Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many

Now Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them, "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 to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again.

Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him. And he said to her, "What do you wish?" She said to Him, "Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom." But Jesus answered and said, "You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" They said to Him, "We are able." So He said to them, "You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; 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 by My Father." And when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers. But Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave -- just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many."

- Matthew 20:17-28

In yesterday's reading, Jesus told a parable of what it is like to work in the kingdom of heaven, and the reward that comes to each. There was a landowner who contracted with laborers to pay them each a denarius a day. At various times of the day he went into the marketplace to call more people to work for him. Finally, when evening came, he went to his steward and told him, "Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first." So each laborer, no matter how many hours he or she worked that day, was paid the same sum: one denarius. So the ones who worked longest complained, 'These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day." But he answered one of them and said, "Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good? So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen."

Now Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them, "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 to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again. Since the past Thursday reading, Jesus has been teaching His disciples about leadership in His Church. Every day since, the readings have touched on various aspects of leadership, and the core of humility and service that is required for understanding of what it is to truly be great. This is the third strong warning Jesus delivers to the disciples specifically about what is to come in Jerusalem. This one, however, is the most detailed -- each warning has been a little more graphic with respect to what is to come. He will be betrayed, to the chief priests and scribes, who condemn Him to death, and will then deliver Him to the Gentiles. There He will be mocked, and scourged, and crucified. It is hard to imagine how the disciples can take in this news, no matter how many times He has begun to prepare them.

Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him. And he said to her, "What do you wish?" She said to Him, "Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom." But Jesus answered and said, "You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" They said to Him, "We are able." As noted above, all the recent readings have been instruction and preparation for leadership in Christ's Church. It all began with a question from the disciples: "Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" After all of Jesus' teaching (see all the lessons in between last Thursday and today), and Jesus' extraordinary statement about the suffering and death He Himself will endure, James and John Zebedee's mother approaches Him, asking for positions of greatness for her sons. My study bible points out that while Matthew reports that it is their mother who makes the request, James' and John's own involvement is revealed by Jesus' address to them -- in the Greek, the "you" is plural -- and by their plural "we" in response to Him. What it shows is the stubbornness of our ideas of greatness and position, contrasted with the values of the Kingdom which Jesus (and Matthew's gospel) has taken such great care to present. In contrast to the disciples and their mother, we note specifically the wording Jesus uses in His own response here regarding what is to come for Him. My study bible says, "Christ calls His Crucifixion a cup and His death a baptism. The Cross is a cup because He drank it willingly. His death is a baptism, for He was completely immersed in it, and by it He cleansed the world." It is a choice He is making, a transformation He will undergo for the life of the world.

So He said to them, "You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; 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 by My Father." The brothers themselves -- and so many of the disciples -- will make sacrifices for the Kingdom, including martyrdom. But here is another example of humility in Jesus: to sit on His right hand and His left is not His alone to give. Christ works always in cooperation with the Father.

And when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers. But Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave -- just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many." What is the greater good? Whose is the higher love? Says my study bible, "Here is a new definition of greatness. All offices and positions in the Church are for service of God's people based on love." What we take away from this statement is a comparison to those to whom Jesus will be handed over -- and the type of leadership He desires in His Church, for which He will set down the great example for all. Christ's life of service is for all -- "for many" in the Aramaic, my study bible says, carries the meaning of "for all." The radical statements here are the greatest and most potent examples of Jesus' teaching on humility and service. They culminate all the readings emphasizing humility and leadership in the Church, and cannot be overemphasized for the language Christ uses here so vividly for us all.

Jesus will set us the great example of service and humility in His own death and Resurrection. He will give His life as a ransom for many, meaning for all those who come afterward in faith. The Church also teaches that He will go to the deceased as well, that they may live in spirit. There is no one left out of this phrase for many. This is something we often lose sight of, but the Church has always held that Christ is really a savior for the whole world, for every person, "for the life of the world" as John Zebedee will write in his own gospel bearing his name. Jesus' focus on leadership has been a focus of tremendous sacrifice, and today's language is even more strong in this dimension: the great shall be servants, the first shall be a slave. And we know what His own great sacrifice will entail. But I feel it's a good idea to focus on the good that is done in sacrifice that we may know nothing about. If Jesus' plan is indeed for the life of the world, those living and those passed, everyone to whom His name has gone and those who may know nothing of Him in their lifetimes in this world, we trust that these words are true, and that the traditional position of the Church is sound. There is no one left out who may benefit, find salvation and eternal life, through this sacrifice that begins the Church, and that is an example for the the life of the church. There is no one who is left out, one way and another. The repercussions of the good things we do today, the sacrifice we make and even the suffering we may endure for the sake of this gospel, may be something entirely incalculable for any of us. We just don't know how far down the line, and how far into the heart, even into eternity where all may dwell, what we do and what we may be asked to contribute may actually go. While the gospel readings focus on sacrifice -- the cup of Jesus' suffering on the Cross, the baptism of His death -- we must focus on the tremendous importance of what He is saying here. His life is a ransom "for many," for anyone who will accept it. Can we put a calculation on what may be, in fact, infinite? Let us consider Jesus' words, and where they lead us. Consider what you are a part of when you sacrifice and accept, with Him, the work for the kingdom which is for the life of the world. We remember the words from John's gospel: "I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world." The life of which He speaks is of this age and the age to come, the world in the Greek is not planet earth, but the whole cosmos, the whole of creation. We just can't possibly calculate how great that extends, its depth and height and breadth. But it lives in us, and in our service which we contribute, with Him as our prime example of leadership.