2nd week in Lent, Wednesday – 16th March 2022 — Gospel: Mt 20,17-28
Balance of Suffering and Service
Only in the Gospel of Matthew the mother of the sons of Zebedee comes with the request on behalf of her two sons, to make them sit next to Jesus when he sits upon the royal throne. The right hand and left hand symbolize places of honour and authority. In his response, Jesus does not address the mother or even James and John, but all the disciples. He asks them if they can drink of the cup of suffering like he himself will have to drink. Matthew focuses exclusively on the cup of suffering, testing, rejection, judgment and violent death. The metaphor “cup” here seems to refer to the death ordained by God which is willingly accepted by the one who is going to his death. The disciples’ willingness to drink the cup is only verbal and not possible to show in their deeds. Though Jesus is aware of this, he looks beyond their failure and invites them to share his cup. He tells them that they too will have to face opposition, suffering and even threats of death in order to continue his ministry. Jesus then tells his disciples that what will give them positions of honour in the kingdom of heaven is not where they sit or how much or how well they are served by others, but how much they are willing to serve others. Jesus equates being part of the Kingdom of heaven with being willing to face opposition and at the same time, being willing to serve and help others. Service is the hallmark of the life of a disciple, just as it was the essential part of his master. Service must go all the way to being willing to give one’s life for the sake of another.
