Gospel – Mark 10:35-45

James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus and said to him,
“Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”
He replied, “What do you wish me to do for you?”
They answered him, “Grant that in your glory
we may sit one at your right and the other at your left.”
Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking.
Can you drink the cup that I drink
or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?”
They said to him, “We can.”
Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink, you will drink,
and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized;
but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give
but is for those for whom it has been prepared.”
When the ten heard this, they became indignant at James and John.
Jesus summoned them and said to them,
“You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles
lord it over them,
and their great ones make their authority over them felt.
But it shall not be so among you.
Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant;
whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.
For the Son of Man did not come to be served
but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Reflection on the Gospel

Let us remember that we are in the holy presence of God.

These past few weeks with Mark we have been following Jesus and his disciples on a journey through all of Galilee and beyond, preaching, teaching, and performing wondrous works in witness to the in-breaking of the reign of God in Jesus. This is the great schooling of Jesus’ followers, listening to him, witnessing his works, and then doing what Jesus is doing. Throughout these days Jesus has been revealing to them who he is and who they must become if they are to be disciples and apostles.

In today’s gospel, the sons of Zebedee James and John, two of Jesus’ earliest and dearest disciples, called by him from the shores of Galilee, manage a private moment on the road with Jesus and ask him to favor them in a big way, “Teacher we want you to do for us whatever we ask”. Wow.

Imagine the “moment” the human Jesus must have had when these guys who he had handpicked, along with Peter, to be with him at the raising of Jairus’ daughter and at the Transfiguration, and who he had chosen to be apostles, made such an arrogant and self-serving request. Clearly, they have missed a few of Jesus’ lessons along the way and the predictions of his suffering and death that lie ahead in Jerusalem.

What they propose is to be at Jesus’ right and left side when he comes into his glory! Jesus tells them that they do not know what they are asking. And he puts it to them, “can you drink the cup which I drink or be baptized with the baptism which I will be baptized”. Of course, their answer is “we can”. In their youthful pride and ambition they are blind to the cup of suffering and the baptism of death which awaits Jesus. Jesus refuses to guarantee them a place of honor and tells them it is not his call but his Father’s as to who is entitled to be placed with him in his glory.

When the other ten catch wind of this they are angry with James and John for their brazen attempt to gain advantage. Perhaps not because of James and John’s proposal but because James and John got to Jesus first. Bottom line, Jesus turns this into a teaching moment and is clear with them all that “whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all”. The community of Jesus will be about service and not status.

While it’s easy enough to see the splinter in the eyes of James and John, if we are honest with ourselves, don’t we also have those occasions when our proposals to Jesus can sound a whole lot like “I want you to do for me whatever I ask”. The very good news is that Jesus knows us and loves us as we are and has great and patient faith for what his grace can accomplish through us if we let it. At the end of their life journeys James and John turned into pretty amazing men and awesome incarnations of their Teacher.

Brother Dennis Malloy, FSC
Lasallian Formation/Evangelization

Saint John Baptist de La Salle – Pray for us.
Live, Jesus, in our hearts – Forever.