You can almost see Jesus in this weekend’s Gospel bite His tongue from saying, “If I have to pull this car over, you are all going to be sorry…” As readers and hearers of Mark’s Gospel, we also get to the point of frustration with the disciples who keep showing how immensely they are not integrating Jesus’s message into their hearts. On their journey to Jerusalem, where the Crucifixion of Jesus will all be set in motion, the disciples have been learning about what true discipleship is: servant discipleship. In our Gospel this weekend, we see yet again how Jesus’ message is still not quite sinking in with the disciples as brothers James and John have asked Jesus for a place of honor when He comes into His glory. They ask that one can sit at His right and one can sit at His left hand. I know around our own dinner table, the seating arrangement question (and calling ahead of time who gets to sit by whom) happens almost every night. Here, we have an “eschatological banquet” seating arrangement request coming from Jesus’ followers. This is a serious indication that they have not quite bought into the servant leadership demands of the Good News, which, in Mark’s Gospel, is highlighted as the heart of what it means to follow Jesus.
Instead of chastising James and John, I can imagine Jesus taking a deep breath, feeling compassion for them before posing His response, "You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?" Drinking the cup that Jesus drinks is the cup of both suffering and joy. And for what is coming up for the disciples, that cup is going to be filled with a lot of suffering and Jesus knows this. Here, Jesus clearly lays out what it means to follow him: the first among you must be a servant to all. The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve. As our first reading bleakly tells us, He will give His life as an offering for all. To drink the cup that Jesus drinks is to accept this mission as their own.
Even though James’ and John’s request of Jesus is misplaced and shows a misunderstanding of servant leadership, we should not be too hard on them. We cannot miss the first part of their request, “Grant that in your glory, we may…” Their time with Jesus, even in the midst of growing tensions, has convinced them that Jesus really is who He says He is. His followers are still there, believing in Him, having done what the rich man in the previous encounter could not do – given everything to follow Him. They are still journeying towards Jerusalem to Jesus’s death and they have not left Him. Reflecting on Mark’s Gospel is a great chance to see ourselves, if we can be so bold, in Jesus’ disciples – our hopes and dreams wrapped up in Jesus, yet we still have a way to go in our integration of His message into our lives. As we proclaim our Psalm this weekend, may we think of those who came before Jesus, those who journeyed with Jesus and even our community now who strive to follow Jesus. We proclaim together,
”Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.”