Ep. 34 - The Questions of Jesus: What Can I Do For You?

What do our questions reveal about our heart?  In the first episode of our new series, The Questions of Jesus, we explore Matthew 20:17–28 and the surprising question Jesus asks in response to a request for position and recognition.

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus often used questions, not just to give answers, but to reveal hearts and invite people deeper into truth.  In this conversation, we look at why questions matter, what they uncover in us, and how Jesus used them to shape His disciples.

We also look at Jesus’ radical teaching on servanthood and leadership.  In a world driven by status and self-promotion, Jesus presents a completely different vision of His Kingdom, marked by humility, sacrifice, and service. 

Whether you’re wrestling with faith, leadership, ambition, or simply trying to follow Jesus more faithfully, this conversation invites you to slow down and consider what Jesus may be asking you today.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Well what is going on you guys? Welcome to 100% maybe a special edition. You might notice we're not in our normal corner of the world. We're in a diff we still are in a corner of the world. But uh we were on location at a staff retreat this week and doing some some cool stuff, some planning, some connecting, and all kinds of fun stuff. And so we thought, but we still gotta do this. So I packed it up.

SPEAKER_01 0:28

We don't gotta, we get to do this.

SPEAKER_00 0:30

We get to do this, yeah. Yeah, that's right.

SPEAKER_01 0:31

We are in a beautiful spot of the world known as Lake Martin. Yep. And we're having a blast. Went fishing this morning. We did do that. Killed the striper.

SPEAKER_00 0:41

It's a lot of fun. It was fun. It was fun. Still, still found time to sit down with y'all, but you'll notice it's a little bit different. I don't have all my stuff, but um still wanted to sit down and go through the passage a little bit. I'm still kind of floating.

unknown 0:54

I know.

SPEAKER_00 0:54

Yeah, the room feels like it's moving. Yeah, a little bit. Being on the boat all day does that for sure. Yeah. Um, but I I guess wrapping up, anything, any final thoughts about the Thessalonian series, and then excitement about questions of Jesus, because that's our next series. We're back in the gospel accounts and really digging into the conversations, the interactions, the encounters. So kind of a another layer of that encounters with Jesus series, but he asks a lot of questions. Um, so any any just initial thoughts on leaving that series and going into this one?

SPEAKER_01 1:31

Yeah, anytime we do uh entire book studies, it's super beneficial for folks because they they're able to hold them, put them together, understand context, understand a little bit about the life of Paul. Um I find the deeper we get into a series like that, the more difficult it gets for me to teach because the recap is like 20 minutes.

SPEAKER_00 1:51

Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:51

Um, and and that could be challenging because it was two letters instead of one. Sometimes it's not as difficult. You can paraphrase it better. So, like later on in the year when we move into Hebrews, which I'm super stoked about. Yeah, might need to do a whole six months on that. Six months on that, yeah. Then then we just have to be mindful of how we do the recap. Uh people love it because they can hold it, they can track, you build on sort of what it was like, even though the two letters were pretty similar. Uh yeah, same author, same audience, same situation and context. And to make and we've always had we've we have all experienced things where you get information and then something happens, and then you need to be re need to be reinforced and then add to it, and that's what he does. And then the clarity of of what happens to us when we die, what's that judgment day look like, even though there's you know a lot of fun speculation about all that that detail is that what you call it?

SPEAKER_00 2:44

Fun speculation, fun speculation. That's a good way.

SPEAKER_01 2:46

Yeah, I mean, it's gonna happen, it's just speculation about what exactly what it'll look like. So that opened up all kind of yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:53

But great questions, and I know you love that because people are asking questions, their mind is dug into the scripture and they're thinking about it and wanting to know more.

SPEAKER_01 3:03

Yeah, and and because I'm I'm certain that hopefully educated guesses, but but you know, people are trying to make inferences as to what that looks like. So, my favorite question over the last whatever has been yeah, I know that's interesting. What what do you think about that? And then just let people dive back in because part of what we do is to get people to process and think and hold scripture and try and work through it. I mean, we're we're doing what people have been doing for many thousands of years, yeah. And just trying to make sense of a God that you can't make sense of. Yeah, and wrestle it into our context so that we can live according to how we've been called to live.

SPEAKER_00 3:37

Sure. Um, you said that and I I do try to do the same thing in my group is ask a lot of questions, and I think that brings us right into this. Jesus asked a lot of questions, a lot. So he taught a lot. We have some accounts of some teaching, thinking Sermon on the Mount, Sermon on the Plain. He always had a lot of parables, so he would tell stories, but also when he was with someone and there was this interaction almost, there was always a question. So, what what is significant about that to you? Why why did he ask so many questions and what what do questions help reveal in us?

SPEAKER_01 4:18

Yeah, I think it was a teaching tool. He sometimes he would ask a question, they would answer the question, but a lot of times he's like, You gotta try. I mean, just just come on. Yeah, you know, like today, though the the question we're gonna look at today. I mean, a lot of times there's there's a question that's asked because people would rather, people I'll say that myself, let's just start myself. I'd just rather tell somebody tell me the answer. Right. It's easier that way. Well, dude, you you don't hold it. You can you'll ask that same question the next week. But when you have to go dig and find it and we'll figure out in the journey what it looks like. So, you know, this one and all of the other questions we're gonna go through, there's a simple answer to them, but the answer is not simple, it's very, very difficult.

SPEAKER_00 4:57

Yeah, it reveals so much, makes you think, it makes you take ownership of it. Yeah, it starts to reveal, I think, what's in your own heart about it, which Jesus obviously is a master at that, already knowing the heart better than we know ourselves so many times. And I was trying to think of, you know, what is the di what would the difference bet be between a statement and or a question? I'm thinking just, you know, if I asked, if I said, hey man, you you should trust God more. Okay. Or, you know, a different way to think that is like, hey, you know, what's what are you most what's what's most fearful to you right now, or what are you most worried about? It it kind of makes you stop and think, huh, okay, well, what are you trusting God for? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:38

Yeah, which then you'd be like, well, I'm not really nothing. Right. Or what what are the things that you're holding that you're suspended knowing that God's gonna come through that? Or if he doesn't, then he's got something else. Right. So yeah, I think that's a great question.

SPEAKER_00 5:48

Different of of having to own that, of, of that true belief, the true heart. So um tell us where we're at.

SPEAKER_01 5:55

So we're we're at, we're in Matthew chapter 20, um, and the text we're gonna be using is verses 17 through 28. Okay. Uh, but it it's uh this is a story that was uh um edited by by Matthew. Okay. Was first told by Mark, which makes the story very, very interesting. Yeah. So Mark tells this story, and it's an encounter. Uh well, there's that word, that's a part of my life, where Jesus is on the way with his disciples to Jerusalem. We're going, we're heading towards the end. Right. And uh the context is that multiple times he has prepared his disciples and those around him, saying that the Son of Man is going to be betrayed, uh, he's gonna be thrown in prison, he's gonna be beaten, he's gonna be crucified. Like all he gives he he gives them that information over and over and over again. So so then Mark tells you, let me see if I can get this right. Mark tells you that while they're on their way, the uh James and John, he says, James and John approach Jesus and ask a favor. And Mark tells you that they ask to be given two seats of honor. When you come into your kingdom, can we have the the seat at your right and the seat at your left? And then Jesus gives the response. Well, how many ever years later Matthew writes his account and he adjusts it? So remember, Mark's Mark's account would have been based on Peter's eyewitness account or what he gathered from Peter. So that doesn't mean that Peter had it wrong or Peter was trying to tell a different truth. He just might not have written it down clearly or it didn't have the story specifically. Yep. So but Matthew, Matthew goes, oh no, no, no, it was not James and John, it was their mother. Their mother. Their mother went up and asked Jesus. I mean, he doesn't say it, it doesn't say, no, no, no, it wasn't James and John, it was their mother. He just clears the story up. So because we know Mark was written first, and then Matthew changes that distinction a little bit, you have to think them that, and partly why, is because the disciples were ticked off. Yeah. That they that they asked this question or that the mother asked this question. So it furthermore tells you that Matthew's like, no, no, no, I'm fixing that story.

SPEAKER_00 8:07

Yeah, that story's wrong. Trying to clean it up, giving you the the the details.

SPEAKER_01 8:11

Doesn't change the answer, doesn't change anything, but you get to see the interplay and the writing and and just the reality of scripture in there, which is fabulous, man. I love that.

SPEAKER_00 8:19

Yeah, because when he answers, he doesn't answer her. Oh, he writes speaks right to the boys. He he answers them. So she gets the question. So we talked about this a little bit, but did they put the mom up to it? Did the mom decide, hey, I need I need to ask this question on their behalf? 100%.

SPEAKER_01 8:38

Yeah. None of us know. Right. Everybody's got really good theories on it. You got some good theories on that. To me, it depends on how the weather. I don't know. Whether I think the guys were just being jerkish or yeah, or was that mother just being over controlling and trying to get a good seat for her boys?

SPEAKER_00 8:52

I yeah. You do you do see, so their mother was part of the traveling party of Jesus, she was at the cross. Yeah. So that that we we I think it's later on in Matthew um 27, I think. Um you see that she's listed as one of the ones there at the cross with Mary Magdalene and and Jesus' mother.

SPEAKER_01 9:09

So not wouldn't have been unusual for her to be traveling with them, it sounds like I think from our understanding, we need to go ahead and recognize there was always a group traveling, and it wasn't always just the 12.

SPEAKER_00 9:19

Right. There'd have been people thrown in all the time. Right. So she was around a lot, so not not weird in that way, because you you know, it could be like, whoa, where'd the mom come from? Like, we never see the mom. Like, I'm here to get a seat for my boys, just needed to get an answer. Um, but funny too, the context of what he's teaching, and I know we don't want to go too far back because we'll get we'll get to some of those other stories, but let's let's do this before we get too deep into it, because I think this because I'm I'm I'm not struggling.

SPEAKER_01 9:47

I I need to do this for the sake of the series. Coming out of Thessalonians, the context is set by what he writes. We've created this series based on questions. So why questions? Right? I mean, you kind of said that a little bit, but why why would we be looking at these? Are you asking me? Yeah, I'm asking, yeah. I mean, I have thoughts on it, but why why do you think we just because they're they're not random, but they're seemingly random. Sure.

SPEAKER_00 10:07

Yeah. Um well, I mean, it it's it reveals things about our heart. Okay. So I think it's important to look at we want answers, but Jesus so often teaches us that the answers we want aren't even to the right questions. So that the redirect of our heart, the understanding of truly where our faith lies, I think is revealed more so in questions.

SPEAKER_01 10:32

Yep. And I and for us this time of year, so we try to be intentional about the way we play series. We're coming out of school for the most part, some of you have children, but we're coming out of the school season, going into the summer. Things are a little bit lighter. So rather than dive into a nuts and bolts study, questions of Jesus, it'll be about Jesus, so it's going to be in the gospel. They're they're not they're kind of like one-off sermons, so it allows me. I've got some trips that are coming up to allow someone else to jump in, uh teach a sermon every now and then. So it just flows a little bit better. And I think you're 100% right. These questions reveal more about the heart of the person asking the question. So Jesus flipping it back around causes us to do the same thing. So I just wanted to clarify that. So as we go into it, now we can wrestle with it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:18

Doesn't if you miss one week, it's not you're not lost the next week. Yeah, and there's a hundreds of questions that he asks. Yeah, we did. We pared it down because there was a lot we had to potentially to talk about. And so these are the ones we landed on. But um, it's just funny, it's funny to me, and so timely probably, about why it's in this order and written this way, but he's he's teaching about the kingdom, he's telling them, like, hey, what you guys think this is like, this system of honor. It's funny because he's addressing the system of honor, the people that have the places of honor in this world and they lord it over you. I'm telling you guys, that's not how it is in the kingdom. Yeah, and it's so funny that then they're like, hey, so speaking of the kingdom, like are we gonna be able to do the system of honor? Yeah, but uh so it's funny to to laugh at that, but also that's that's just very human. It's very natural. I think we we could do that too. God, I'm I'm sacrificing so much and to think, and pastors, churches use this as a status thing. What are you, you know, what are you giving to get that that kind of message that we talk about? So it's it's been used and twisted maybe in a lot of different ways too. So yeah, trying to understand the kingdom is a is a different mindset.

SPEAKER_01 12:41

Yeah, and we're and we're grading, right? Like, what how's my grade? What's what's your grade? That that's why I get nervous, like the Thessalonian series, where people are really, really happy and excited that Scott talked about eternal, you know, judgment. Judgment. Yeah. Like the and I'm like, man, why would you be, you know, and I know they want people to know that's the that's the goal, but it's because then it's almost like uh I'm here, you're that and I know that's not any of their hearts, but it's just so interesting because there's a point where we deserve nothing, even when we do all of it. Like even at our very best for all of the work that we've ever done, we should be pretty glad that we made it. Yeah. Because there's nothing we can do to earn the grace that we've been given. So when we get into conversations about, hey, give me the left, give me the right seat, we have not just missed it, we've completely lost fat lost sight of the how actual failed we are as humans. So we need to get that back into context.

SPEAKER_00 13:40

Yeah, that's good. And he asks him, he doesn't sugarcoat it, uh, but he also doesn't rebuke them.

SPEAKER_01 13:48

No, but you know, but he's creative.

SPEAKER_00 13:51

Yeah, you gotta wonder if he's like, oh, guys, we're on the way to Jerusalem. Like, this is it. Yeah, he just told them, and we don't get there's nothing noted. Yeah, we don't know if it's a week or two days or 15 minutes. And there's no noted response by them when he's like, hey, I'm about to be brutally like humiliated, suffer, die, and rise again.

SPEAKER_01 14:10

And there's we get no record of like a response by Oh no, but I'll tell you, if you go into John, John says when they were coming into dinner, they were they were arguing over who's the best. Right. So they're still having they just I'm pretty awesome. You know, that it's so and and and it's human nature. Oh, I'm still rocking. It's human nature. That's just probably how it is.

SPEAKER_00 14:32

Yeah. Which is why the question's important. So the quad, let's go to actual question. All right. What the translation's different to you. What do you want? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:41

Yeah, the word we put in all all the text sounds a little softer. It's uh it's what can I do for you? What can I do for you? Mine says, What do you want? And I don't think that's probably not what is your request. Oh, yours is so nice too. The NRSV just it's Jesus looks at the woman and says, What do you want? Uh probably not with that tone. What do you want? I don't I don't know. There's doves, butterflies. Always. Yeah. Always. And and then and she told him, declare, declare that these two sons of mine will sit one at your right and one at your left. The question, and then Jesus answers, you have to imagine, he then turns to the boys and answers them. Can you drink this cup that I'm about to drink? And in uh a little bit of context, cup would have been a reference to judgment or this judgment that I'm that I'm about to receive. Yeah, what it what's yours to bear. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, and their answer, Jeff? Sure. Absolutely. They say, We we are able. Uh-huh. We're we're good. It's all good.

SPEAKER_00 15:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:41

We got this. Uh they don't got this.

SPEAKER_00 15:45

No.

SPEAKER_01 15:45

That's not correct English, but or grammar. Um so uh but they do. They both, well, John John dies of a of a James and John. Uh James is definitely martyred. He's the first of the disciples that are martyred. I think he gets his head chopped off, right? And then John lives as the oldest, so they're kind of the bookends first and last, which is interesting when you when you look at the very interesting, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 16:12

Yeah. So let's talk about the reaction of the other disciples. Okay. Uh in indignant. So that's I think that's a common translation. What is what is in RSC? Mine says angry. Angry, indignancy. Um, what do you what do you think that response is revealing about them? 100% maybe. 100% maybe, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:32

Let's two scholars figure this out. Yeah. Uh two tracks, multiple tracks. One is that they're angry that uh how dare those guys ask such an insensitive question after Jesus just told us what he's about to suffer.

SPEAKER_00 16:46

That's one sense.

SPEAKER_01 16:47

That's five percent maybe. Yeah, that's that's two percent maybe. But most people believe that they're like, We were just gonna ask that question. And now we know it's and they sent their mother to ask the question.

SPEAKER_00 17:00

Yeah, so it's a uh we should ask that first. Yeah, they got to it first, sent their mom, and then they get a response, and they're thinking, man. And the mom shows up in a posture of worship. She does. That's heavy-handed. Yeah. So what yeah, so she believes she's coming with a I believe a per a correct heart, at least, uh a humble heart. She kneels. That word for worship is like a posture, a heart, not only a physical posture, but that heart posture and reverence. So she believes Jesus does have a kingdom to come. Yep. But maybe a little misguided in what she's asking, or what the boys want her to ask about our place in it, or about our understanding even of it.

SPEAKER_01 17:45

Yeah, I I you you wonder about that because um everybody missed it. Or I mean, and I don't know if she's thinking of the future kingdom. It can't be, right? Maybe. I don't know. I don't I can't I can't even imagine it. Yeah. Uh Gutsig said his thought was um that they just assumed that Jesus was being metaphorical again. Right. That, you know, this um crucifixion, dead, die, buried, is just a, you know, that's just gonna be a that's a parable or whatever.

SPEAKER_00 18:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:21

That they completely missed it. So maybe she was thinking something else, or maybe that would be later. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 18:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:26

It's just but or maybe she wasn't right there right when they said it, but still the fact that you find out that the boys I have no idea, man.

SPEAKER_00 18:34

It's interesting thought though. Yeah. Put yourself in that spot. Yeah. Um, I guess just last few thoughts about where we land with it and what we can be thinking about going into this weekend. But the the keystone verse there, for even the son of man came not to be served, but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many. So I wonder on that thread of what you're thinking about, are they thinking again metaphorically? Because he's very clearly telling them, I'm gonna die, gonna get raised again, but I'm here to give my life, not just for my own sake, but for your sake as well. So Jesus not just teaching about something, but willing to actually model it and lay his life down for us as the example.

SPEAKER_01 19:25

Yeah. I mean, I it's servant leadership at its finest, right? Um and the the fact that he says this world is one way and those who are really good at it are the worst. You know, so the the upside down model which we see in in in a lot of the teachings that are there. It it ha it really has to get to our heart, it has to get to the question of motives in our heart. Um, because if if Jesus, if if the son of God, if his purpose was to be the ransom for many, right? The the um the one that's gonna serve, well, it ought to cause all of us to really question motives, question heart. Uh end results. Uh uh back to other sermons that I've listened to this week talking about grace and how you know we get this mindset of we we should be thankful for the grace we have and just say, just glad. Thank you for doing what you did. You you you paid the price, that was the ransom. Just got in here and I you can still smell the flesh burning off of me, right? Um, which which so then we should have a posture of anything you give me, I'm grateful for. So I'm just gonna go and try and help be a part of rescuing as many as possible. It seems like that's the heart that Jesus is trying to foster. And then maybe if you go down the road with the disciples, that seems to be the heart that 11 of the 12 were able to foster. Yeah. Right? Because they did, they did drink the cup, all of them. Yeah, they all did. And and that's and they all gave their life to some degree for the kingdom.

SPEAKER_00 21:01

So is it that re-orientation to you of just Jesus is calling out this hey, you see, you see how the world works, like you've got the things, you get you have the power, you do what you want, you judge according to the what you think is right. And I'm telling you guys, the cross and this path for me, and also now for you, it's a path of servanthood. He says that, you know, um service and servanthood versus status and honor. It goes back to that seat. I I think that's a maybe an older language for us to think of like the place of honor, the seat of honor, you know. We don't usually use that term as much anymore, but but we know what it means. You know, we want the not the table next to the kitchen in the back, you know, you want the good table. Right. So, you know, that idea is still certainly fresh for us thinking if I achieve a certain status, I'm able to kind of live on this level or whatever. And and again, it's that redefinition of like no no no following me leads to actually serving others and uh humbling yourself.

SPEAKER_01 22:11

It feels like it feels like it falls into that category of trying to explain the Trinity, right? I mean how uh uh you can't do that close. No, let's don't do that. Okay, but um but but the idea of how do you explain servant leadership because you still have to lead. Um but I I I this could get it's it almost feels like this one is is results driven, like I want to get this. But what if it's about your way? The thing that you not not just about something that you're gonna acquire, but it could be about your mindset, your way, you're forcing everybody else to do things a different way. Do you have the ability to say there's a better way to approach this, and maybe it's you know, this could this should be something that permeates um every every aspect of our lives for the effectiveness of the kingdom. Um, you know, what and as as the senior pastor of the church, we got a ton of staff, and I I don't I'd just so weird for me to even say this. My my natural gift set is I'm a servant. So I've never, I don't want to say I've never struggled with this. I'm the least in the kingdom, but it comes natural to me because I'd rather walk alongside someone to help someone to be to be better, you know, in those scenarios. But there are scenarios where you're just looking at someone and you're just like, I don't think that church and sounds are proper. And you gotta figure it out, right? And so what is how does all of that fit? So because we're gonna we're gonna wrestle this into our context. There's probably not anyone in our church that's asking to sit at the right and the left hand of Jesus. Right. Maybe you are, but but hopefully we're wise enough today to know what that costs. Um, not not that none of us are willing to to pay that cost, but uh I I do think we should be asking ourselves the the most important question is what how is it that we can like Christ be a ransom? How can we use our lives as a ransom to rescue as many other people as we possibly can? Yeah, does that cause us to think differently? Does that shape the where we go? Does that shape um the decisions that we make? Um and then and then allow God to determine, you know, you have to make wise decisions on finances and all those different things, but even even finances, uh there we have grateful people, we that not grateful, we're surrounded by people who understand that their resources are an extension of God's blessing in their lives, and they pour it right back into the kingdom and help us to do what we're doing, and buddy, we we do everything we can to honor all of that um for the sake of the kingdom. And I love it, man. This question is it really gets to those those motives. Yeah. We just gotta, I think we have to wrestle it past the the very first surface question of what I want. We have to go beyond really that and look at our our world mindset and how we're looking at the world because he does. It's not the same way, right? Yeah, it's good. I'm looking forward to it, man.

SPEAKER_00 24:50

It's gonna be good. Me too. We're gonna quit floating. Maybe by Sunday.

SPEAKER_01 24:54

This guy right here can catch some fish now. I'm telling you. That's right. That's right.

SPEAKER_00 24:59

Let me know if you need any help. Yep. Uh all right, man. Thanks. Yeah. Well, this will be a little different if you guys are. I don't have all my stuff here. So we didn't even have one you didn't even touch these. It's all the blue lights, so that's good. It's gonna work. Hopefully, it's all gonna work. Yeah, there'd be no edits. That'd be should be new editor. So this is what you got. So thanks, guys. Hope to see you guys Sunday for questions of Jesus. And happy Mother's Day. Happy Mother's Day.

SPEAKER_01 25:26

You've been warned.