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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 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 gave us a parable: "For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.' So they went. Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said to them, 'Why have you been standing here idle all day?' They said to him, 'Because no one hired us.' He said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive.' So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, 'Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.' And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius. And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner, saying, '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." This is the third time Jesus prophesies to His disciples what is to happen to Him at Jerusalem.
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." My study bible says about today's passage, "Here is yet another discussion about greatness and rank among the disciples. Matthew reports that the mother of Zebedee's sons requested positions of honor for her sons, but John's and James's own involvement is revealed by the plural you in the Greek of verse 22 ['You do not know what you ask . . . '] and by their answer, We are able." Perhaps the mother of John and James is motivated by Jesus' announcement that He will rise again, and they are all thinking of a imminent kingdom coming to power.
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 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." A note remarks here on the fact that Christ calls His Crucifixion a cup and His death a baptism. It says, "The Cross is a cup because He drank it willingly (Hebrews 12:2). His death is baptism, for He was completely immersed in it, and by it He cleansed the world. He does not say the seating arrangement is not Mine to give to diminish His own authority. He means that it is not His alone to give."
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." My study bible says, "Here is a new definition of greatness. All offices and positions in the Church are for service of God's people based on love."
"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." A note here tells us, "The Only Begotten Son possessed the power to give His life voluntarily, and to take it up again (John 10:17). Christ, the lover of man, did not shun death, for He wished to prevent the whole world from perishing in sin. For many in Aramaic means 'for all.' "
As Jesus prepares His way for the journey to Jerusalem, a third announcement comes to the disciples of what is to happen there. But they are completely unprepared for the reality of it; there is nothing they know that can relate or prepare them for this. They suspect an imminent kingdom to manifest. They are still concerned with worldly greatness and what is to happen when He is raised again. In this case, the question of position comes from the mother of John and James Zebedee. It seems likely that she was Salome, one of the women who traveled with Jesus and supported His ministry, and is present during and after the Crucifixion. Some traditions hold that Salome was a cousin of Mary, the mother of Jesus, others that she was possibly a child of Joseph, Mary's husband, by a first wife. Either way, tradition suggests her closeness to the family, and gives us a deeper reason for the relationship between her sons and Jesus -- and especially that Jesus would call John Zebedee, from the Cross, to take His place as son and caretaker of Mary. But these who are among Jesus' closest inner circle become the means by which we are given one of the profoundest teachings about leadership and community: "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." It is Jesus who will serve as the great example of leadership for all of the Apostles, for the rest of His Church. Let us consider the profound meaning of His sacrifice, or rather, His redemption or ransom for all of us. We are set free by His death and Resurrection so that we, too, understand the power of the Cross, its victory over death, its offer of life that is beyond anything the world can throw at us that would limit our lives, and the transcendence of a relationship to God. A victory is in the vision of life as meaningful beyond what the world considers "great" but rather found in the concept of real service to what is truly good. Let us seek to embody His example in whatever ways we're given to follow Him, for we become a part of Him through His choice. To "Lord it over" others is not the highest calling. But to be called to serve what is truly just is the greatest of all. It changes everything.
