The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many

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.’

- Mark 10:32-45

As Jesus continues along the road toward Jerusalem, he further explains to his disciples what is going to happen to them. From their deeds of power, they have begun to be initiated into the sacrifices for the kingdom, notions of humility and rank and right-relatedness given to them. Here Jesus speaks clearly about what is going to happen to him: ‘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.’

But John and James focus on the glory that is coming after three days. They wish to be granted positions within that 'new realm' initiated by Jesus' resurrection. Jesus asks them if they are able to take the cup he is taking, to be baptized as he will be baptized. ‘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?’ He first of all must press on them the sacrifices he is making, that it is his very life he gives for this kingdom. They agree that they can do this, and Jesus says that this is so. However, Jesus also explains that to sit at his right or left hand is not his to grant - this depends on the will of the Father. Once again, he is elaborating on themes begun in yesterday's passage, in which he reminded his listener that what is Good is of God.

The rest of the disciples come to hear what they are discussing, and they get angry with James and John (brothers who are called Boanerges or "Sons of Thunder"). Jesus must then explain to them, first of all, that greatness in his particular kingdom is not the same as a worldly sort of greatness. Greatness in the realm which Jesus seeks to build and to initiate into the world through his work must be achieved through service to all. ‘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.’ Jesus must explain, as he did regarding the young man with many possessions, that his worldly life is in fact one of sacrifice for this kingdom. The wealthy young man was taught that his detachment from his possessions was the one thing that remained necessary for him to enter the kingdom. But Jesus in fact will give up his life as a ransom for many, in order to serve this kingdom in the world. Not only are the disciples asked to give up their personal ambitions of greatness to this kingdom and its reality and its way of working, but Jesus himself will serve as the greatest example of what it means to serve and to be great.

Can they do what he is doing? Can they take up that cup? Can they willingly drink the cup he is to drink, as he will do? Jesus "baptism" will be the full immersion in death, of which baptism by water is symbolic. So, in this passage, the disciples - and we - are introduced, more fully immersed so to speak, into notions of sacrifice, detachment and what the kingdom may ask of us as followers or disciples. Our very lives are to be transformed through this cross: we give up who we are and all we are to this kingdom. This becomes the service for which one is recognized as great. It is not so much about what precisely we give and we do, as it is that we accept to serve that will of God in this respect. But the baptism into which we are all baptized in this kingdom is a baptism unto our deepest depths, a full immersion of our whole lives. The point is, I believe, that we must allow it to take in all of our lives, all of who we are, what we want, etc. Its greatest member - and many others that would follow - went to their very deaths in voluntary service.