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

 

 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 taught the parable of the Workers in the Vineyard:  "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 the 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.  But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received each 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 Christ has taught the disciples about what is to come in Jerusalem.  My study Bible comments that His repeated prediction of His Passion was meant to encourage and strengthen them to face the terrifying events that would come.   Theophan suggests that it is as if Christ were saying, "Think on all these [words and miracles], so that when you see me hanging on the Cross, you will not imagine that I am suffering because I am powerless to do otherwise."

 

 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."  Once again we see the disciples concerned for personal greatness in Christ's kingdom.  Only this time, it is specific to Zebedee's sons (the disciples James and John).  We know that previously they asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" (see this reading), after which Jesus has spent considerable time teaching about humility and gracious behavior to even the littlest ones in His Church.  Jesus has counseled a rich young ruler to sells his possessions and give to the poor and become a disciple (in this reading), after which Peter asked, concerned, "See, we have left all and followed You.  Therefore what shall we have?" (in Tuesday's reading).  After this, Jesus taught them the parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (in yesterday's reading, see above).  So this request comes with a history of concern and teachings by Jesus over the subject of both positions of authority in the Kingdom and how that authority is to be used.  My study Bible comments, in that context, that this quest for temporal power and glory is unfitting for a disciple and also shows an earthly misunderstanding of the Kingdom of God.  Matthew tells us that it is the mother of Zebedee's sons who makes the request for this honor, but the brothers' involvement is revealed as Jesus address them in the plural "you" (evident in the Greek text); see also Mark 10:35.  Jesus calls His Crucifixion a cup and His death a baptism.  My study Bible explains that the Cross is a cup because He drank it willingly (Hebrews 12:2), and His death is baptism because He was completely immersed in it -- yet it cleansed the world (Romans 6:3-6).  It further notes that Christ's prophecy of John and James participating in the same cup and baptism is a revelation of the life of persecution and martyrdom they would lead after Pentecost.  When He declares that the places of honor in the Kingdom are not His to give, He doesn't mean that He lacks authority.  Rather, it means that they aren't His to give arbitrarily; instead, they will be given to those for whom God has prepared them.  In terms of sitting as equals on the right and left of Christ in His Kingdom, St. John Chrysostom teaches that there is no one who could possibly occupy such a position.  Regarding the highest places of honor that can e given to human beings, in the icons of the Church it is universally depicted that the Virgin Mary (the most blessed among women - Luke 1:28) and John the Baptist (the greatest born of women - Matthew 11:11) hold these places.

 

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."  Once more, Jesus teaches the disciples about leadership and authority in His Church.  This time He directly contrasts the kind of power wielded in the empires and kingdoms of the Gentiles (such as the court of Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee, for example) with what power and positions of greatness should mean in His Church among them.  My study Bible says that He first corrects the disciples by comparing them to the power-hungry Gentiles, whom they themselves considered an abomination, and then He contrasts them to Himself, who serves us although He is Lord of all.

In modern times, there is a famous political quotation often repeated as one that inspires true patriotism.  It was made by President John Kennedy at his inaugural address in January 1961.  President Kennedy said, "Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country."  While political programs and aims to garner votes might seem today far away from this high ideal, this statement by President Kennedy continues to be invoked as one that is truly inspired and inspiring.  It seems to me a statement predicated on the ideas of Jesus regarding service as the epitome of greatness, applied in a common political setting of patriotism to one's country.  If we can still, in our modern culture, pay tribute to this sentiment as good and inspiring, then let us take seriously Christ's absolute insistence on this foundation of power for His Church, and among those who would follow Him.  We need to take it very seriously and apply it to ourselves and to our Church today.  We can look around ourselves and see all kinds of ways in which notions of power and its use remain a stumbling block to those in authority and even to the rest of us.  Our churches stumble with stories of abuse of "little ones," or stories of abuse of position for personal gain, expenditures and wealth, and position in the society.  We don't have to name them all to be familiar with them!  But we should still take the time to appreciate how extraordinarily important Christ's teachings are on this subject.  Not only are they the great focus in the many recent readings in Matthew's Gospel preparing the disciples for the journey to Jerusalem and the events that will happen there, but they remain the bedrock and foundation of teaching for what His Church should be like.  This doesn't apply only to our leadership, but to all of us.  We are to be models to all the rest, a paradigm of what it is to be in God's kingdom, and we are to shine the light of God's glory through our love and care of one another (Matthew 5:16).  It is this notion of service that Christ so clearly takes great pains to distinguish from the notions of greatness of the rulers of the Gentiles, who "lord it over" one another and exercise great authority over others as signs of greatness.  Well, we followers of Christ are, for the most part, descendants of those Gentiles and those systems, and it is up to us to be vigilant regarding our own understanding of power -- and more importantly, what makes a person truly "great."  In a modern time it is easy to mistake prescriptions for virtuous behavior for the kind of graciousness Christ is teaching, but if we think this is merely about following the rules then I fear we have missed the point.  There will always be those in every nominal group who have no currency, who are considered to be outsiders, unpopular, looked down upon simply for reasons of identity and not for anything they have done.  This is an unfortunate fact of human societies, and it hasn't changed despite our efforts to teach these gracious teachings of Christ about how power should be used if we are His followers.  Let us consider what it means to be loyal enough to Christ to ask ourselves what our social life should look like when we approach it with the idea of service in mind.  What is God's ideal of service?  How do we practice a kind of love that is compassionate, and at the same time not kowtowing to whims of fashion or current prejudice being offered as enlightened social decree (often for someone's personal gain)?  How do we truly build up community in this sense of service that gives true glory to God, spreads the light of Christ, and at the same time lends dignity to the notion that we are all made to dwell in God's image, to behold God's face in others, and to keep in mind that the angels of the most humble always behold God's face in heaven?  Let us consider what it means to serve Christ and Christ's community in this sense, to love God and neighbor -- and to expect the same of those in leadership.  For we ourselves must take on this mantle we're given, and set the example as best we can, with whatever place we have in life.