking," Jesus said to them. "Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?" "We can," they answered.

NASB: But Jesus replied, 'You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?' They *said to Him, 'We are able.'

CSB: Jesus answered, "You don’t know what you’re asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?" "We are able," they said to him.

NLT: But Jesus answered by saying to them, 'You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink?' 'Oh yes,' they replied, 'we are able!'

KJV: But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with They say unto him, We are able.

NKJV: 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.”

The mother of James and John has asked an enormous thing of Jesus, that her two boys would be seated on his right and left hands in His kingdom (Matthew 20:20–21). Anyone in those seats closest to the king would be the most powerful men in the kingdom under the ruler himself.

He turns away from their mother to address James and John directly. This response shows that Christ understands they are making this request of Him, through their mother. She did not spring this idea on Jesus without their knowledge. She was acting as their agent. This makes even more sense if this woman is Mary's sister, Jesus' aunt, as some scholars suggest may be the case.

Jesus' response feels like an understatement. He tells these two bold men that they do not know what they are asking. He has not come, as they suppose, to set up a political kingdom on earth at this time (John 18:36). They should know that by now. He has told them three times that once they reach Jerusalem, he will be condemned by the Jewish religious leaders, handed over to the Romans for execution, and killed. He has also told them He will be raised on the third day (Matthew 16:21; 17:22–23; 20:17–19).

It's important to be fair about what James and John could have understood at the time. Hindsight is powerful, and our views benefit from completed Scripture and the influence of the Holy Spirit (John 14:25–26). They simply did not grasp why Jesus was saying this or what His death and resurrection would accomplish. Their request reveals not only their own ambition, but also their misunderstanding of what Jesus has taught about how to be great in the kingdom of heaven: childlike humility (Matthew 19:13–15).

Now Jesus asks a pointed question to show they do not understand what they are asking. He is symbolically referring to suffering and judgment, using a common picture from the Old Testament Scriptures. Jesus is asking if they are prepared to suffer as deeply as He is about to: when He will be tortured, sacrificed, and killed on the cross in Jerusalem.

James and John answer, too quickly, that they can drink Jesus' cup of suffering, demonstrating once more their lack of understanding (Matthew 20:23).

Matthew 20:20–28 follows Jesus' clear description of His impending death with a poorly timed request from James and John, through their mother. Their desire is for the two sons to be given the powerful positions of being seated on Jesus' left and right hand in His kingdom. Jesus makes an obscure reference to His upcoming suffering, asking if they can "drink the cup" ahead of Him. He then notes they will experience their own persecution and suffering, yet greatness in His kingdom won't look like the flaunted authority of the Gentile rulers. The greatest of all will be the one who serves the others as a slave. Jesus, too, has come to serve and not to be served.

Jesus illustrates His earlier comments about how some of the "first will be last, and the last first" (Matthew 19:30) with a parable about hired workers. He then clearly tells His disciples about His impending death and resurrection. The mother of James and John asks Jesus to make her sons number two and three in His kingdom. Jesus tells the disciples that true greatness won't come by flaunting authority as the Gentile leaders do. Instead, they will become great by serving each other, even as a slave does, as Jesus Himself has done. He then heals two blind men immediately before entering Jerusalem.

Matthew 20 begins with a parable that illustrates Jesus' statement at the end of Matthew 19: In His kingdom, some of the first will be last and the last first. Still on their way to Jerusalem, Jesus tells the disciples for the third time that He will be killed and then raised on the third day. When asked, Jesus explains that it is not up to Him to grant the seats on His right and left hand in the kingdom and that His disciples will not become great in the way of Gentiles. Instead, they will find greatness by serving each other. A healing of two blind men leads into the triumphal entry, the first event in the last earthly week of Jesus' ministry.

The Gospel of Matthew clearly shows the influence of its writer's background, and his effort to reach a specific audience. Matthew was one of Jesus' twelve disciples, a Jewish man, and a former tax collector. This profession would have required literacy, and Matthew may have transcribed some of Jesus' words as they were spoken. This book is filled with references to the Old Testament, demonstrating to Israel that Jesus is the Promised One. Matthew also includes many references to coins, likely due to his former profession. Matthew records extensive accounts of Jesus' teaching, more than the other three Gospels.