35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.” 36 “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. 37 They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.” 38 “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” 39 “We can,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, 40 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.” 41 When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. 42 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 43 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
James and John, called the “Sons of Thunder”, were, with Peter, among those closest to Jesus. With Andrew, they were the first ones called and they were at the transfiguration. Their proximity to Jesus has led them to see themselves as special and among the group’s leaders. Perhaps they have a bit of a rivalry with Peter who often acts as the group’s spokesperson. Maybe Peter’s leadership has made them feel overshadowed, and they want to assert themselves. Whatever the cause, they now make a bizarre request of Jesus.
Jesus responds by saying that, while there will be glory, there will also be much suffering. He refers to this as drinking the cup he has drunk and undergoing the baptism he has experienced. If they, or we, want to share in his glory, we must also be prepared to share in his suffering. In verse 38, Jesus asks them if they are ready to do this and they answer affirmatively, without hesitation. They really do not seem to understand what Jesus has been telling them. After this, Jesus informs them he cannot grant their request.
In verse 41, we learn that the other apostles are “indignant” with James and John for their request. Perhaps this is because they realize how completely the two have failed to understand the nature of the kingdom of God but Jesus’ response suggests this is not the case. He seems to think that everyone deserves a rebuke. The others probably were just annoyed that James and John had gone behind their backs and tried to steal the best places.
Throughout the gospel, Jesus has repeatedly turned upside down human ideas of greatness, and here we have a particularly powerful statement. The kingdom of God does not operate in the same way our world does. You cannot earn positions in heaven through self-promotion; indeed, not even through martyrdom. We have no idea even whether there is a hierarchy in heaven. Maybe everyone is equal. In any case, only God makes the decision over who he will honor and he will certainly not follow human standards. Jesus may specifically mention the Gentiles but what he says applies to everyone. And he is very clear: greatness in God’s kingdom consists of serving others and not in being their master. He holds up the model of an alternative society in which the first are last and the last first.
Daniel 7:14 spoke of how everyone in the world would serve the Son of Man. But in verse 45, Jesus, the true Son of Man, reverses everything and says that he has come to serve others. By doing this he fulfills Isaiah’s prophecy of the suffering servant (the first reading for today). Jesus is God’s chosen one, the Messiah but he will fulfill his mission not through earthly triumph but through suffering and death. He will die for the sins of his people.
In the last verse, Jesus talks of giving “his life as a ransom for many”. The word he uses for “ransom” refers to paying to release a captive or to free a slave. Furthermore, the word usually translated as “many” can also mean “all”. In the gospel of Mark, this is as close as Jesus comes to explaining why he must die and what he will achieve by doing so. This phrase harkens back to Isaiah chapters 52 and 53 where we are told the suffering servant will be “wounded for our transgressions”. Jesus took upon himself the punishment that makes us whole. This tells us that in some mysterious way, Christ’s suffering saves us. He came into this world, became human and shared all our anxieties and sufferings, and gave up all the glory of the omnipotent God, just to save us. God does indeed love us and all this world very much.
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