Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?

 

 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 apostles the parable of 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 an 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 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 my 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 predicts to the disciples what will happen to Him at Jerusalem, in Holy Week.  But now there is a difference; He is truly going up to Jerusalem and has started that journey with them.   My study Bible comments that Christ's repeated prediction of His Passion was meant to encourage and strengthen the disciples for the terrifying events that they would face.  According to Theophylact, my study Bible notes, 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.   That the journey to Jerusalem has truly begun at this time no doubt has provided incentive for John and James Zebedee, and their mother, to make this request for positions of authority in the kingdom they assume will be established by Christ at Jerusalem.  My study Bible comments that this quest for temporal power and glory is unfitting for a disciple, and it also shows an earthly misunderstanding of the Kingdom  of God.  Here St. Matthew reports that it is the mother of Zebedee's sons who requested this honor, however, Jesus replies in the plural you -- revealing John's and James' own involvement.  This is also the case in Mark 10:36. 

 

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." My study Bible notes here that Christ calls His Crucifixion a cup and His death a baptism.  The Cross is a cup, it says, because Christ drank it willingly (Hebrews 12:2).  His death is a baptism, for He was completely immersed in it, and yet it cleansed the world (Romans 6:3-6).  Jesus' prophecy of Sts. John and James participating in the same cup and baptism reveals the life of persecution and martyrdom they would lead after Pentecost.  St. James would become the first apostle to be martyred (Acts 12:2).  St. John would go on to a long life through the persecutions of the early Church, and exile.  In so doing, he would produce the Gospel of John, three Epistles of John, and the Revelation, in addition to his care for the Virgin Mary, Mother of God, and his guidance and teaching for the early Church.  My study Bible adds that Christ declaring that the places of honor in the Kingdom are not His to give does not mean that He lacks authority.  This means, in particular, that they are not His to give arbitrarily.  Instead He will give them to those for whom God has prepared them.  Moreover, we're asked to note that with regard to sitting as equals on the right and left hand of Christ in His Kingdom, St. John Chrysostom teaches that no one could possibly occupy such a position.  Regarding the highest places of honor that can be given to human beings, the icons of the Orthodox Church universally show the Virgin Mary (most blessed among women - Luke 1:28) and St. John the Baptist (greatest born of women -- Matthew 11:11) holding 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."  Let us keep in mind that what has precipitated this question by Sts. John and James and their mother is Christ's revelation of the mysteries of the Cross, the reality which will take place during Holy Week.  My study Bible remarks that this small-minded dispute about authority and power is out of place in such a contexts.  So His correction comes through first comparing His disciples to the power-hungry Gentiles, whom they themselves considered an abomination, and contrasting them to Himself, who serves us although He is Lord of all.  For many is a Semitic expression which means "for all."

 

 So Jesus has set His sights for Jerusalem, and the disciples follow in uncertainty of what is to happen there.  That is, they may likely be assuming that all will go according to their expectations of the Messiah.  This would be for the Messiah, Jesus the Christ, will establish an earthly kingdom, ridding the Jews of the occupiers and colonial oppressors, bringing the kingdom of David back again.  But despite Jesus' warning them three times of what is to happen at Jerusalem and during Holy Week, they still apparently don't quite know what to expect.  Thus, we can read the request on behalf of Sts. John and James Zebedee by their mother.  However, as my study Bible indicates, we can rest assured that all will change after Pentecost, and at the coming of the Holy Spirit, for it is then that we see these disciples in their roles for the true Kingdom of God and in full service to Christ, just as He indicates when He speaks of their cup and their baptism.  We might marvel at such a change which will be wrought in Christ's disciples, but this is part and parcel of the gospel message and the message of the Church.  For on full display in the Gospels are these character "flaws" (if you will) and vulnerabilities in even the pillars of the Church, the three closest disciples to Christ and those strongest in the faith.  That is, Sts. Peter, John, and James.  These are the three which Jesus takes with Him on a number of occasions for critical faith and support, such as the healing of the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue at Capernaum (see Matthew 9:18-26), of the event of the Transfiguration (see Matthew 17:1-13).  The Gospels clearly show the flaws of these men also, in the request in today's reading for temporal power and authority on behalf of Sts. James and John, and the repeated times Jesus may take St. Peter to task for his overconfidence and exuberance (such as his swearing that he would die with Him when St. Peter will in fact deny Him three times; see Matthew 26:31-35; 69-75).  The Gospels stand our earthly expectations on their heads, for they reveal to us thoroughly both arrogance and cowardice on the part of these great pillars of the Church.  But these human failures and characteristics only reveal to us something more powerful, and the true gospel message, that these same men whose vulnerabilities are revealed here will be those who will go on to lives of extraordinary sacrifice and courage on behalf of Christ and His Church, and who will in effect serve us all by doing so.  There is no greater love than this, as Christ has testified (John 15:13).  This is the gospel message and testimony to the extraordinary power of faith and grace at work, in particular in the coming of the Helper, the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit (John 14:26).  Let us bear in mind that these men were not chosen in a contest of strength and courage (such as a gladiatorial contest), they weren't picked from key men in an army or military capacity.  They were of faith, humble enough to be taught by Christ, to follow their Lord, and to believe in the redemption of life according to the faith given to them, and in the Spirit and the Covenant of Christ which followed, a true embrace of the Messiah and His teachings.  We will never know the internal transformations and struggles wrought in these men, but we can know for certain the testimonies we read in the Gospels about them, and the Acts and Letters that follow.  For they have come before us so that they show us the way, and that the Holy Spirit may also come to us and reside in us and help us with our own failures, flaws, and vulnerable points in life.  Extraordinary courage may not be so very extraordinary after all when faced with life and its choices in the grasp of faith and the life of the Spirit, for such has been found also by very many others, and perhaps you and I as well.