Behaviors/Weaknesses of Christians

Good morning everyone.

How r u?
R u ready 4 the word of God? Yes … let’s open our Bibles.

(Matthew 20: 20 - 28)

20
Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and,
kneeling down, asked a favor of him.
21
“What is it you want?” he asked. She said, “Grant that one of these two sons
of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.”
22
“You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink
the cup I am going to drink?” “We can,” they answered.
23
Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my
right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they
have been prepared by my Father.”
24
When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two
brothers. 25 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of
the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over
them. 26 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you
must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your
slave— 28 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.”

In these verses we have read about an event which had happened before Jesus was
ready to go to Jerusalem for His crucifixion. You all know the back ground, this
event revolves around the position which is to be achieved by the highest rank of
people, means standing on the left and right of Jesus Christ in His Kingdom. Yet I
will not talk about that position rather I will discuss about the human behaviors
which have been illustrated in these verses.
Behaviors of believers, because make it very clear and keep it in your mind that all
the characters presented here in these verses are believers. They are Zebedee’s
wife, John, James and Jesus. All three are followers of Jesus as well and believers.
Bible tells us a lot about their faithfulness. Today we will discuss about the
behaviors of these believers and learn from their behaviors for our guidance.
We see 4 major characters in this story, a mother, two sons and Jesus Christ, if we
keenly observe them then they show 3 types of behaviors in this scenario. 1 st type
of behavior is show by the Mother, 2nd type is John and James and 3rd type is Jesus
Christ. Ah! U would be amazed that I have included Jesus in the human behaviors
because He is a complete human in the days of his earthly ministry. He had all the
behaviors which you and I can have. That’s why it is written here purposefully. We
will see them one by one.

Zebedee’s Wife – A John and James Jesus Christ

Mother
Believer Believer Complete Human being,
though he is God yet
during his earthly
ministry, he can be seen
like a common man but a
complete human being.
Showing respect to Jesus, They want that very He is not moved by the
as she came and knelt position which is emotions that they are in
down in front of Him. mentioned in the verses, my circle so I will give
yet they are not asking them this favor.
for it by themselves. Hum
bhi aisa he krty hain
na?? Sometimes, when
we need something, we
do not ask for it rather
we push someone to ask
for it on our behalf.
These r common
behaviors, present in u n
me. Am I right?
She is asking for favor. They are looking for He is seeing towards God
Do we ask for favor?? someone who will ask the Father. His eyes are
Yes we do Jesus Christ to give them fix on His Father. Are we
that position. And who is like this??
the most trustworthy
person than a Mother.
They have chosen their
mother for this task. They
need the position but they
are not asking it rather
 they are finding other
ways.
She is asking for favor on They do not have He is not using His
behalf of her sons. She courage to face the things authority as Son of God.
does not want anything or matter. They can’t say He is under complete
for herself instead she it aloud. They have control of the will of God
wants kindness for her chosen a secret path to the Father even though
sons. get the position and no He has authority over
Do we ask favors for our one will know it. We do everything yet he is not
loved ones?? We do. it like this sometimes? using it by His own will.
yes we do
She is recommending her They never bothered to
sons to Jesus. Sifarish kr think about other
ri ha. Hum bhi sifarish disciples that what they
krty hain na?? Do we will think upon hearing
recommend someone to it; which is very obvious
others??? Yes we do. and we have read that all
the 10 disciples were
angry when they heard
this all.
Trying to use the
influence and closeness
of relationship. If u read
the new testament
thoroughly, it is very
clear that Jesus has 12
disciples but they are in 2
circles of relationship
with Jesus. One was the
bigger circle in which all
the disciples were present
but other is inner circle in
which only three
disciples out of 12 were
present, who are Peter,
John and James. They are
in the inner circle of
Jesus Christ, they are
closer to Him than others.
So they are trying to use
 this influence in their
favor.

So dear brethren, these are the common behaviors which are present in you and
me. These are very few given in one passage; if we see throughout the New
Testament about the disciples, there are bulk of them.
Though greatly favored as apostles of God’s Son, they manifested normal human
failings and weaknesses.
 Peter was inclined to be rash and impetuous (Mt 16:22, 23;Joh 21:7, 8);
 Thomas was slow to be convinced (Jn 20:24, 25);
 James and John manifested youthful impatience (Lu 9:49, 54).
 They acknowledged their need for greater faith. (Lu 17:5; compare Mt
17:20.) Despite their years of intimate association with Jesus and though
knowing him to be the Messiah, they all abandoned him at the time of his
arrest (Mt 26:56);
 The matter of his burial was handled by others.
 The apostles were slow at first to accept the testimony of the women who
first saw Jesus after his resurrection. (Lu 24:10, 11)
 Because of fear they met behind locked doors. (Joh 20:19, 26)
 The resurrected Jesus gave them further enlightenment, and following his
ascension to heaven on the 40th day from his resurrection, they manifested
great joy and “were continually in the temple blessing God.”— Lu 24:44-53
These are some of the examples of the behaviors of the believers. Their behaviors
are changing as per situations. We have examine the behaviors of believers, now
let’s see the behavior of Jesus Christ as man.
 His behavior is constant in all the situations
 Always has eyes on God
 Not moved by the emotions
 Not His will but God’s
See the difference between the behaviors of believers and Jesus Christ. You can
see such faults in the behaviors of all the saints of Old Testament as well, which
shows that they all were mere human beings like you and me. They were not super
humans, yet they are super heroes of the Bible. Amen.
  They have faults and flaws, yet believers. They have firm belief in their
Master, their Savior and their Lord: Jesus Christ.
 They were thinking about their own benefits, but they are not denying the
unconditional love of God.
 They don’t care about others and their feelings; still they proclaim the
unconditional love of Jesus Christ to the world.
We are also like this, we have such behaviors one or more. But like all the
believers present in Bible, What is the reason for their strong faith in Jesus Christ.
With all our faults and mistakes, while we are believers, God loves us. He does not
leave us nor forsake us. He accepts us with all our imperfections and corruption.
He never rejects us, rather he loves us and makes us Holy and perfect through the
blood of Jesus Christ. Because of His love, we are saved.
But to have a successful Christian life, what are the rules. A very important secret
of God’s Kingdom has unlocked in the passage we have read in the beginning by
Jesus Christ. I will read it for you. (Matthew 20: 25 - 28)
25
Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the
Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over
them. 26 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you
must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your
slave— 28 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.”
While I am talking about the flaws and faults of believers, it does not mean I am
encouraging you all to keep doing mistakes because we are saved by the grace. No,
Never
As Rom 6:15 says, “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but
under grace? Certainly not!”
Because once they got the Holy Spirit, their behaviors started to change and
gradually was changing according to the will God. It is just to highlight that we all
have faults, we all do mistakes but God loves us all. He wants us to become perfect
through the blood of Jesus Christ. Everything is written in the Bible, some of the
things are given us here for our guidance that we must follow them as they were
practiced by Jesus Christ our Lord and Master.
  His behavior is constant in all the situations so should be ours
 Always has eyes on God, likewise we must focus our eyes on our perfector
and savior Jesus.
 Not moved by the emotions; we need to do the same.
 Not His will but God’s. This is the prime purpose of our lives. So we must
try to fulfill it. It is obligatory for all the Christian believers.
These are some of the guiding principles upon which we can examine our
behaviors and make changes in them accordingly. My dear friends, let’s examine
ourselves through the lens of biblical commandments and try to mend our
behaviors in a way which are pleasing to God and His son our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.
May God bless you all!