Gospel of Matthew - Matthew 20:20-34 - "The Fathers To Give"

Even in the midst of Jesus predicting His death, the disciples are thinking about themselves and how they might be great. Jesus confronts this issue and redirects them to see how they can really be great! Jesus points out that they will drink His cup. What He means is that they will suffer. James would later be put to death and John would be exiled. In fact, all the disciples would eventually suffer in some way. They don’t yet know the extent to which Jesus will suffer or that they will suffer. However, Jesus does say that they will go through what He will go through to some extent. Then, Jesus says plainly that it’s not up to Him to determine the place of honor for the apostles. That is God’s role. God will reward as He sees fit.