20th June 2015 Radio Message by Pastor Isaac Peter Oyako

[Text of Radio Discipleship Program – 92.1 FM OPM Radio Jinja, Uganda]

TEXT: Mathew 20:20-24 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Jesus with her sons, bowing down and making a request of Him.

And He said to her, “What do you wish?” She said to Him, “Command that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine may sit one on Your right and one on Your left.”

But Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?” They said to Him, “We are able.”

He said to them, “My cup you shall drink; but to sit on My right and on My left, this is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by My Father.”

And hearing this, the ten became indignant with the two brothers.

The implication of some of our prayers

INTRODUCTION: At that time every one in Israel was expecting a ruler like King David who would deliver Israel from the foreign dominion. At that time Israel was no longer a sovereign nation, but under the Roman rule. The experts in the Law and interpretation of prophecies knew that a messiah would come to establish a theocratic leadership; far superior to any other kingdom on earth.

However, the intervening church era before Jesus Christ sets His Government was still a mystery. Yes, Jesus will come to establish a millennium rule on earth, but the details were not yet revealed.

Just like any worldly system where the leader lords it over the subjects, it was so in the minds of Zebedee and his family. Leadership in the worldly system is a position of privileges, honor and benefits. This concept is diametrically opposite according to the heavenly Kingdom in which leadership is a position of service and suffering.

Each of the twelve disciples was concerned about their future in the immediate coming Kingdom. The wife of Zebedee and her two sons carried it a bit too far; they had a family discussion on this and resolved that the mother approach Jesus. It was not a joking matter. In the book of Mark, the Bible says it were the boys who spoke implying what their mother did was a family resolution. It was something burning in James and in John, and probably the entire family.

In their own conception, they had been recruited and were being trained for the new and powerful Kingdom in which the sick were healed, food in abundance, demons quaking and the dead raised to life. The family knew that their sons had fallen into things (Blessings). But there was this Peter, a fellow fisherman who seemed to be a threat. He was always first in everything. Peter was a threat; a man of action and gifted in warfare. He promised to give protection to the Lord and delivered the promise: When the threat surfaced, in a matter of seconds the ear of enemy was slashed down.

[To read the complete message, please click on this PDF file: 6-20-15-Implications-of-Our-Prayers]