Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Matthew 20:23

"He saith unto them, My cup indeed ye shall drink: but to sit on my right hand, and on [my] left hand, is not mine to give; but [it is for them] for whom it hath been prepared of my Father." — Matthew 20:23 (ASV)

Jesus answers them first on their own terms before speaking of his own death as a ransom (v.28). In a sense they can and will drink from his cup of suffering. James would become the first apostolic martyr (Acts 12:2); and John (if it is the same one) would suffer exile (Revelation 1:9). Yet it is not Jesus’ role but his Father’s to determine who sits on his right hand and his left. Here, as elsewhere (11:27; 24:36; 28:18), Jesus makes it clear that his authority is a derived authority.