Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him. – Matthew 20:20

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 27, 2014): Matthew 20

A number of years ago, my beautiful daughter, now a capable mother of three but then an insecure student in elementary school, was struggling with some of the other girls in her class. For whatever reason, she and a friend had been shunned by the rest of her classmates. There may not be a more helpless feeling in the world then watching your little girl suffer through a situation while the parents stand by seemly unable to exert any influence. My wife and I talked at length about what to do. And the discussion hovered around whether or not it was appropriate for us to go and speak to her teacher. It was overwhelmingly what we wanted to do, but there was also a nagging feeling, at least in the back of my mind, that mom and dad speaking to the teacher about the behavior of the girls in an elementary school class, might just blow up in our faces and make the situation worse. We wanted to help, not hurt, our daughter.

But we finally decided that we had to go and talk to the teacher. And, thankfully, the teacher was able to help the situation. Relationships were mended and life at school became a little easier for my daughter – well, at least as easy as life at school ever seems to be. I have to admit that I was a little amazed at our success. Part of my problem was that what we did on the day that we went to see the teacher, I would never have allowed my parents to do. The idea that my mom and dad would come to my school and fight my battles was abhorrent to me. At the time, and much to my own loss, I refused to acknowledge how much I needed my parents help in my scholastic career and I refused to understand how much they wanted to help. My daughter’s reaction to our exploits was filled with much more grace then my reaction would have been in a similar situation – and that is something that I am very grateful for.

James’ and John’s mother came to Jesus with a request in regard to her sons. She was already part of the crowd that followed Jesus, she supported the disciples financially (Zebedee, the father of James and John was a successful and wealthy businessman), and she also was the sister of Mary, the mother of Jesus, thus making her Jesus’ aunt. It is because of all this that Aunt Salome felt that she had a right to talk to her nephew and ask for a favor on behalf of her sons. I am not sure that James and John wanted mom to fight their battles, but what she would ask for was exactly what it was that they were afraid to ask for – to sit on Jesus right and left in the coming kingdom.

But Salome’s request on behalf of her sons also revealed that, at this late date in the story, those who were following Jesus just were not getting understanding the horrible reality of their situation. Their dream was of a successful military kingdom where Jesus would rule like his forefather David, raising Israel to a place of military power once more. But all Jesus saw was a cross. And the reality was that the position on his right and on his left was not reserved for James and John, but for two thieves who were convicted and sentenced die with Jesus. And if Salome had understood that, this was a favor she would have never asked her nephew to grant.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Matthew 21

Note: Video messages from VantagePoint Community Church (Edmonton) are available on the VantagePoint website. You can find them here.