The Ambition of James and John

Mark 10: 35-45

 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him 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.”

Discussion Questions: 

1. What roles do self-importance, power and prestige play in your life?
2. In what areas of your life are you the servant of others? Explain where this happens for you
3. Jesus is saying the pattern of his life will be the pattern of our lives as well. Where has suffering and self-denial led to an experience of “letting go and transformation” in your life?
4. Do you have authority over anyone? How do you handle that authority? How would Jesus have you handle that authority?
   
   

Biblical Context

Mark 10: 35-45
Mary M. McGlone CSJ

Today’s Gospel begins immediately after Jesus told the disciples for the third time that he was going to suffer and die and that all of it was happening under God’s providence. Just as his final passion prediction (Mark 10:32-34) was the most detailed, so Mark makes this story of the disciples’ incomprehension the most egregious.

Jesus had ended his teaching about riches and poverty with the pronouncement: “But many that are first will be last, and [the] last will be first.” (Mark 10:31). That was the entrée to his declaration about the immanence of his suffering. For some mindboggling reason, James and John decided that this was the right time to jockey for position in what they thought of as his coming glory. Less subtle than the enemies who used to try to trap Jesus, these two sounded like a couple of kids playing “Simon says” as they bid Jesus, “Tell us you’ll do anything we ask!” Jesus made them spell out exactly what it was that they hoped for. When they came clean about their shameless ambition, he told them that they had missed the point of everything he had been saying and that they surely had no clue about what they were asking him to do. He then spoke of the suffering he had been foretelling as a cup that he would drink and a baptism he would go through.

Responding as if he were talking about having a pool party, the two claimed they were ready to join him in the baptism and would be happy to share his cup. In reply, Jesus drove his point home by telling them that he had no say in the matter. If they stayed with him, they would share his fate, but glory was not his to hand out.

Ched Myers, Scripture scholar and author of Say This to The Mountain: Mark’s Story of Discipleship, describes Mark 8:22-11 as the “discipleship catechism.” He suggests that this interchange completes Jesus’ teaching about his alternative source and expression of power. Describing himself as “the Human One” or Son of Man, Jesus explains that the only way he can ransom the people is by being their servant, not their ruler. Little could his disciples imagine who would ultimately be on his right and left as he completed the baptism of the cross!

This week’s readings combine to ask us where we recognize images of God. Isaiah presents the suffering servant as the most iconoclastic image imaginable and a counterweight to the idolatry of inventing God in the image of our ambitions. The Letter to the Hebrews reminds us that Jesus, the great high priest, passed to the highest position through his suffering and death and he is therefore able to understand our temptations and fears as he offers us the grace to deal with them. The Gospel offers James and John as mirrors of our own ambitions contrasted with Jesus’ description of himself as the servant-representative of the God who created for love, not glory. In the end, our ambition to achieve status or to serve will be the truest reflection of our image of God.

The Throne of Grace

Reflection
Barbara E. Reid

People can endure almost anything if they know there will be an end to their suffering and that there will be some recompense. In today’s gospel James and John have just heard Jesus speak for the third time about being handed over, mocked, scourged, and condemned to death. Unlike Peter, whose response when Jesus first spoke about this was to reject such a scenario, the Zebedee brothers focus their attention on what reward they will gain if they endure such abuse. They envision Jesus enthroned in glory after his ordeal and themselves seated in the places of honor at his right and left. The other disciples are indignant with the two brothers, probably not because James and John have missed Jesus’ message but because they beat the others in requesting the honorable spots!

In response Jesus uses two powerful symbols. He asks if James and John can drink the cup that he will drink and whether they can be baptized with the baptism he will undergo. In the Scriptures, “cup” is frequently used as a metaphor for suffering. That meaning is clear in the Gethsemane scene where Jesus begs God to let the cup pass him by if possible. Likewise, baptism here signifies being plunged into suffering and going through the throes of death, to emerge into new life.

The self-confidence James and John exude is astounding. They quickly assert that they can drink this cup and undergo this baptism. But do they really know what they are saying? Their eagerness leads us to reflect on our own ability to answer Jesus’ questions. Perhaps there have been times when we eagerly said “I do” or “We can,” without fully knowing to what we were committing ourselves. Or we may know full well the demands of dedicating ourselves to Jesus’ way of costly love, but the thought of a reward seems to make it worth the price.”

Jesus takes the disciples another step deeper. The reward for which they hope beyond this life is not within Jesus’ control to give, and it must not be their motivation. Jesus speaks disapprovingly about any who seek displays of greatness and authority over others—apparently even in the next life. The hope of reversal, of the servant becoming enthroned, is not what motivates Jesus, nor should it motivate his disciples.”

The only “throne” that he shares with his disciples is the “throne of grace” (Heb 4:16). Here, one receives not places of honor alongside him but mercy, grace, and timely help (Heb 4:16). The wellspring for this mercy is that Jesus has himself endured all that we endure, and is thus able to suffer with all those who suffer.

The attempt to explain the suffering of Jesus or of any good person by assuring future reward falters. A different explanation is found in the first reading, where the servant’s suffering is spoken of as a vicarious offering for sin, which sets aright the relationship of many sinners with God. In the gospel Jesus speaks similarly about his life given as a “ransom for many.” “Ransom” refers literally to the buying back of the freedom of a slave. It too is a metaphor that expresses in a limited way the freeing effects of Jesus’ costly love. But this metaphor can lead us to slip again into a tit-for-tat mentality, in which a reward can be purchased or earned. Today’s responsorial psalm captures the core of what Jesus attempts to teach his disciples: the only adequate response to suffering is to turn toward the Merciful One, in whom we place all our trust. This is not an explanation for how a merciful God can allow innocent persons to suffer, but it is the response of faith. As we immerse ourselves in God’s mercy, we are baptized in a love that is stronger than suffering and death.

Excerpt From- Abiding Word: Sunday Reflections for Year, Barbara E. Reid