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Gospel: 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 Gospel of the Lord.
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Some years ago, archeologists discovered a trove of coins dating back to the Roman Empire. These coins offered a unique insight into the life and culture of that society.
One coin had an ox on it. The ox was facing two different things: an altar and a plough.
Beneath the ox was an inscription, “Ready for either.”
The ox – and by extension a faithful Roman citizen – lived ready for either the moment of supreme sacrifice or for life-long labor. Whatever was needed for the preservation of Rome.
The altar or the plough.
Ready for either.
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Christians are called to live in a similar way: ready to offer our lives in testimony to the Lord, or more commonly, to labor for the Gospel year after year.
This is the “cup” that Jesus tells his Apostles they must be ready to drink in today’s Gospel – the altar or the plough.
Be ready for either.
The Apostle James will be the first Apostle to drink the cup of martyrdom, only a few short years after the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Meanwhile, his brother John will plough the fields of ministry until he’s nearly 100 years old.
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Two brothers with two different “cups” to drink.
One the altar, the other the plough.
May we live ready for either.
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Image credits: (1) Bible Hub (2) Coin Talk (3) AnaStpaul