The
story in our reading today often makes me laugh—mostly because of
how uncomfortable it makes me feel. I wonder if James and John put
their mom up to this task, or if it was her idea. I’ve had parents
ask for some pretty interesting favors for their kids, but nothing
compares to this. And when Jesus asks James and John if they could
handle the challenges he would face, they are all for it. But they
really have no idea what they’re talking about. The other
disciples’ response is eye-opening too: they were “indignant with
the two brothers.”
Jesus
doesn’t let this moment go to waste. He uses it to teach about
being a servant. Though the world prizes money and possessions,
leadership and authority, Jesus’ way of doing things flips that
upside down. The first will be last, and the last first—so we are
called to serve rather than to lord it over others. Serving people is
key to what it means to be a disciple in Jesus’ kingdom.
Jesus
doesn’t hesitate to use himself as the prime example. If anyone
ever qualified as having authority, it is Jesus: Son of God, healer
of all sorts of illnesses, with power over life and death, authority
over demons, and much more. Jesus tells his disciples that he has not
come to be served, but to serve.
If
Jesus came to be a servant, then we, his followers, are called to be
servants too.