Section 20:20–28

The mother of James and John asked Jesus for something

In this section, Jesus again dealt with the issue of who is important. In 18:1–4, the disciples had asked Jesus “Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Jesus had answered them there. Here, the mother of James and John asked Jesus to give her two sons the most important positions in his kingdom. Jesus again responded to the disciples’ concern to become important people.

Jesus said that the most important person in his kingdom is the person who behaves like a servant rather than like someone in charge. He finished by saying that he himself came to help other people rather than to ask other to help him. He showed that the values in his kingdom are different than the values here on earth.

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

The Request of the Mother of James and John (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
The mother of James and John asks Jesus to make her sons the most people in his kingdom
-or-
Jesus Teaches about Serving Others (New Living Translation (2004))

There is a parallel passage for this section in Mark 10:35–45.

Paragraph 20:20–23

20:20a

Then: This verse is the beginning of a new section. The events in this section probably occurred immediately after the events in the preceding section. The Greek introduces this story with a word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Then.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

Soon after that
-or-
After that

the mother of Zebedee’s sons: This woman was the mother of James and John. Her husband was Zebedee. She was probably Jesus’ aunt.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

the wife of Zebedee (Good News Translation)
-or-
the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
The mother of James and John (Contemporary English Version)

Zebedee’s sons: In this section, Matthew does not mention the names of these two sons. From 4:21, we know that their names were James and John. They were the first disciples whom Jesus called.

In some languages, it will be natural to:

• Include their names in the text. For example:

James and John, the sons of Zebedee (New Living Translation (2004))

• Add a footnote explaining who these sons were. Here is a sample footnote:

The sons of Zebedee were James and John. They were the first disciples whom Jesus called. Their mother was probably named Salome and was possibly the sister of Jesus’ mother.

with her sons: In some languages, it may be more natural to put this phrase before the verb “came.” For example:

Then the wife of Zebedee and her two sons approached Jesus.

The mother was the one who asked Jesus a question, but James and John were also there at the time. In 20:22 Jesus spoke directly to those two men.

20:20b

and knelt down: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as knelt down is more literally “prostrating herself before him.” This indicates that the woman wanted to show Jesus great respect and honor. A person usually did that by bending over with his/her face toward the ground, or actually lying face down on the ground.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

she prostrated herself before him
-or-
bowed before him (Good News Translation)
-or-
she put her face to the ground in front of him
-or-
she got on the ground in front of him

Even though the woman and her two sons approached Jesus, the form of this verb is feminine. This means that only the mother knelt in front of Jesus.

This same word, in the same sort of context, is in 18:26a. You should translate it the same way in both places.

to make a request of Him: This verb phrase is more literally “she asked something from him.”

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

she asked him to do something for her (New Century Version)
-or-
she begged him to do her a favor

In some languages, it may be more natural to translate this as direct speech. For example:

she said, “Please give me what I want.”
-or-
“Lord, I want to ask you for something.”

-or-

“Sir, I have a favor to ask you.”

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