Wednesday in the Second Week of Lent, March 16, 2022

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.”

Jesus told his Apostles, “The Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death.”  He does not say “I will be handed over” but “The Son of Man will be handed over”.  He spoke in this way to correct their thinking.  In the understanding of the Apostles and the crowd of disciples following along, the Lord was proceeding to Jerusalem in order to reestablish the Kingdom of Israel and to throw out the Romans.  The Pharisees had told them that the Messiah, the Son of Man, would do this.  After all, it was written in the Prophets that “his power is an everlasting power that shall not be taken away: and his kingdom shall not be destroyed” (Daniel 7, 14).  Indeed, the prophecy of Daniel would be fulfilled, but not until the Son of Man had suffered and died first, as according to the Prophet Isaiah.  The Lord’s words would have greatly disturbed and confused his Apostles both because they loved the Lord and because what he told them went against everything they had previously heard about the Messiah.  We see this in the fact that at such a momentous teaching, they had no questions and seem to have said nothing in reply.  Perhaps they thought he was telling another parable.

Immediately after the Lord says this, according to the chronology of St. Matthew, the mother of James and John came to him and asked for high positions for her sons when he did reestablish the Kingdom.  Probably some time, even days, passed first.  The woman certain possessed nerve, as well as ambitions for her sons and for herself.  Like the others in the crowd, she expects the Lord to enter Jerusalem and to expel the Romans.  She sees her sons as the Lord’s near-equals in his reign, and possibly as his successors.  Her actions bring to mind Bathsheba when King David was dying, attempting to secure the throne for her son Solomon (cf. 1 Kings 10-31).  Now, it is easy for us to cringe at what this woman was doing but we must also acknowledge her faith.  The Lord Jesus was not clad in armor, riding on a horse and leading a heavily armed army.  He was a man dusty with walking on the road who had conquered nothing, and had neither money nor house.  His hometown despised him.  The mother of James and John saw beyond that.  She saw greatness and glory, though her imagination failed her here as to how very great and glorious Jesus would be, and Jesus pointed this out to her when he commented, “You do not know what you are asking.”  She must also have known that she was laying open her sons to criticism from the other Apostles, but she trusted that the Lord would answer her prayer and all would be well.  “Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?”  The Lord uses an idiom to ask these two young Apostles if they are prepared to join their destinies with his, even though he die.  This reminds of a Jewish wedding ceremony in which the Bride and Groom drink from the same cup, showing that they are “one flesh”.  Filled with the swagger of youth, they affirm that they can.  But the Lord answers, “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, it is all in the Providence of the Father and “prepared” from before the world began.  

“Whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave.”  The Lord, in his urgent service to all, shows that he is the greatest of servants.  To be “great”, one must approach service to others as he did, going to everyone no matter their condition.  This counsel turns the ancient idea of leadership on its head.  Before, leadership benefitted the one who possessed it.  Now it benefits all those in need.  We who are baptized in Christ are made “priest, prophet, and king”.  We are made priests to offer the sacrifice of our prayers; prophets to preach the Gospel; and kings to render service to others.  Those possessing authority are in the best position to serve.  Jesus Christ, possessing the greatest authority, also render the greatest service: “The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”