The Unheard Message

Mat 20:17 And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said unto them,
Mat 20:18 Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death,
Mat 20:19 And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.
Mat 20:20 Then came to him the mother of Zebedee's children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him.
Mat 20:21 And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom.

Jesus took his twelve disciples apart to speak to them of an important matter. When God wants to speak to us, it is best to be away from the crowd and in a place where you can hear what he is saying. Even then our thoughts can be elsewhere. We must learn to be where we can hear the voice of Jesus. In a gathering all may be in the same place, but all may not be hearing what is said. This is especially true in an Internet chat room, so many disruptions. Some are talking on instant messages, others are searching the Internet for information. A most important message may not be heard, even when all are together in one place. Jesus was giving them the gospel of his atoning sacrifice and they missed it.

Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death,
And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.

The message of redemption, the hope of our salvation and they did not hear. A distraction came right after. Zebedee's wife asking the Lord to make her son's, James and John to rule with him in his kingdom .The scripture said that they came worshipping him and asking for this favor. Something doesn't same right with that. It is like flattery in order to get something. Do we come "worshipping" only to get some favor? This sparked jealousy and strife among the disciples. They were competing for favor. Competition has no place in the kingdom of God, obedience is better. Competition leads to envy and strife. So much is said against this. We are to serve as we are able. It is enough to obey our callings. I see strife and pride in ministries where there is competition for the biggest crowd of people. Some are full of pride about being called an evangelist or prophet. Look to Jesus, not to pride or numbers. If a church is full, do they preach the atoning sacrifice? The shed blood? The resurrection and the baptism of Jesus in the Holy Spirit? Do you hear the word of God and obey or are you distracted? The thief comes to steal the word of God. In the parable of the sower Jesus spoke of the fowls coming to eat the seed that fell on the wayside.

Mat 13:4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

Jesus had taken his disciples to the wayside, he gave them the seed of his word. Then came the disruption of who would be the greatest in the kingdom. The fowls removed the seed of God's word. This important message was missed because of their dull hearing. Lets stop looking for prominence and position in ministry and just do what we are called to do. Are we so full of self that we are missing the Lord's message?