DAILY GRACE
June 3, 2020, Wednesday of the Eighth Week of Ordinary Time
Scripture: Mark 10:32-45
They were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them; they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them what was to happen to him, saying, ‘See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death; then they will hand him over to the Gentiles; they will mock him, and spit upon him, and flog him, and kill him; and after three days he will rise again.’
James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, ‘Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.’ And he said to them, ‘What is it you want me to do for you?’ And they said to him, ‘Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.’ But Jesus said to them, ‘You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?’ They replied, ‘We are able.’ Then Jesus said to them, ‘The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.’
When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. So Jesus called them and said to them, ‘You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.’
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Meditation
“‘Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.’
Way to go James and John! What a request! Probably most of us would respond to the brothers’ petition to be at the right and left hand of Jesus in his kingdom just as the other apostles did: “How dare they? Who do they think they are? How selfish of them to try to wiggle their way into the good graces of Jesus and get to the top before me!” Have you ever entertained such thoughts?
It’s interesting, however, that Jesus doesn’t respond with a reprimand to James and John. At the end of the Gospel he addresses the reaction of the other apostles. That’s interesting, isn’t it?
First, Jesus plays along with the two apostles’ game, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” “Okay,” he responds, “what do you want?” Jesus was certainly not as serious about himself as the men who followed him were serious about themselves. He would play and write outside the lines.
I can imagine the fondness with which he receives James and John’s loyal promise to drink of his cup. How much it must warm his heart to receive this token of their love. Yes, perhaps it is bit mixed in with ambition, but, honestly, isn’t all love mixed in with a bit of immaturity and dross? And, frankly, they offer Jesus their promise of loyalty to death (no small promise), while the other ten simply become angry that if they hadn’t been watching closely to protect their interests, the offending duo would have jockeyed into higher positions than they.
Sermons and spiritual books tend to concentrate on Jesus’ final words, “whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant.” But perhaps if the other ten hadn’t started an argument, Jesus wouldn’t have needed to even say that. Perhaps Jesus would have just given the two ambitious brothers a pat on the back, grateful that, at least in some budding way, they had higher aspirations to live and even to die with him.
Prayer
Lord, they say we receive from you as much as we believe we shall. So I’m going to the top with this request. I want to be with you forever. I ask you to accomplish in me all that you desire for me. I ask this out of love (and if I’m honest, also out of a bit of ambition). May my ambition not be so much about self-promotion but ultimately about service. And may my service always be good and rooted in you. Amen.
Contemplation
Accomplish in me all that you desire of me.