Abrogation or Progressive Revelation: Islam versus Christianity

Surah 2:106 of the Qur’an reads: “Such of Our revelations as We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, we bring (in place) one better or the like thereof. Knowest thou not that Allah is Able to do all things?” (from The Glorious Qur’an translation)

Another edition of the Qur’an, The Holy Qur’an translated by Abdullah Yusuf Ali, reads slightly differently: None of our revelations Do We abrogate Or cause to be forgotten, But We substitute Something better or similar: Knowest thou not that God Hath power over all things?

Though the renderings differ, the meaning is obvious; earlier verses received by Muhammad were replaced by later verses. And abrogation, the replacing of doctrines, is of great interest.

Abrogation

Very early Muhammad received from Gabriel[1] the message that the Jews and Christians, people of the Book as they were known, and who shared a similar origin with Muslims, were not counted as disbelievers.

First, from The Glorious Qur’an:

“Lo! Those who believe (in that which is revealed unto thee, Muhammad), and those who are Jews, and Christians, and Sabaeans[2] – whoever believeth in Allah and the Last Day and doeth right – surely their reward is with their Lord, and there shall no fear come upon them neither shall they grieve.”

Then from the Ali translation: Those who believe (in the Qur’an) And those who follow the Jewish (scriptures), And the Christians and the Sabians, Any who believe in God And the Last day, And work righteousness, Shall have their reward With their Lord: on them Shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.

Despite the differences in the two editions of the Qur’an, it is plain that the Jews and Christians, People of the Book, were not counted as disbelievers by Muhammad.

But things changed, due to any number of reasons, but mostly because of opposition to Muhammad’s preaching from both Jews and Christians—thus was born the concept of abrogation, that is, the later truths replaced or superseded the earlier truths.

There are many instances of this in the Qur’an. One is the idea that there is no compulsion in religion. The first sentence of Surah 2:256 reads: “Let there be no compulsion in religion.” But this was abrogated or changed and Islam would be forced upon disbelievers. It is interesting to note that Islam means submission, and originally it was by choice not compulsion. That changed with the opposition Muhammad received even in Mecca and especially so in Medina. It became normative that disbelievers would either be forced to convert or pay taxes to their Muslim overlords. If not, only death remained as an option. This is clearly stated in Surah 47:4. (The Ali translation)

Therefore, when ye meet The Unbelievers (in fight), Smite at their necks;[3] At length, when ye have Thoroughly subdued them, Bind a bond Firmly (on them): thereafter (Is the time for) either Generosity of ransom:

From The Glorious Qur’an is Surah 5:33:

The only reward of those who make war upon Allah and His messenger and strive after corruption in the land will be that they will be killed or crucified, or have their hands and feet on alternate sides cut off, or will be expelled out of the land. Such will be their degradation in the world, and in the Hereafter theirs will be an awful doom.

Of course, there are the Satanic Verses, of Salmon Rushdie fame, where Muhammad at first conceded that a particular Arab tribe’s god and goddesses would be honored, but later on, after receiving significant negative reaction from Muslim faithful, Muhammad flip flopped and condemned the worship of the pagan deities.

At one point Muhammad had compromised with a pagan Arab tribe, the Quraish, that their deities, Al Lat, Al Uzza, and Manat and said that he had received from Allah that these idols could be worshipped. While this news thrilled the Quraish, the Muslim faithful were quite unhappy about it. In time, the verses acknowledging the efficacy of the gods and goddess if the Quraish tribe were abrogated. Passages to look to on this matter are: Surahs 17:19–20, 22:52–53, and 53:19–20.

Muslims do not deny the practice of abrogation, but uphold it.

Muslims also see their religion as superseding or replacing Judaism and Christianity, as an intentional and natural progression ordained by Allah. Islam, Muslims believe, is the culmination of what is revealed in the Scripture, meaning the Old and New Testaments. Certainly Christians claim the Old Testament to be inspired by the Creator God, while official Judaism rejects the New Testament in terms of it being revealed by the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Islam is not the only religion to regard their revelations to be the final message from God. This approach has been copied by many over the years including the Mormons; in fact, Islam and Mormonism share an uncanny resemblance. In Mormonism you have an angel giving the book of Mormon on golden plates that present a new and improved truth that abrogates all that went before, meaning especially Biblical Christianity.

Progressive Revelation

Christians hold that the New Testament does not make much sense apart from the Old Testament. We see the prophecies of the Messiah sprinkled throughout the Hebrew Scripture, and starting with Genesis 3:15:

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.

The woman, Eve of course, Mary the mother of Jesus, and also the people of God, indeed the Church, are the “woman” of Genesis 3:15, and it has so been understood down through the centuries. The offspring of the woman delivers a deathblow to Satan, the serpent, while the serpent merely bruises the offspring’s heel. And that is how it worked out, just as Genesis said. The Apostle John would much later write: “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8b).

Then there is Psalm 22 where King David describes a man dying on a cross, and written just about 1000 years before the actual even takes place. Not only that, but the Greeks, history tells us, did not use crucifixion as a means of execution for centuries after David wrote his Psalm. Then the Romans picked it up from the Greeks some centuries later.

The Psalm begins with words Jesus spoke while on the cross, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” This forsakenness is the subject of Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane. (see Mark 14:32–42) In verses 16 to 18 of Psalm 22 we find,

For dogs encompass me, a company of evil doers encircles me, they have pierced my hands and feet – I can count all my bones – they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.

There is more from this Psalm that makes it clear David is depicting a man dying on a cross.

In the eighth century before Christ, the prophet Isaiah describes the suffering servant of Israel who dies for sin as an atoning sacrifice to the holy God of Israel.

I will limit myself to just a few verses, but the whole of the chapter, even parts of chapters 52 and 54, could be presented as well. Here is Isaiah 53: 5–6:

But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities, upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every on to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Verse 9 of Isaiah 53 describes exactly what happened after Jesus’ death on the cross: “And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.” Jesus died as a criminal yet buried in a rich man’s grave, that of one of the members of the elite Sanhedrin, Joseph of Arimathea.

Isaiah did more than speak of the suffering servant of Israel, he prophesied that the Messiah would be born of a virgin. The key verse is Isaiah 7:14: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Two key points are made in the verse. One, a virgin would conceive and give birth — “offspring” — (remember Genesis 3:15 and the offspring of the woman). And two, the child would be God. Immanuel means, God with us. There it is, the child is actually God become flesh. Here is how the Apostle John put it: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14a). We note that in verse one of chapter one of the John’s Gospel he makes it clear that the “Word” is God.

Then the prophet Micah, long centuries before Jesus’ day, describes His birthplace. “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me, one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days” (Micah 5–2). And that is just where Jesus was born, Bethlehem.

There is Daniel’s prophecy that actually describes the period of time when the Son of Man would appear. And also the prophet Malachi stating that there would be a forerunner announcing the coming of the Messiah crying in the wilderness to prepare the way for the arrival of that long promised Messiah. And it would be fulfilled when John the Baptist saw Jesus coming to be baptized in the Jordan River. John cried out, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).

The point is, everything about Jesus, from who He is, what He did, when He did it, and what it meant — all is outlined centuries before the events took place in real time.

The Distinction

Abrogation is utterly different from progressive revelation. In the Qur’an, changes in policy and understanding forced Gabriel, Allah, Muhammad, someone, to change their mind. The Jews and Christians would be tolerated for only a few short years, until, boom, not tolerated anymore.

Progressive revelation is God beginning at one point and moving throughout history toward the end goal, His ultimate intention, which is to bring those made in His image, those whom He called to be His chosen people, to once again have perfect fellowship with Him in Paradise.

The difference between Islam and Biblical Christianity could not be greater.

Two more little things

Works and Grace

Muslims depend on getting lots of points by performing rites and rituals so that they have a chance of going to paradise when they die. Stated another way, Islam is works based. It all depends on what one does. The sure way to get to Paradise is to die in violent jihad, or maybe if one builds a mosque. It any case it is chancy since Allah is a deceiver and might just lead one astray.

Going to heaven to be with Jesus forever and ever depends on the grace of God that is freely given to lost sinners like myself. I cannot earn it, achieve it, or work so very hard and die a martyr — no, nothing at all will make it happen, as it all depends on the love that God has for us. “For God so loved the world, the he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16). And even the “believes” part is a gift as Paul points out in Ephesians 2:8–9: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one my boast.”

World Views

I do have to mention a second really huge difference between Islam and Christianity, and that has to do with the fundamental goals of the two religious systems.

Islam intends, as commanded by Allah in the Qur’an, to dominate the world. The state and the religion will be one and all under Shariah Law – this is the Muslim worldview. And this accomplished by whatever means necessary, and is the reason for the horrors perpetrated by Muslims who take the Qur’an seriously.

Christianity has one goal this side of the return of Messiah Jesus, and that is summed up by Jesus Himself in Acts 1:8: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Christians are to present the message of Christ and the Holy Spirit does the rest. It is as Paul says in Romans 10:17, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” Jesus, both who He is and what He did on the cross, is presented, simply preached, and those whom God has called will be convicted of their sin, the Holy Spirit will reveal Jesus as the Savior, and the miracle of conversion will take place.

Yes, there have been times when Christendom[4] got it wrong and combined with military power, forced conversions, as if such a thing were possible.

Biblical Christianity is evangelical and true Christianity has always had its evangelicals, from day one, and by evangelical I mean all those, regardless of what group they belonged to, went about preaching Jesus.

The contrasts between Islam and Christianity are nearly endless, but this essay at least points out some of the more dramatic ones.

[1] The exact process by which Muhammad received the recitations from Allah that eventually became the Qur’an, through the angel Gabriel, is unclear. Allah did not appear to Muhammad nor did Muhammad hear directly from Allah. The intermediary, Gabriel was either physically present, or Muhammad heard the angel’s voice, or Muhammad’s mind was ‘impressed’ and such impressions were passed on to others. This last idea is more probable since it appears Muhammad would enter a trance state to receive the revelations from Gabriel.

[2] There is no nation or tribe known today as the Sabaeans, and little is know of their history.

[3] ‘Smite at their necks” came to mean beheading.

[4] “Christendom” refers to the visible church and not the invisible Church, which is known only to God. It is not to be assumed that what the visible church has done over the centuries to be representative of Biblical Christianity.

GOSPEL MEDITATION # 220

Mark 12:38-44

Beware of the Scribes & The Widow’s Offering

1. Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions.
2. Be comfortably alert, still and at peace.
3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer
4. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
5. Slowly and carefully read the passages of Scripture.
6. Reread them. From memory, determine the central points.
7. In our own day we notice that we, and others, love the admiration and attention of others, and we will go to absurd extremes to receive such. Nothing has changed.
8. Religious leaders—garments, degrees, titles, symbols of authority and power—again, nothing has changed. To these, read US, Jesus issues a warning–BEWARE.
9. Why the warning? Because these will demand too much of us and cause us to look to them for a salvation only God can give.
10. “Greater condemnation”—a chilling thought all around. Is Jesus indicating there are degrees of hell? (see Matthew 8:12, 22:13, and 25:30)
11. In the Court of the Women, in the Temple, were 13 trumpet shaped receptacles used to collect tithes and offerings. Jesus sat by these on probably Wednesday of the last week of His earthly ministry.
12. The poor widow dropped 2 leptas into one of these, each worth 1/64 of a denarius, both together equaled a penny, the minimum.
13. Proportionally it represented a great deal in terms of sacrifice. It was all that she had.
14. Most importantly however, those who could afford to give did it as a show. The coins, as they were deposited in the “trumpets” (and the word describes much) drew attention from others. The widow’s “mite” would not have.
15. What would the penniless widow do now?

GOSPEL MEDITATION # 219

Mark 12:35-37

Whose Son is Christ?

1. Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions.
2. Be comfortably alert, still and at peace.
3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer
4. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
5. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
6. Reread it. From memory, determine the central points.
7. The setting–Wednesday of the Last Week. Jesus is teaching at the temple.
8. For a long period, perhaps from the beginning, Israel had supposed the Messiah to be a man, the son of David, a human being only.
9. Indeed, the Messiah would come from the tribe of Judah and from the clan of David, the great king, who had lived one thousand years before. (see Matthew 1:2-6 and Luke 3:23-34)
10. Many had announced their Messiahship, raised up small armies, and attempted to overthrow Rome. All failed.
11. At that point, despite the failures, the people yet looked for a human, political/military deliverer.
12. Now, with Jesus’ time running out, He makes a strong attempt to make it clear that the Messiah was also divine.
13. Psalm 110 and verse 1 is where David himself made it clear that “my Lord”, as revealed by “the Lord” who is no one less than Yahweh–the covenant name of God—(see Exodus 3:13-15) must be God as well.
14. The problem would be then, and throughout subsequent history, that the nature of Jesus would be misunderstood.
15. The Body of Christ, the Church, gradually realized who Jesus must be, very God of very God and very man of very man, or in other words, both God and man at once.
16. This is, to us, unreasonable and thus can only be understood by special revelation from God directly.

GOSPEL MEDITATION

Mark 12:13-17

Paying Taxes to Caesar

1. Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions.
2. Be comfortably alert, still and at peace.
3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer
4. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
5. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
6. Reread it. From memory, determine the central points.
7. Jesus had powerful enemies who desperately wanted Him out of the way, and murder was the end goal.
8. The Roman coin denarius was the yearly tax for every male Jew; it was called a “poll tax.” The Romans would calculate the potential rebel force liable against them.
9. The coin has Tiberius Caesars imprint on it with the words, on the reverse side, “Highest Priest.” The coin was considered “unclean” by the Jews.
10. A calculated plot by the leaders, the Sanhedrin, now combined with the Herodians, a political/religious party that served Roman interests — a perfect chance to trap Jesus.
11. If Jesus denied paying the tax, He would be counted a rebel. If He taught it right to pay the tax, His enemies thought He would lose favor with the people who hated to pay the denarius to the hated Romans.
12. What a mind, what a quick and cutting rejoinder: He asked for a coin, the one used to pay the tax.
13. He asked the obvious, which question pointed out that the coin was minted by Tiberius and therefore belonged to him. He who ruled had the right to tax.
14. Render to Caesar, one of the most oft repeated phrase in human history. So then, pay the tax whether liked or not.
15. But larger is what is owed to God, the Creator, the King of all people – render to Yahweh then what is owed.

GOSPEL MEDITATION #215

The Parable of the Vineyard

Mark 12:1-12

(Also see Psalm 118:19-29; Is. 5:1-7; Jer. 2:21)

1. Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions.
2. Be comfortably alert, still and at peace.
3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer.
4. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
5. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
6. Reread it. From memory, determine the central points.
7. Foreigners rented out land to be worked by Galileans, so the framework of the parable was common knowledge.
8. The owner made it possible for the land to be productive, all at his expense. Thus, the owner of the land had a right to a return on the investment and thus would send others to receive that.
9. The mistreatment of those sent was beyond reason. Here we are to think of the prophets and others God had sent to those of His “vineyard” to receive what was His.
10. One after the other, the owner of the vineyard was rebuffed, ignored, and treated with great disrespect.
11. One emissary was held in reserve – a beloved son. When the time was right, the owner sent this special son supposing this one would be respected.
12. Here we see the nature of the parable: it can be interpreted according to another story line.
13. The son is obviously Jesus Himself, the beloved of the Father, who ought to be received and honored. The opposite occurs.
14. This favored son is killed, which would actually take place within three days. The result would be catastrophic for the workers of the vineyard – they would be destroyed.
15. This scenario had been predicted long centuries before. The son, or in the words of the Psalmist (Psalm 118:22-23), the “cornerstone” would be rejected.
16. We are however startled to discover that the whole of it “was the Lord’s doing” and what appeared to be a tragedy is really “marvelous in our eyes.” And so it is!

GOSPEL MEDITATION # 214

Mark 11:15-19 & 27-33

Jesus Cleanses the Temple &

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

1. Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions.
2. Be comfortably alert, still and at peace.
3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer
4. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
5. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
6. Reread it. From memory, determine the central points.
7. It is likely that Jesus “cleansed” the Temple twice, the first time is recorded in John 2:13-22. So then at the outset and the close of Jesus ministry He protested what worship in the Temple had become.
8. It was at the court of the Gentiles where the money changers set up shop (only the proper shekel could be used to pay the yearly tax and not the Roman denarius.).
9. The animals, from sheep to doves (not pigeons), had to be “pure” and available, so the sellers of animals were there.
10. Noisy, stinky, crowded—not the conditions for worship and prayer. The Gentile court had become a market.
11. Such was not the intention of God and Jesus’ action called attention to that fact.
12. Those who held religious authority were highly upset and thus they challenged Jesus about what He had done on the day after the event.
13. They wanted to know by what authority He was acting under. Jesus did not answer but brought up the matter of John the Baptist whose message is best represented by the words found in John 1:19, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
14. John’s ministry was rejected by the religious authorities, but he was well received by most people.
15. Jesus then asked His questioners as to weather John’s ministry was of God or not. This question is still valid.

GOSPEL MEDITATION # 213

The Lesson of the Fig Tree

Mark 11:12-14, 20-26

1. Be comfortably alert, still and at peace.
2. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer
3. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
4. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
5. Reread it. From memory, determine the central points.
6. In between the two segments of this meditation about a fig tree is the story of Jesus cleansing the temple.
7. Jesus “curses” the fig tree, not a good title for this story. He did not curse the tree, He did state it would not bear fruit. He was saying something far different.
8. Israel is spoken of as a fig tree (see Hosea 9:10) and it is generally understood that Jesus, now within days of His crucifixion, stated that the ministry of Israel had come to end, even failed, and another people of God would arise to carry out the ministry that had been intended for the nation. See Jeremiah 31:31-34 on this point.
9. A day later the fig tree had withered completely, a process that might have taken a year or more naturally.
10. Jesus now makes a statement about prayer, indicating that rather than a curse, Jesus had said a prayer and this was why the fig tree had withered.
11. Here now Jesus explains that prayer involves an utter trusting in God for answers to prayer, with no wavering or doubting, which is mostly impossible for even the most sincere and dedicated Christian. But the standard is there.
12. Then we have a teaching that at first sight does not seem completely inline with what went before, but it must be absolutely connected. Here is another opportunity for Jesus to show how important it is that His followers be forgiving people.
13. We are called to be honest about whether there is forgiving work to do.

GOSPEL MEDITATION # 212

The Triumphal Entry-Mark 11:1-11

(also see Zechariah 9:9 and John 12:12-19)

1. Be comfortably alert, still and at peace.
2. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer
3. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
4. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
5. Reread it. From memory, determine the central points.
6. Zechariah presents an interesting, even contradictory account, on the surface anyway, of the arrival of the Messiah—oddly both a king and also a humble man—at once.
7. At the point of history under discussion, the potential arrival of the Christ, was at a fever pitch especially given the situation with the hated Romans.
8. That there was a man who healed, cast out demons, and raised the dead (especially see John 12:9-10) on his way with throngs of followers to Jerusalem had everyone in an uproar.
9. Jesus had arranged, without his disciples knowing it, for a young male donkey that had never been ridden be accessible to him, shows Jesus was thinking ahead.
10. When the disciples saw what was taking place they must have thought, “This is it.” He is going to announce his kingship today.
11. Jesus let the disciples and the crowd have their way. He accepted their praise and adoration since he was in fact was the Messiah and was doing exactly what the prophet Zechariah had announced centuries earlier.
12. “Hosanna” even, Lord save us. The shout that the Messiah is now here was made loud and clear.
13. For quite a time Jesus did as the people expected; he enter the gate, made his way to the temple, and merely “looked around at everything.” That is all he did.
14. Mark says it was “already late” so Jesus simply returned to the Bethany, likely to the home of Mary & Martha.

GOSPEL MEDITATION #211

Mark 10:46-52

Jesus Heals Blind Bartimaeus

1. Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions.
2. Be comfortably alert, still and at peace.
3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer
4. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
5. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
6. Reread it. From memory, determine the central points.
7. Note: Matthew has two blind men, Luke has the event taking place west of Jericho as opposed to east in Matthew and Mark. Interesting to speculate on the differences.
8. Pilgrims by the thousands on their way to Jerusalem via the Jericho Road. On this road the good Samaritan came to the rescue of a man badly beaten by robbers. (Luke 10:25)
9. Bartimaeus was doing what hundreds were likely doing—asking alms from the pilgrim–which was traditional.
10. Bartimaeus was hearing reports that Jesus was on the road and heading his way. Amongst the crowd were likely some who thought Jesus might announce himself as Messiah.
11. Though there were efforts to quiet the blind man, he refused to shut up and rather became even more persistent.
12. He identifies Jesus as Messiah (Son of David) and believes Jesus can heal him. His cry, “have mercy on me” has been echoed down through the ages.
13. Jesus called Bartimaeus to himself. We get out word “phone” from the Greek word for call. There is a major theology attached to the word call. See Romans 8:30.
14. Jesus ask Bartimaeus what he wants and once he hears the request, without a touch or even a mention of anything like “be healed” Bartimaeus was healed.
15. Jesus tells him to “go you way” but Bartimaeus does not do so. Rather, he joins the crowd and follows Jesus, apparently, into Jerusalem.

GOSPEL MEDITATION # 210

Mark 10:35-45

The Request of James and John

1. Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions.
2. Be comfortably alert, still and at peace.
3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer
4. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
5. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
6. Reread it. From memory, determine the central points.
7. “Sons of Thunder” (see Luke 9:51-56), James the elder and John the younger brother, is the nickname Jesus gave them.
8. Matthew (see Matthew 20:20-28) tells us that the mother of the young men approached Jesus with the request that one sit at the right and other at the left side of Jesus when he is the reigning King of glory. In an ‘oriental court’ these places were reserved for the chief power brokers.
9. To harmonize the two accounts, either the boys or the mother was behind the request and my thought it was James and John, though we cannot be certain. In any event, it was a staggering move and unbecoming to the whole family. (James Zebedee would be the first Christian to die for his faith.)
10. It does demonstrate that the Zebedee family had no doubts about who Jesus was. It would be only a matter of time before the kingdom would be established in Jerusalem, as they thought, and despite being warned now three times by Jesus personally that he would be killed, they must have ignored that information.
11. The event provided Jesus a perfect opportunity to reveal the real meaning of being a follower of Jesus. As Jesus came to serve so they would servants as well.
12. Jesus understood power, he was aware of Roman power of course and also of the power of his own religious rulers. The exercise of authority and power, this is the universal core to that which was sin.
13. One more time Jesus reminds his followers that his chief service would be in his dying, the ransom, the supreme payment to the Father for our sinfulness.