Wednesday in the Third Week of Lent, March 3, 2021

Matthew 20:17-28

As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the Twelve disciples aside by themselves, and said to them on the way, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.  Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee approached Jesus with her sons and did him homage, wishing to ask him for something. He said to her, “What do you wish?” She answered him, “Command that these two sons of mine sit, one at your right and the other at your left, in your kingdom.” Jesus said in reply, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?” They said to him, “We can.” He replied, “My chalice you will indeed drink, but to sit at my right and at my left, this is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” When the ten heard this, they became indignant at the two brothers. But Jesus summoned them and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave. Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

The mother of James and John had great ambitions for her sons.  She envisions the Lord seizing control of Jerusalem and leading the rebellion against Rome from there.  Her sons, whom the Lord has nicknamed “the sons of thunder” due to their temperament and zeal, would take a leading role in the war against Rome and in the subsequent independent kingdom of Israel, in her mind.  She has already earmarked the places for her sons at the Lord’s right and left, virtually equal to him in power.  Her petition to the Lord, coming directly after his detailed description of the fate that did await him in Jerusalem, seems almost absurd.  

Although she followed Jesus and provided for him and the Apostles out of her own means, along with several other women (cf. Luke 8, 2-3), she had not understood his teachings about the kingdom.  It is as though she heard the word “kingdom” and nothing else.  It is possible that she followed Jesus not so much for his own sake but for promoting her sons.  Still, on some level she understood the Lord’s greatness and saw that the future of her sons was bound up with him.  Though she sounds very confident in her expectation of the success she imagines the Lord desires to achieve, the possibility of disaster must also have crossed her mind as well.  But she does not hedge her bets: her sons will abide with Jesus no matter what the future brings.  She may not be able to say exactly, with Peter, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6, 69), but she says this in her own way.

“You do not know what you are asking.”  The Lord does not assail her for her presumption or her misunderstanding, but simply notes her understanding.  He does not then turn his back on her, but turns to her sons and asks them if they can drink of his chalice — to share in his life, come what may.  They say right away that they can.  Jesus accepts this affirmation, but qualifies his response by declaring that “to sit at my right and at my left, this is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”  That is, they seek positions for ruling others, but these places are reserved as rewards for those who have lived heroic lives in the Faith.  Also, James and John desire physical places so that they may have physical proximity to the Lord, but these are spiritual places and the more a soul loved the Lord while one earth, the nearer it will be drawn to close spiritual proximity to him in heaven.

“The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  This is an essential guide to life as a Christian.  The mind of the believer must be the mind of a servant: one who anticipates the needs of others, who does what is necessary without drawing attraction to oneself, who puts others first.  We do this for the Lord Jesus and to please him.  We may not be fully aware of the cost this service will take from us, but only this life of service brings us close to our God and to the eternal dwelling places he has prepared for us in heaven, near his side.