Matthew 20:20-28

International Children’s Bible

A Mother Asks Jesus a Favor

²⁰ Then the wife of Zebedee came to Jesus. Her sons were with her. The mother bowed before Jesus and asked him to do something for her.

²¹ Jesus asked, “What do you want?”

She said, “Promise that one of my sons will sit at your right side in your kingdom. And promise that the other son will sit at your left side.”

²² But Jesus said, “You don’t understand what you are asking. Can you accept the kind of suffering that I must suffer?”^[a]

The sons answered, “Yes, we can!”

²³ Jesus said to them, “Truly you will suffer the same things that I will suffer. But I cannot choose who will sit at my right side or my left side. Those places belong to those for whom my Father has prepared them.”

²⁴ The other ten followers heard this and were angry with the two brothers.

²⁵ Jesus called all the followers together. He said, “You know that the rulers of the non-Jewish people love to show their power over the people. And their important leaders love to use all their authority. ²⁶ But it should not be that way among you. If one of you wants to become great, then he must serve the rest of you like a servant. ²⁷ If one of you wants to become first, then he must serve the rest of you like a slave. ²⁸ So it is with the Son of Man. The Son of Man did not come for other people to serve him. He came to serve others. The Son of Man came to give his life to save many people.”