Matthew 20:17-28

Common English Bible

Jesus predicts his death and resurrection

¹⁷ As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the Twelve aside by themselves on the road. He told them, ¹⁸ “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem. The Human One^[a] will be handed over to the chief priests and legal experts. They will condemn him to death. ¹⁹ They will hand him over to the Gentiles to be ridiculed, tortured, and crucified. But he will be raised on the third day.”

Request from James and John’s mother

²⁰ Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus along with her sons. Bowing before him, she asked a favor of him.

²¹ “What do you want?” he asked.

She responded, “Say that these two sons of mine will sit, one on your right hand and one on your left, in your kingdom.”

²² Jesus replied, “You don’t know what you’re asking! Can you drink from the cup that I’m about to drink from?”

They said to him, “We can.”

²³ He said to them, “You will drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left hand isn’t mine to give. It belongs to those for whom my Father prepared it.”

²⁴ Now when the other ten disciples heard about this, they became angry with the two brothers. ²⁵ But Jesus called them over and said, “You know that those who rule the Gentiles show off their authority over them and their high-ranking officials order them around. ²⁶ But that’s not the way it will be with you. Whoever wants to be great among you will be your servant. ²⁷ Whoever wants to be first among you will be your slave— ²⁸ just as the Human One^[b] didn’t come to be served but rather to serve and to give his life to liberate many people.”