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

 

 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 that as Jesus was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, "Good teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?"  So Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good?  No one is good but One, that is, God.  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.'"   And he answered and said to Him, "Teacher, all these things I have kept from my 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."  But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.  Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, "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."  And they were greatly astonished, saying among themselves, "Who then can be saved?"  But Jesus looked at them and said, "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible."  Then Peter began to say to Him, "See, we have left all and followed You."  So Jesus answered and said, "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 time that Jesus teaches the disciples in advance about what is to happen to Him in Jerusalem.  My study Bible notes that Christ's repeated predictions of His Passion were intended to encourage and strengthen them for the terrifying events they would face.  They also confirm that Christ was going to His death of His own will and choosing.  At this stage, the disciples are both amazed and afraid because He is going up to Jerusalem before them, knowing the animosity of the religious leadership that awaits there.

 

 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."  My study Bible comments that this quest by James and John, the sons of Zebedee, for temporal power and glory is unfitting for a disciple and it shows an earthly misunderstanding of the Kingdom of God.  In Matthew's Gospel, it is the mother of Zebedee's sons that makes this request, but even there, Jesus addresses them all in the plural, as well as here (see Matthew 20:20).  Christ 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).  His death is baptism, as He was completely immersed in it, yet it cleansed the world (Romans 6:3-6).  Jesus' prophecy of John and James participating in the same cup and baptism teaches the life of persecution and martyrdom they would lead after Pentecost:  James was the first disciple to be martyred  (Acts 12:2), and John would go on to a life in which he endured the persecutions of the Church and of exile on the island of Patmos (Revelation 1:9).  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.  Instead, it indicates that they are not His to give arbitrarily.  In effect, He will give them to those for whom God has prepared them.  Let us note also that with regard to sitting as equals on the right and left hand of Christ in His Kingdom, according to St. John Chrysostom no one could possibly occupy such a position.  Regarding the highest places of honor that can be given to human beings, in the icons of the Orthodox Church these places are universally depicted as belonging to the Virgin Mary (most blessed among women - Luke 1:28) and John the Baptist (greatest born of women - Matthew 11:11).  

"For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."  The phrase for many, my study Bible notes, is an Aramaic expression which means "for all." 

Today's reading gives us a chance to brood on another quite modern topic, and that is a sense of entitlement.  This is a word one hears often in a modern society, which denotes, for the most part, a certain sense of what one believes one has a right to expect without qualification.  In terms of its most negative sense of social commentary, entitlement is defined as "the belief that one is inherently deserving of privileges or special treatment" (according to Oxford Languages).  Generally speaking, entitlement speaks of having a right to something, or perhaps the "amount" to which a person has a right (again, according to Oxford Languages).  But be that as it may, for our present purpose, we will stick to the very general use of this term as modern social commentary on those who feel they have a "right" to something, especially in terms of identity alone rather than any sort of merit.  The purpose of this blog is not to dispute such modern concepts, especially as they apply to political or broad social issues; there is a wide variety of thought on these terms which are not in the perspective of this blog whatsoever.  But it is important to understand the reading itself which we can put into a relative framework.  James and John Zebedee are extremely close to Jesus and form a part of His closest circle (of Peter, James, and John).  He takes these three with Him to enact His most difficult healings that require strength in the face of ridicule (such as that of Jairus' daughter, for example).  These are the three who were taken to witness the Transfiguration (which included a manifestation of the Trinity as well).  James and John, along with Peter and his brother Andrew, are the earliest disciples of Christ (Mark 1:16-20).   They had all earlier been the disciples of John the Baptist.  John Zebedee is presumed to be the unnamed disciple of the two in John 1:35-42, as well as the one "whom Jesus loved" in John 13:23, 19:26, 20:2, 21:7, 20.  We might make note that it was John to whom Jesus entrusted the care of His mother at the Cross (John 19:26).  So, given this history that preceded this request, and which would come afterward, one might presume that John and James had a sense of themselves as close followers of Jesus so that they would presume to ask for such positions.  But there is a sense of entitlement here that is nonetheless unwarranted.  It speaks to our deep need for humility, especially where the things of God are concerned.  There is first of all the commentary of St. John Chrysostom that to sit on Christ's right and left is a position of honor in terms of the majesty of God that no one can really fill those places nor imagine what authority they would entail. But there is something more important which Christ names here, and that is the sense in which the "entitlements" that come from God are for those for whom God has prepared such places.  In terms of discipleship and authority, a long life of struggle with faith and in following Christ as best we can is a life of preparation for something, and not of entitlements.  We might think of the Eucharist as something we are entitled to if we are baptized Christians, but this is not the case.  For we cannot think of such a gift as an entitlement, and must always understand the nature of a gift.  If we can put it in modern terms, a spoiled child may feel they are entitled to anything they ask for, but this is a form of blight and a lack of maturity and understanding.  It is, in effect, a way of looking at relationships with others purely in terms of materiality, of transaction and commerce.  It negates love and is blind to the heart, and there is where, so often, a sense of entitlement comes into play.  It lacks the discernment of personhood, and the maturity to respect the boundaries that are the true entitlements of what it means to be a person made in the image of God.  In today's reading, John and James are looking at Christ and the Kingdom in very material terms, as if they are opting for government service in the cabinet of a man they've supported for political office, as if Christ is one worldly power vying against another for a worldly kingdom.  But this is not the case, and there are much deeper things to understand in terms of our spirituality, and maturity regarding a relationship to God.  There are no real "entitlements" here in this material sense, but there is participation, and there is deep love so great that it is inexpressible on our own terms and too far beyond our grasp to fully comprehend it.  There is, especially, a guidance and a preparation for a fullness of ourselves which we don't already know, but God knows of us -- and the promise of a fullness of that image in which we were created.  This is where John and James Zebedee, and so many of the rest of us, make a mistake with regard to the theme of today's reading.  We don't know what God has prepared for us or for others, so we cannot tell the fullness of perfection to which we're being guided.  We don't know God's plans for us.  But humility and trust are the beginning steps to knowing God's love and God's providence, and the beginning of maturity as a spiritual person with a soul ennobled through faith.  Let us perceive the message of God's strength and love in this dialogue.  

 

 

You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with you will be baptized

 

 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 that, as Jesus was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?"  So Jesus said to Him, "Why do You call Me good?  No one is good but One, that is, God.  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.' "  And he answered and said to Him, "Teacher, all these things I have kept from my 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."  But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.  Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, "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."   And they were greatly astonished, saying among themselves, "Who then can be saved?"  But Jesus looked at them and said, "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible."  Then Peter began to say to Him, "See, we have left all and followed You."  So Jesus answered and said, "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 time Jesus gives the disciples a warning about what is to come in Jerusalem, even as the text explicitly makes clear that Jesus is leading the disciples toward the holy city.  Note that because He is leading them to Jerusalem, the disciples are both amazed and afraid.  My study bible suggests that Christ's repeated predictions of His Passion were intended to encourage and strengthen the disciples for the terrifying events they will face.  It also confirms that Christ is going to His death by His own will and choosing.  With each warning the details Jesus gives of what is to come get more specific, so that nothing will surprise His disciples.

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."   My study bible says that this quest for temporal power and glory is unfitting for a disciple, and that it shows an earthly misunderstanding of the Kingdom of God.  They are not doubt expecting a worldly Kingdom such as was popularly anticipated of the Messiah, especially since they are now headed toward Jerusalem.  In Matthew's Gospel, we're told that it was the "mother of Zebedee's sons" who made this request (Matthew 20:20).  But here, John's and James' own participation in this request is made clear in the Greek, as Jesus uses a plural you to address them.  

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."   Jesus calls His Crucifixion a cup and His death a baptism.  My study bible explains that the Cross is a cup because Christ drank it willingly (Hebrews 12:2).  His death is a baptism, because He was completely immersed in it, but it cleaned the world (Romans 6:3-6).  It adds that Christ's prophecy of John and James participating in the same cup and baptism shows the life of persecution and martyrdom which they would lead after Pentecost.  Indeed, James was the first of the Twelve to be martyred, and John went on to a life of exile, during the harshest of persecutions.  Also, Jesus' declaration that the places of honor in the Kingdom are not His to give doesn't indicate that He lacks authority to do so.  Rather, my study bible tells us, it means that they are not His to give arbitrarily.  Instead, they will be given to those for whom God has prepared them.  In addition, with regard to sitting at 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 depict the Virgin Mary (the most blessed among women -- Luke 1:28) and John the Baptist (the greatest born of women -- Matthew 11:11) as holding these places. 

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."   My study bible says that in Aramaic (the commonly spoken language for Christ and the disciples) the phrase for many is an expression that means "for all."

 

 The fact that the disciples repeatedly struggle with issues of power and status -- as reported in the Gospels -- should really make us aware of something.  That is, it should make us very much aware of how deep a problem this is, and how much we might struggle with it in the world.  Already once before, Jesus taught the disciples about the real sense of leadership that He wants in His Church, after they had disputed among themselves on the road about who would be the greatest in His Kingdom (see Monday's reading, and the subsequent warnings afterward, here).  But John and James (and possibly their mother) might feel they occupy a special position of closeness to Christ, and so they come separately, asking about a special place in the Kingdom, to sit on Christ's right and left hand.  After all, together with Peter, they form His innermost circle.  It was they who went upon the Mount of Transfiguration, and whom Jesus took with Him in raising the daughter of Jairus (in this reading).  Let's note also how the other disciples are upset with James and John when they find out about this request, for Jesus has already spoken to them all regarding their previous dispute among themselves regarding positions of power.  But Jesus once again turns the subject to sacrifice.  The disciples have got worldly notions of power and position in mind when they express their desires for important places in Christ's Kingdom.  It is very significant that at this point Christ begins to assert the reality of what is coming in Jerusalem as part of His place as head of His Church.  He has a cup and a baptism to drink that are appropriate to His position, and He asks John and James if they can follow in His footsteps.  Yet, even though He avows they will follow in His cup and baptism, still, He tells them, the places they desire are not His to give.  Once again, the message is an enforcement of humility and service.  Greatness, He reminds them, is going to be all about sacrifice, and serving something so much greater than themselves.  They will be nothing like the rulers they see in the great Gentile kingdoms of the Romans and others; they will not be those who "lord it over" others.  Yet again, He tells 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."   If these things were strange within the context of Christ's world of powerful rulers and empires, let us consider what they mean to us today.  We might have "leaders" who speak of themselves as public servants, and even those considered "great" who will make certain that we know all of their virtues, civic-mindedness, even signs of compassion.  But sacrifice?  How many of us hear around us reflected by the popular culture that those who would be great should be your servant?  Is the one who is first a slave of all?  These remain strong images to be pondered and wrestled with in the heart, for they still call us to repentance and humility, a far cry from serving an image in the eyes of others.  Finally we come to Jesus' declaration:  "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."   We have our chief example, the One who died for us, who laid it all on the line.  He not only set an example, but became what we could call a hero in His own image of sacrifice for us.  Sacrifice, in the Christian sense, needs to be understood in a somewhat nuanced way.  Whatever sacrifice we are called to make in a journey of faith becomes a stepping stone to an expanded and more beautiful sense of self, given to us in seeking a closer relationship to God.  It is the opposite of what "sacrifice" means to a selfish person; it is instead a way to grow and to expand, to fill bigger shoes.  He goes there first, so He shows us the way, with His cup and baptism which still inspire those who follow, as the greatest expression of love.

Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me

 

 Then they departed from there and passed through Galilee, and He did not want anyone to know it.  For He taught His disciples and said to them, "The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him.  And after He is killed, He will rise on the third day."  But they did not understand this saying, and were afraid to ask Him.

Then He came to Capernaum.  And when He was in the house He asked them, "What was it you disputed among yourselves on the road?"  But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest.  And he sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, "If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all."  Then He took a little child and set him in the midst of them.  And when He had taken him in His arms, He said to them, "Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me."

Now John answered Him, saying, "Teacher, we saw someone who does not follow us casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow us."  But Jesus said, "Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in My name can soon afterward speak evil of Me.  For he who is not against us is on our side.  For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward."

 

- Mark 9:30-41 

 

Yesterday we read that, after the Transfiguration, when Jesus (with John, James, and Peter) came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them.  Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him.  And He asked the scribes, "What are you discussing with them?"  Then one of the crowd answered and said, "Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit.  And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and become rigid.  So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not."  He answered him and said, "O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you?  How long shall I bear with you?  Bring him to Me."  Then they brought him to Him.  And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.  So he asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?"  And he said, "From childhood.  And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him.  But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us."  Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."  Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"  When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it:  "Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!"  Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him.  And he became as one dead, so that many said, "He is dead."  But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.  And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?"  So he said to them, "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting."

 

Then they departed from there and passed through Galilee, and He did not want anyone to know it.  For He taught His disciples and said to them, "The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him.  And after He is killed, He will rise on the third day."  But they did not understand this saying, and were afraid to ask Him.  This is the second time that Jesus has predicted to the disciples what will be coming after Passover in Jerusalem, known to us as Passion Week or Holy Week.  The first time He spoke to them of His death was directly after Peter's confession that Jesus is the Christ (see this reading).  Let us note that at this time Jesus again did not want anyone to know of His presence, although they are in Galilee.  It is not yet His hour for death.  In this second revelation to the disciples about what is to come, He includes that He will be betrayed.  My study bible says that this second prediction of Christ's death and Resurrection is done to show that He is going to His Passion freely, and is not being taken against His will.  Note also the reaction of the disciples:  they did not understand this saying, and were afraid to ask Him.

Then He came to Capernaum.  And when He was in the house He asked them, "What was it you disputed among yourselves on the road?"  But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest.  And he sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, "If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all."  Then He took a little child and set him in the midst of them.  And when He had taken him in His arms, He said to them, "Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me."   My study bible comments that this dispute over who would be the greatest shows a selfish interest in worldly power.  They have likely assumed that Christ's prediction of what is to happen at Jerusalem heralds the coming of a worldly kingdom, ruled by Christ.  So, they began to dispute the positions each would have in such an imagined kingdom.  My study bible comments that, pointing to a little child as the model of true discipleship, Jesus emphasizes what is necessary to be first or greatest.  One must be servant of all, understanding that to receive even a little child is to receive Christ, and to receive Christ is to receive the Father who sent Him.

Now John answered Him, saying, "Teacher, we saw someone who does not follow us casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow us."  But Jesus said, "Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in My name can soon afterward speak evil of Me.  For he who is not against us is on our side.  For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward."    My study bible cites the commentary of Theophylact on this passage, who sees John's comment as a regret, his conscience having been pricked by what Jesus has just said about the last and the first (see immediate verses above).  On the other hand, it notes, St. Ambrose sees John as expecting full obedience to accompany the blessings of ministry.  But in either understanding.  the response of Jesus teaches that those who act in good faith are not excluded, even if they are not currently numbered among the disciples.   Theophylact writes:  "See how divine grace is at work even in those who are not His disciples."  See also Numbers 11:24-30.   Regarding those using Christ's name without good faith, see Luke 11:23, Acts 19:13-16.

In today's reading, our Lord gives great expression to His own compassion and open heart.  There is first of all His willingness to sacrifice Himself for those whom He has come into the world to save.  He has brought the love of God in Himself as a gift to the world, and as a part of that gift He will express the greatest love possible, He will lay down His life for His friends (John 15:13).  His generosity extends to all possible boundaries in terms of the love He shares.  In His teachings to the disciples regarding how they are to become the bishops and "great" in His Church, He extends the same generosity as a demand upon them.  He tells them, "If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all."   Unless one truly considers the hierarchy of creation, the "ratio" of grandeur, if you will, between creature and Creator, one cannot begin to truly grasp the magnanimity of His teaching that follows:  "Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me."   If the disciples think that being the "greatest" is something they really desire, then they must consider what He tells them, that to receive a little child in His name is to be receiving Him -- and that to receive Him is to receive the Father who sent Him.  How gracious and expressive of the expanded heart of Christ can they be?  These words express far more than we can even imagine.  In His final expression to the disciples in today's reading, He expresses great generosity in embracing those not of His immediate following, but who also work miracles in His name, extending tolerance among followers.  If only we had individuals in public life who sought to embody such a spirit of gracious and generous behavior, rather than the many who seem to desire to divide and enrage.  I wonder where we would be if all could seek to measure up -- to no matter how small a degree -- to the generous spirit of Christ?  It is part and parcel of our faith to understand the idea that to receive a child in Christ's name is to understand that one also receives Christ, and thereby the One who sent sent Him.  We take this to such depths of rootedness in our theology that we understand it as teaching us that all are created in the image of God, and all carry the image of Christ within.  And yet, we seldom see this attitude embraced around us, at least in our so-called secular lives.  As I have written before in this blog, the secular life -- for a Christian -- is not meant to be separately lived from the holy or sacred.  Rather, it is our internal life of reaching toward Christ in worship and communion that is meant to tinge all of our life, and that includes our common relations with those around us.  There might be times when we really do need to stand up and distance ourselves from injustice, abuse, and bad behavior that goes contrary to what we know is good, or true, or beautiful.  But that does not stop us from understanding that ours is meant to be a communion in love, and a participation in the grace of God.  It is possible to disagree with one another on all matters of public (and even private) dispute, and yet, at the same time, to hold oneself to the highest standard of loyalty in communion and worship of the generous and gracious Jesus Christ.  In a world that seems to ratchet up degrees of hatred by the day, let us consider our place in our worship of Jesus and where He calls us to be both in relation to Him and in conforming to His teachings.  There is nowhere in the Gospels where Jesus speaks frivolously or vainly.  On the contrary, He promises that it is in following His word that we are His disciples.  In John 14:15, at the Last Supper, He tells the disciples, "If you love Me, keep My commandments."  There is nothing He says that is negotiable or negligible.  Each word has meaning, all is deliberate and chosen.  Everything that He teaches to the disciples is also meant for us.  Unfortunately, in today's world, we may observe even those who proclaim they act in the name of love and tolerance, and yet manage to preach hate, vengeance, and evisceration for their political and social enemies.  Let us consider the words of St. Paul:  "And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma" (Ephesians 5:2).  Let us endeavor, in all our worldly lives, to ever be that sweet-smelling aroma that fills heaven with its love of Christ, and seeks truly to live to His word and teachings.

 

 

 

 

Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first

Early circular ΙΧΘΥΣ symbol, made by transposing each Greek letter atop one another.  Ephesus (photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

 Now while they were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up."  And they were exceedingly sorrowful.

When they had come to Capernaum, those who received the temple tax came to Peter and said, "Does your Teacher not pay the temple tax?"  He said, "Yes."  And when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, "What do you think, Simon?  From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons of from strangers?"  Peter said to Him, "From strangers."  Jesus said to him, "Then the sons are free.  Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first.  And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you."

- Matthew 17:22-27

Yesterday we read that, after the experience on the Mount of Transfiguration, when Jesus, Peter, John, and James had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, "Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water.  So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him."  Then Jesus answered and said, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you?  How long shall I bear with you?  Bring him here to Me."  And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour.  Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?"  So Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.  However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."

  Now while they were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up."  And they were exceedingly sorrowful.   This is the second time that Jesus has predicted His death and Resurrection, after the revelation that He is the Christ (this reading).  My study bible says that this repeated warning shows He is going to His Passion freely, and is not being taken against His will.  At His  first warning of what was to come, Peter denied that this should happen to Him (in this reading).  Here, the disciples are exceedingly sorrowful.

When they had come to Capernaum, those who received the temple tax came to Peter and said, "Does your Teacher not pay the temple tax?"  He said, "Yes."  And when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, "What do you think, Simon?  From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons of from strangers?"  Peter said to Him, "From strangers."  Jesus said to him, "Then the sons are free.  Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first.  And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you."  The temple tax was an annual head tax on all male Jews (except priests) over twelve years of age.  My study bible explains that this tax was for the maintenance of the temple (see Numbers 3:43-51).  As Jesus is the Son of God, it notes, He is both High Priest and also the "proprietor" (so to speak) of the temple; therefore He is exempt from the temple tax.  But He pays it anyway -- to avoid unnecessary offense and also to show that He has completely identified Himself with mankind.

My study bible says that Jesus' decision to pay the temple tax is evidence of the fullness and totality of His identification with mankind.  As High Priest, He should be exempt from the temple tax in terms of His true identity as Son.  The very question, therefore, of paying the temple tax, brings up the issue of Christ's identity as revealed both through the confession of Peter and the Transfiguration -- and how Jesus will live the remainder of His life.  It makes the issue for Peter, in particular, as "leader" or spokesperson, so to speak, among the apostles, a question of how Jesus will respond to this reminder about the temple tax.   How will Jesus reply?  Will He openly refuse to pay, as He is Son?  Let us note also in this context the rather sneaky way that the disciples -- or rather, Peter -- has been put under pressure by surreptitiously being asked about his master.  It's important to understand the dynamic under which Peter is placed by being so asked -- and that Jesus frees Peter from the social pressure implied by paying the tax, and for both of them.  It tells us something important, just as Jesus' repeated avoidance of confrontation with the religious leadership until it is the appropriate time to do so.  Sometimes in our lives there are battles to pick, and for Jesus, this is not one of those times.  We note first of all that all things are placed in God the Father's hands by Christ.  Whatever He does in His ministry, it is following the will of the Father.  Clearly, over this issue and at this juncture, it is important that He make the distinction to Peter that He is Son and therefore exempt, but it is also important that He nevertheless pay the tax, "lest we offend them."   In other words, while we know there will be an important time for confrontation and over particular issues and accusations, this is not the time for it, nor the issue for it.  Jesus not only picks His battles wisely, but He also protects His disciples from unnecessary public scrutiny, hostility, and embarrassment.  This shows us the right way to be a leader.  It also teaches us about the importance of nominal respect for social structures.  Although Jesus "disrupts" the religious establishment by His very existence in the Incarnation -- and also by His teachings against hypocrisy -- this is not the time to assert that identity.  As His followers, there will be many times that we disagree with what happens in the society, but humility is the key here.  And Christ's humility is complete within this story in today's reading.  He does not assert His place as Son to avoid paying the tax.  But in His very way of paying the tax -- directing Peter to take up the first fish he catches -- Jesus reveals and affirms His identity to Peter, who certainly lived to pass on the story.   To make this impact even more meaningful, the word for fish used in the Gospel is the Greek ἰχθύς/ixthys.  This is the very word that gave the early Christians the acronym of Christ's identity, and therefore the use of the fish as symbol for Christ.  Each Greek letter of this word stands for the first letter in the following sentence:  Jesus (Ἰησοῦς) Christ (Χριστός) God's (Θεοῦ) Son (Yἱός) Savior (Σωτήρ).  Therefore in this story is another revelation of Jesus' identity, hidden in the symbolic value of the fish which contained payment of the temple tax for Himself and for Peter.  Some ancient patristic commenters note that the coin itself in the fish's mouth is symbolic of Christ's work as redeemer for all of us.  It is His Passion, death, and Resurrection that redeems our souls, and grants us the grace of God so that we, also, may become sons and heirs of the Kingdom. 

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 gave a parable about those who labor for the Kingdom:  "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 prediction Jesus has made of His Passion.  My study bible says that His repeated predictions were meant to encourage and strengthen the disciples for the terrifying events they are going to face.  According to Theophan, it is as if Christ were saying to them, "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."  This time, He begins on His way to 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."  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."   My study bible says that the quest for temporal power and glory is unfitting for a disciple, and it also shows an earthly misunderstanding of the Kingdom of God.  Matthew tells us that it is the mother of Zebedee's sons (John and James) who requested the honor.  But John's and James' own involvement is given in Jesus' statement, as He addresses them in the plural here, and in Mark 10:35.  As He is on His way to Jerusalem, the place where the Messiah must come to claim His Kingdom, they perhaps expect an imminent worldly assumption of power.   Jesus calls His Crucifixion a cup and His death a baptism.  These words have great significance.  The Cross is a cup because He drank it willingly (Hebrews 12:2), and it is His commitment to humankind, for whom He willingly suffers for love.  His death is baptism, because He is completely immersed in it, yet it cleansed the world (Romans 6:3-6), just as our baptism is meant to be a death to the old life which awakens us to the new life of His Kingdom.  Jesus' prophecy of John and James participating in the same cup and baptism shows the life of persecution and martyrdom they would lead after Pentecost.  My study bible adds that Christ declaring that the places of honor in the Kingdom are not His to give doesn't mean that He is lacking in authority.  What it means rather is that they are not His to give arbitrarily.  Those places will be given by Christ to those for whom God has prepared them.  St. John Chrysostom teaches that, with regard to sitting as equals on the right and left hand of Christ in His Kingdom, no one could possibly occupy such a position.  But with regard to the highest places any human being can occupy, those are given in the tradition of the Church to the Virgin Mary (most blessed among women - Luke 1:28) and to John the Baptist (greatest born of women - 11:11).

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."  Jesus first uses the rulers of the Gentiles as an example of the hunger for power, whom the disciples already consider an abomination (such as ruthless rulers like Herod the Great).   His way of greatness is through service.  He then uses Himself as example by which they should measure greatness or leadership ("first among you").  Christ serves although He is Lord of all.   For many is an Aramaic expression meaning "for all."

As Jesus is heading to Jerusalem, despite His several predictions of His suffering, death, and Resurrection, the disciples clearly have no idea what to expect.  In terms of their requests regarding "greatness" in His Kingdom (see also this earlier reading), it would seem that it is unthinkable to them that the Messiah will not manifest a worldly kingdom in Jerusalem.  Our first understanding of the position of the disciples is their own mindset which comes of traditional expectations about the Messiah.  Despite having been His disciples, they as yet are unprepared for what His sacrifice on the Cross will mean.  It won't be until after Pentecost, and at the sending of the Holy Spirit by the Father, that they begin to fully understand the things that Jesus has taught them.  In accordance with their expectations, they begin to wonder, as the approach to Jerusalem begins, what their places will be in the Kingdom which they expect.  As such, the mother of the Zebedee brothers John and James asks for the highest positions for her sons.  But Jesus is not through with teaching the disciples what they need to know for the life that is ahead of them in His service.  In many of our recent readings in Matthew's Gospel, Jesus has been emphasizing service, and the need of the disciples both for humility and for care of the "littlest ones," the humble in the Church.  It has all been an extraordinary teaching about power and its use, and the nature of the power of the Kingdom which He will establish through His Church.  Standing a worldly notion of power on its head, Jesus contrasts the power-hungry Gentile rulers to those who will be in positions of leadership in His Kingdom, those who would be great and first.  His image for the great is as a servant, and for the first among them is as slave.  We must note that He is addressing the group about how to recognize the qualities in those whom they would call great among them, and whom they would call first.  Jesus establishes what it is to rule with God-like power.  It is to exercise authority by service, by sacrifice, by the rule of love.  It is the one commandment with which He will leave us (John 13:34, 15:12), and in which is found all the Law and the Prophets (22:37-40).  St. Paul tells us that we are to bear one another's burdens, in order to practice this love.   The cup which we drink -- which we do in remembrance of Him -- is one which must be drunk in true fellowship.  Jesus sets the tone in His purpose in going to Jerusalem to serve all of humankind via sacrifice and by the great love of God, so that we understand the ground upon which we stand and the life in which we are invited to participate.  Let us find our own ways to dwell within it and remember how He has taught His disciples.