You do not know what you ask

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

Yesterday, we read of the young man who came running to Jesus, to ask, "Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" Jesus first of all pointed to God, saying that only God is good. He added, "You know the commandments. 'Do not commit adultery,' 'Do not murder,' 'Do not steal,' 'Do not bear false witness,' 'Do not defraud,' 'Honor your father and your mother.'" The man said that he had kept them all from his youth. Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me." At this the young man was sad and went away, because he had many possessions. Jesus said, "How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!" And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, "Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God! 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." The apostles were astonished and asked who then could be saved. Jesus said, "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible." Later, Peter pointed out they had left all for Him. Jesus told them, "Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel's, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time -- houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, 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." This is the third warning Jesus has given His disciples. It is also more detailed than before. He is making it explicit to them: He'll be handed over to the Gentiles (the Romans); He'll be humiliated, tortured, treated with contempt, and killed. He again repeats the prediction of His Resurrection.

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." Once again, the disciples interject a note of concern for greatness in His kingdom. This time it's the brothers James and John Zebedee who ask to sit at His right and left hand. Perhaps, as is also possible in the previous reading (here), it's because they misunderstand about His Resurrection.

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." Jesus has been repeatedly trying to teach them what He will go through; now is the time to prepare them more deeply for what it means to be a part of His kingdom in the world. It is not a promise of a "visible kingdom on earth or an immediate, victorious and glorious consummation," says my study bible, "but rather toils, struggles and conflicts. Cup and baptism are references to suffering and death. 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)." It's interesting to note how bold the disciples are, assured of their abilities to "drink this cup" and to be baptized with this baptism.

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." Jesus interjects another note about the kingdom: it is His Father's to prepare. Whoever would be great in this kingdom, whatever places anyone may hold, they are prepared by the Father. In all things, He follows the will of the "only One who is good." According to the Church Fathers, says my study bible, this is not by God's arbitrary choice, but according to a believer's sacrifice and suffering for Christ and the Kingdom. For me, this speaks of Jesus' humility in all that He will do, through His Passion and Resurrection. All is done in accordance with the will of the Father -- something about which even Jesus will say there are things of which He is unaware.

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." Again, as repeated so often throughout this part of Mark's Gospel, the message is one of humility, of servanthood. Christ Himself (as human being and Son) serves the will of the Father. And even more deeply does He serve, down to the littlest ones among them. He will give His life as a ransom for many. That many is uncountable. 2,000 years later His ransom is still at work yet for those who are to come and are coming. "Ransom," points out my study bible, "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."

Over and over again, Jesus repeats the need for humility and service in His Church. In today's reading, He goes so far as to say that those who would become greatest must become the slave of all. He puts Himself as the example for all of us, and that example continues to work for us today. We are to "love one another as He has loved us." He points out the difference between the way the rulers of the Gentiles work (they "lord it over them") and that this must not be the Way of His kingdom. Well, we can take that lesson to heart. It will never be repeated enough. Encased in the code of the Jewish Law was concern for the stranger, for the widow, for the orphan. Here, Jesus' community must be cemented by the nature of its leadership, and we should and must continue to hold our leadership in the Church by the same standard. Of course, it all starts with who we are. I have found that a sense of humility (a truly saving grace, and one that heals many ailments of the soul with which I battle in my life) comes through God's mercy and purpose. Jesus proclaims over and over again, and in this reading, that what is in His Kingdom is the Father's to give. He defers to the Father, and this is also our great example. Humility is learned through grace by deferring to God in prayer, setting aside our lives -- "our whole lives" -- to God, to the One that loves us best. This is the great gift of finding our place in the Kingdom. It is a daily practice, but one that serves truly our best interests.