Here is the link to Matthew Chapter 20, and the text from verses 20 to 28:
20Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him.
21“What is it you want?” he asked. She said, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.”
22“You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?” “We can,” they answered.
23Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.”
24When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. 25Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 26Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— 28just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Typically, I only give one phrase or verse as the basis of my contemplation. But it has been more than two months since I wrote Empty (two months since I wrote anything in this forum). The angst I expressed in that post is still with me. But this Gospel passage, perhaps, can serve as a starting point for moving on.
I should have known that the Gospel would address the situation directly, and that it would provide me with comfort and potential paths forward.
Here is one potential synopsis of this passage.
“Grant that…….”
- In other words, the sons of Zebedee seek glory for themselves.
“You do not know…….”
- Jesus points out their ignorance, reminding them of their inherent human weaknesses and shortcomings.
“We can.”
- They ignore Him. Despite the reminder, they display arrogance, believing themselves able to do what only Jesus can do.
“When the ten heard about this…….”
- Arrogance and a desire for glory lead to dissension and conflict among men, even men that are friends.
“Jesus called them together…….”
- Jesus, as always, answers by serving as teacher. He works to turn the negative to the positive by seizing the opportunity to lay the truth before those who are blinded to that truth by the conflict they have created for themselves.
What is that truth?
The truth is that we are not supposed to be like the “Gentiles.” We are not supposed to seek earthly political power in an effort to “Lord it over” others.
Instead, we are to reject power in favor of service. It is one of the great mysteries of the life of Jesus. Only in embracing the role of slave is greatness possible.
Our current set of politicians, on both sides of the aisle, are obsessed with the type of power that Jesus asks us to reject. We call them public servants, but they serve no one but themselves. They do not seek to empower us. In their arrogance, they enact laws that negate God given freedom in a myriad of ways. They impose their will upon us (“Lord it over” us), forcing us to follow the rules they establish.
Conflict results, and the possibility of progress is lost within that conflict.
Our overall mindset as a people teaches us to seek power, and to laud those who manage to obtain it. But we are intensely misguided. We behave like the “Gentiles” Jesus is describing, expending great amounts of energy in search of the exact opposite of what He teaches us to seek. We should not be surprised that our religiosity suffers. If we continuously act as “Gentiles,” then that is what we must become.
And when we become that, our ability to follow the servant model of Jesus is lost.
The solutions to the woes of America must, necessarily, lie outside the sphere of government. This Gospel passage is a firm reminder of that.
The question is, how will we as a people re-learn this lesson? How can we begin to embrace the notion that political power, by and large, must be rejected as the source of solutions before progress can be made?
What might be done to set an example that could convince the people to return to the teaching of Christ that calls us to the life of servant?