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Gospel: Mark 10: 35-45
James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus 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.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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One of the great mysteries in our world is suffering… from the effects of Hurricane Milton, to the conflict in the Middle East, to pain in our own lives.
Our Christian faith is the only world religion to teach that God understands our suffering through his own experience of it – and that, mysteriously, our suffering is also part of our redemption.
Three times in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus openly predicts his suffering, death, and resurrection. But each time he does so, his disciples respond in disbelief. Their reactions are not only comical, they’re also deeply human.
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After Jesus first predicts his death, Peter pulls him aside and rebukes him, saying, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you!”
And how does Jesus respond?
He rebukes Peter sternly, saying, “Get behind me, Satan! You are thinking, not as God does, but as human beings do.”
Ouch.
Christ intended to suffer. He knew he was sent to fulfill the prophesy of Isaiah proclaimed in our first reading: “Through his suffering, my servant shall justify many, and their guilt he shall bear.”
Peter, incredulous to the idea, will not get in the way.
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The second time Jesus speaks of his death comes after the Transfiguration, when the heavens were opened and the Lord’s body became dazzling white as he spoke with his heavenly Father, with Moses, and Elijah.
As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus warned his disciples that he would be betrayed and killed.
Yet blinded by his glory, the disciples began arguing amongst themselves about who is the “greatest.” To which the Lord rebuked not only Peter, but all of them, saying, “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.”
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Finally, just before today’s Gospel passage, Jesus gives his most detailed prediction of his death, saying he will be, “handed over to the chief priests and the Gentiles, and they will mock him, spit upon him, scourge him, and put him to death, but after three days, he will rise.”
And what is the disciples’ response?
James and John pull the Lord aside, asking for a privileged place in his kingdom.
The irony – the ignorance, the deafness – is stunning. And yet, their reaction is arrestingly human.
Deep down, don’t we all respond in a similar way when we’re told that the path of Christianity is paved in surrender and service? That the only way up is down? That our God is a God who suffered in the flesh?
And, using today’s Gospel imagery, that anyone who is serious about following Jesus must also, “drink his cup” and be “baptized into his death”?
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In the Old Testament, a “cup” was a metaphor for what God had in store for someone. It ranged from a “cup of blessing,” to a, “cup of wrath.” In the case of Christ, his “cup” involves his entire life, summarized in service.
As he says today, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
“Can you drink the cup that I drink?” Jesus asks James, John, and each of us today.
They say to him, “We can.”
And they do.
James becomes the first of the Twelve Apostles to drink the cup of the Lord, as he’s martyred just a few years after Jesus. His brother, John, will die in exile, a type of spiritual martyrdom.
And what about us? In what ways do we drink the cup of the Lord? Or how do we spend our lives for others?
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Examples can range from joyful service to the humble acceptance of suffering that may come our way.
For example, the volunteers from our Welcome and Hospitality Ministry who worked so hard to set up a reception celebrating our new parishioners this weekend… drink the cup of Christ in service.
The married couple who seeks counseling in order to preserve their covenantal bond… drinks the cup of Christ in hope.
The person who finds the grace to forgive… drinks the cup of Christ in love.
The person whose cancer is no longer curable, but perseveres trustingly… drinks the cup of Christ in faith.
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Such ideas do not explain away the mystery of suffering. Yet, the Lord still asks us today, “Can you drink the cup that I drink?”
“We can, Lord.”
But only with your love, your grace, and the support of this faith community.
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Image credits: (1) Christus am Ölberg, David Teniers, Bavarian State Painting Collections (2) Sherman Burkehead (3) Knights of the Holy Eucharist
