Matthew 20:20–28

A Mother Makes a Request—Mark 10:35–45

²⁰Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her two sons. She bowed down in front of him to ask him for a favor. 

²¹“What do you want?” he asked her. 

She said to him, “Promise that one of my sons will sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.” 

²²Jesus replied, “You don’t realize what you’re asking. Can you drink the cup that I’m going to drink?” 

“We can,” they told him. 

²³Jesus said to them, “You will drink my cup. But I don’t have the authority to grant you a seat at my right or left. My Father has already prepared these positions for certain people.” 

²⁴When the other ten apostles heard about this, they were irritated with the two brothers. ²⁵Jesus called the apostles and said, “You know that the rulers of nations have absolute power over people and their officials have absolute authority over people. ²⁶But that’s not the way it’s going to be among you. Whoever wants to become great among you will be your servant. ²⁷Whoever wants to be most important among you will be your slave. ²⁸It’s the same way with the Son of Man. He didn’t come so that others could serve him. He came to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many people.”