Wednesday of the 8th Week in Ordinary Time (Year II)
1 Peter 1:18-25 | Psalm 147:12-15, 19-20 | Mark 10:32-45
They said to Jesus, ‘Allow us to sit one at your right hand and the other at your left in your glory’. […] When the other ten heard this they began to feel indignant with James and John (Mark 10:37, 41)
And probably just a little jealous.
“Wah, so thick-skinned man!” would be a common reaction to the above passage, but the outspoken sons of Zebedee weren’t exactly ordinary apostles. Based on the Synoptic Gospel accounts, they ranked with St. Peter himself as the apostles most closely associated with Jesus. To wit:
- all three, with Peter’s brother Andrew, were the first four called by Jesus (Matthew 4:21, Mark 1:19, Luke 5:10)
- all three witnessed Jesus’ Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1, Mark 9:2, Luke 9:28)
- all three witnessed the raising of Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5:37, Luke 8:51)
- all three had a private discourse with Jesus about the End Times (Mark 13)
- all three were closest to Jesus during His Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:33)
- the brothers wanted to call down heavenly fire on a Samaritan village that rejected Jesus (Luke 9:54), befitting Jesus’ nickname for them: Boanarges or “Sons of Thunder” (Mark 3:17)
- Peter and John were sent to make preparations for the Last Supper (Luke 22:8)
- Jesus uses John to teach an important lesson on the use of His Name (Mark 9:38)
Certainly, from a human perspective, James and John must have at least been on the shortlist of personages entitled to sit beside Jesus in the heavenly kingdom. True to their thunderous nature, they were not shy about asking for that privilege.
To their credit, though, they did ask, and Jesus in turn kindly but firmly put them in their place. In contrast, I think we’ve all witnessed braggarts male and female who make a beeline for strategic tables at various functions, believing themselves to be Very Important Personages, and leaving waitstaff with the unpleasant task of bursting their bubble and enduring their blustery tirades.
So let us remember to pray for our clergy, our maids, our food servers, our public transport drivers, our block cleaners, and every else who serve our needs and wishes daily, and may have had to endure our fiery unreason. Let us also think hard about how we can serve others both more and less fortunate than ourselves, for as today’s Gospel reminds us:
the Son of Man himself did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45)
Lord, you taught us that to love is to serve. Help us serve others with love for all, and malice toward none. Amen.