Whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all.

Now they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed. And as they followed they were afraid. Then He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them the things that would happen to Him: "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again."

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him, saying, "Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask." And He said to them, "What do you want me to do for you?" They said to Him, "Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory." But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" They said to Him, "We are able." So Jesus said to them, "You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with you will be baptized; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared." And when the ten heard it, they began to be greatly displeased with James and John. But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, "You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

- Mark 10:32-45

In yesterday's reading, we read about the man who came to Jesus, and asked, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? First Jesus said that no is good but One, and that is God. Next He ascertained that the man had followed the Ten Commandments all of his life. But this man was very wealthy -- and, loving him, Jesus told him he lacked only one thing. He must sell whatever he had and give it to the poor, and follow Him. Having many possessions, the man turned away sad. Later Jesus told His disciples, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." They asked, "Who then can be saved?" Jesus said, "With men it is impossible, but not with God, for with God all things are possible." Later the disciples pointed out that they had left all for Him. Jesus assured them that no one gives their all for the gospel without tremendous return, a hundredfold - with persecutions. And in the age to come, eternal life. "But many who are first will be last, and the last first."

Now they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed. And as they followed they were afraid. Then He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them the things that would happen to Him: "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again." In the days since Peter's confession that Jesus is Christ, Jesus has tried to warn the disciples of what is to come. Repeatedly they fail to understand. Recent readings have taught us about their disputes as to who among them will be greatest in the kingdom. Here He turns to them again, as they are heading toward Jerusalem -- perhaps with conventional expectations of a political Messiah and the establishment of His holy kingdom -- and Jesus prepares them yet again for what is to come. This description now is in more detail than in the past, and also mentions that He will be handed over to the Gentiles, the Romans. Going toward Jerusalem carries with it an extraordinary weight in all spiritual matters, and those of the political leadership in all forms. This is, perhaps, why the disciples are both amazed and afraid. Jesus, however, clearly knows what He is headed toward.

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him, saying, "Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask." And He said to them, "What do you want me to do for you?" I love Jesus' response: He is ready to listen and do all He can do for people when they come to Him. He is completely open to what they have to say and gives all His attention.

They said to Him, "Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory." But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" They said to Him, "We are able." So Jesus said to them, "You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with you will be baptized; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared." Even His closest disciples, apparently -- His good friends John and James Zebedee, two of the three in His inner circle who witnessed the Transfiguration -- fail to understand the message of humility and of the type of kingdom this will be. They seemingly fail somehow to hear the warnings of what is to come. Partly for this reason, Jesus tells them they do not know what they ask. My study bible says, "He does not promise a visible kingdom on earth or an immediate, victorious and glorious consummation, but rather toils, struggles and conflicts. Cup and baptism are references to suffering and death. The disciples do not grasp this now. But they will meet both these realities in future persecutions and in the sacramental realities of the cup of the Eucharist (1 Cor. 11:26) and the death and resurrection of baptism (Col. 2:12)." There is a certainty expressed here also about the direction of the will of the Father: what is "prepared" is that which has been prepared by God the Father -- the Trinity working as One. Jesus, in His own humility, defers to the Father. My study bible says that, according to Church Fathers, this happens not by God's arbitrary choice but according to a believer's sacrifice and suffering for Christ and the Kingdom.

And when the ten heard it, they began to be greatly displeased with James and John. But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, "You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." Of course, today's reading is yet another teaching on the necessity of humility -- that greatness will and must include service and sacrifice. As well as repeating to them what will befall Him personally at Jerusalem, Jesus prepares them for true and ultimate discipleship on their parts -- and by extension, on our parts as well. He uses Himself as the example. He will serve all and has come not to rule, as the Gentiles (the Romans) "lord it over all" -- but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many. He will make the greatest sacrifice in order to help to secure this Kingdom coming into the world. My study bible has another note worth quoting: "Service is characteristic of true greatness. The model is Christ's incarnate life and death: the perfect man is the perfect servant. Ransom is the price paid for the release of someone held captive. In this case, humanity is released from the bondage of sin and death by Christ's redemptive sacrifice on the Cross."

What does service mean to you, today in our lives? How can we relate to Jesus' message here of service and sacrifice in the context of a modern complex mechanism of advertising, modern goods, conveniences, wealth and luxury? There are so many "things" which life may tempt us to think we must have in abundance (see yesterday's reading). These things tend to shape our image of ourselves, we may come to rely on them to do so -- and advertising and popular culture reinforces this idea. And beyond that (in today's reading) and especially connected to it is the idea of power. What is power and control? How are they given and in what forms do we think they come? Who among us is considered great? Jesus here stands the idea of material or worldly power and greatness on its head. We still live among those who wish to "lord it over" others -- human weakness and this notion of power is still a part of our own frailties. What then, of service and sacrifice? We remember that, in yesterday's reading, Jesus first pointed to God as the only Good One to the wealthy young man. Christ's focus gives us something of significance and importance for which we sacrifice and serve, and that is a kingdom of love, wherein the Good One is love, and in whose love Christ comes to us incarnate, in order to express that love and teach us what it is about. We have a purpose in all this, we have a focus. It is the place that the "Good One" takes us to, and Jesus also fulfills that service in Himself and in His life, for us. What does service mean to you? Start with the focus in which Jesus placed the Good for the wealthy man. The focus here is on that which is prepared by the Father. To what kind of service are you called? How will your greatness be manifest in the call to this type of humility?