Daily Devotions
May 15th, 2026 by Pastor SolleyMatt 20:20-23 Then came to him the mother of Zebedee’s children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him.
21 And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom.
22 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.
23 And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.
KJV
It has often been pointed out that when James and John answered Jesus with “We are able” in verse twenty two that they had no idea what was waiting for them. While that is true what they did have was a commitment to follow their Lord and Savior and to walk in His will. Those two did drink of a similar cup and did suffer much because they loved and served Jesus, they were faithful unto the end and they were indeed able. It is not a brash statement they made, it was one of full surrender to Jesus and the will of God in their lives. This is still what Jesus is looking for in those who have been born again, saved by faith in the finished work of Jesus on the cross and have sins washed away by His shed blood, commitment. We do not need to know what will happen as we follow Jesus, we just need to be fully surrendered to Him and His will, that is what will make us able to stay faithful to Him. Notice that Jesus does not rebuke them, Jesus is pleased with their commitment and surrender to Him.