Subject: Daily Gospel Reading - Wednesday, February 27, 2013
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| Weekday Gospel Reflection |
| Wednesday in the Second Week of Lent |
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17 As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, 18 “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death, 19 and will hand him over to the Gentiles to mock, to scourge, and to crucify; and the third day he will be raised up.” 20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, kneeling and asking a certain thing of him. 21 He said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Command that these, my two sons, may sit, one on your right hand, and one on your left hand, in your Kingdom.” 22 But Jesus answered, “You don’t know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” They said to him, “We are able.” 23 He said to them, “You will indeed drink my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with, but to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give; but it is for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” 24 When the ten heard it, they were indignant with the two brothers. 25 But Jesus summoned them, and said, “You know that the rulers of the nations lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 26 It shall not be so among you, but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. 27 Whoever desires to be first among you shall be your bondservant, 28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” |
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Matthew 20:17-28 - World English Bible |
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What does it mean to lead? Jesus implicitly asked that question in this passage from Matthew's gospel. The narrative was a variation on the request of James and John found in Mark 10:35-45, but, this time, their mother asked the question: "Let my sons sit on your right and your left when you enter your kingdom." Since these positions were the second and third most powerful seats in a kingdom (the equivalent of the prime minister and the ranking general), their request angered the other disciples. They considered it audacious and unfair. The Lord used the question as a teachable moment to answer the question of leadership, using his ministry, indeed his own life, as an example.
For Jesus, leadership meant service, even to the point of death. Glory could only come through suffering, resurrection only through death. The moral, stated at the beginning (20:18-19) and the end of the passage (20:26-28), stood in stark contrast with the Machiavellian view (20:25). One does not grasp at leadership (the mother's request in 20:21); one gives to lead (Jesus' answer in 20:22-23). Notice his answer had sacramental overtones. One drank from the cup Christ drank in the Eucharist; one was immersed in the baptism the Lord would suffer. In other words, Christian worship celebrated and emulated the leadership of the Lord. For Christians, the sacraments answer the question: what does it mean to lead? Does your worship inspire your leadership? |
| Daily Readings for the Second Week in Lent Studies for the Third Week in Lent |
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