Sheep and Goats

At one point in Jesus’ ministry, the mother of James and John came to worship Jesus and he asked her what she wanted of Him. She answered, “Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left, in thy kingdom” (JST Matthew 20:21).

Jesus answered, “Ye know not what ye ask” (Matthew 20:22).

At first it would seem like James and John’s mother was asking a very reasonable thing. Wouldn’t every mother like her children near Jesus? But later, in Mathew 25:33, the Savior explains that when the Son of Man comes in glory, He is going to separate the righteous which he compares to sheep from the wicked which he compares to goats. “And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.” So what James and John’s mother unknowingly asked for is that one of her sons would be among the righteous and one among the wicked.

There is a great lesson in this for me. I must be careful what I ask my Father in Heaven for and remember that when He says no, it could be that I have actually asked for something that would not be good for me!