This week's Theme: Channel of Blessing
Day 1: Bold Requests
“Can I have one for my sister too?” Through the years, our mother would often recount this inevitable request from my sister to the “shopkeeper” each time she went to the store.
I’m not sure why I was never present on these shopping excursions—perhaps they happened on their way home from the school in a distant village where my sister was a student and my mother a teacher. (I attended our local village school). Perhaps it was before I even started school.
Regardless, the scenario seemed to be always the same. My mother would pay the village shopkeeper for her purchases, and then he would generously hand my sister a sweetie (piece of candy). And then boldly, unreservedly, she would make her request on my behalf. The memory always caused my mother to laugh.
I have to suppress a chuckle myself when I read the gospel accounts of a bold request made to Jesus by the disciples James and John. Misguided though it was, their request reminds me of the deep love and caring concern that prompted my sister's call on the shopkeeper's generosity.
Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to [Jesus]. “Teacher,” they said, “we want You to do for us whatever we ask.” “What do you want Me to do for you?” He asked. They replied, “Let one of us sit at Your right and the other at Your left in Your glory” (Mark 10:35-37). (The gospel writer Matthew gives the additional detail that their mother first voiced the question, but both gospels are clear that James and John fully participated in the request – Matthew 20:20-23, Mark 10:35-37).
Interestingly, Jesus’ reaction was not the same as that of the other ten disciples. They were indignant (greatly displeased – NKJV) with the two brothers (Matthew 20:24, Mark 10:41). Jesus, instead, took the opportunity to instruct both James and John, and the other ten disciples in two critical lessons:
First, He gently and soberly showed them the real cost of being a disciple—providing a glimpse into the realities ahead: “You don’t know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup I am going to drink (or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”) (Matthew 20:22, Mark 10:38).
Then He explained the difference between the ways of the world, and the values of His kingdom, “You know that the rulers of the [nations] lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-28, Mark 10:42-45).
The patience and kindness Jesus shows in this scene reminds me of another in the Old Testament, where Abraham interceded for Sodom and his nephew Lot:
Then Abraham approached [God] and said: “Will You sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will You really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? Far be it from You to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from You! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:23-25).
God declared Himself willing to grant Abraham’s bold request, and His answer gave the patriarch courage to lean deeper and deeper into the mercy of God until at last he made his final request: “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?” [God] answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it” (Genesis 18:32).
Both Scripture passages, Old and New Testament, provide insight into the incredible love, patience, and compassion of God, and His willingness to hear all our requests, petitions, and intercessions. We see a God who inclines His ear to our cry (Psalm 88:2)—who listens, instructs, encourages, corrects.
And so, when I think of all the mercies I receive from God—when I taste and see that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8)—when I experience the security and assurance of His saving grace, I am encouraged to make my own bold requests in prayer—Can I ask for my sister too? And my brother? And my family? And my friends? And my community? And my world?
