Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Jesus called James and John “The Sons of Thunder.” I can see
why. They make a thunderous, loaded request: “Teacher, do for us whatever we
ask of you.” On second thought, it’s less a request and more a demand. At least when your children do this, they have the decency to ask, “Mom, if I ask you a
question, will you promise to say ‘yes’?” These guys demand it of Jesus: give
us what we want. It’s insult to injury: first, merely calling Jesus “teacher” –
not recognizing He is their Lord and Master who has called them to discipleship;
second, assuming that they know better what they need than He who is
God-in-flesh. Sons of Thunder, indeed,
acting as if they were the sons of God, not Jesus.
Their request: glory. They want the positions of honor at
Jesus’ side when He enters His kingdom that they presume to be, well, glorious.
I wonder how that conversation went beforehand – who was going to get the right
side, the number one spot, and who would get the left, the number two spot. How
did they determine that? Arm wrestling? Lawn darts? Either way, they wanted to
corner the market, leave the other Ten out in the cold. Somehow, those
thunderous boys saw themselves as worthy. Surely, when Jesus ascended His
throne, those positions would come with fame, fortune, and corner offices – the
equivalent of Vice President and Secretary of State. Jesus would make a name
for Himself and they would make names for themselves. And, perhaps one day, one
of them would inherit His kingdom. The other ten? They can be in the cabinet.
Sounds foolish, doesn’t it? Such behind-the-scenes
chicanery; manipulating and maneuvering to get on Jesus’ good sides (literally);
seeking out positions of power. And, more than that, demanding Jesus give them
what they want.
But, before we berate them too heavily for their foolish
demands, perhaps we should place ourselves in the picture as well. For, when we
do, we realize that this is an affliction that we share with those brothers, thundering
to tell God what it is that we need, what we want, and we expecting – no, demanding!
– that He hear and answer in the affirmative. Give us what we want, God! New
job, good grades, popularity among peers, new cars and fashionable clothes, a
relationship with Mr. or Miss Right or fix the one we are in, health, wealth
and happiness, the right school, the right career, the right house, the right
life on 123 Easy Street. We want it our way, right of way, and we want it
without pain, struggle or heartache. Give us what we demand of you, God…even
when we don’t realize all that comes with it.
I find it interesting that in Mark’s Gospel, every time
Jesus speaks about His going to the cross, the disciples just don’t, won’t or
can’t understand what he means. This is the third time in Mark when Jesus clearly
predicts His passion and resurrection. In chapter 8, Peter rebukes Him (8:32), in
chapter 9, His disciples argue about who is the greatest (9:34), and now James
and John seek positions of honor.
The brothers didn’t realize what Jesus was talking about,
let alone what they were asking. Jesus even calls them out on it. “You do not
know what you are asking.” He speaks of drinking a cup, of a baptism He must
undergo. Jesus is talking about the cross. He is speaking of His suffering and
dying, the mockery and tragedy, all at the hands of the Jewish leaders and the
Gentiles who hold the power of execution.
That doesn’t slow the boys down an iota. You can imagine
them nodding their heads, oh, yes we do, but their ideas are all
pie-in-the-sky. They are thinking glory in earthly terms where armies protect,
gold buys, politicians exert power against the will of others, and kings sit on
thrones in vast palaces drinking wine out of fancy goblets while surrounded by servants
and slaves. It’s the kind of thing that has caused wars and bloodshed
since the beginning of time.
Jesus’ glory is backwards – or, it appears so from an
earthly and worldly perspective. He has not come to be served but to serve. His
Kingdom is not of this world; yet it is in the world without anyone seeing it.
If you look for Jesus to be surrounded by pomp and circumstance, you will never
find it. His reign is so subtle that it is almost unnoticed. His army is heavenly and angelic, not sweaty,
grungy soldiers. His weapons are not swords and spears, but words, words that
call sinners to repentance and promise life, forgiveness, grace, and
compassion; words that fall on ears that are not willing to hear and listen to
the very Word of God incarnate. He will not sit in a fine palace while sipping
the finest of aged wines. He will have a throne, though – a cross-shaped,
rough-hewn throne, thrust into the ground, where He will hang, surrounded by
those who hate Him and His word. When Jesus was baptized in the Jordan, water
dripped from His face and beard while the Father’s voice echoed, “This is my
son.” In this baptism He is soon to undergo, the Father will remain silent as
blood drips from Jesus’ hands, feet, and from His thorn-pierced head. All the
while, Jesus submits passively to those authorities whom God has placed in
positions of honor, uttering not a word against them, instead praying for their
forgiveness. He dies as He lived: perfectly, sinless in Himself but drenched in
the sins of the world; fulfilling God’s wrath against mankind’s sins; drinking
deeply of the cup filled with the nastiest and grossest of the dregs, the
flotsam and jetsam and detritus, of mankind’s sins.
That is the glory of the Son of Man, for he comes not to be
served but to serve and give His live as a ransom for many. His glory is only
seen the cross.
The positions of glory that the brothers so desire? They are
not Jesus’ to grant. Those positions will be given to two special people –
neither of which are James or John. Luke reports it this way: “And when they
came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified Him, and the
criminals, one on his right and one on His left.” One criminal hung onto his
theology of glory: “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” He wanted
Jesus to demonstrate His power now – never mind that he apparently had no use
for Jesus in death, not in life. He wanted a glorious spot next to Jesus away
from the cross. But the other understood life under the cross: that it wasn’t
about the immediate, but the eternal; it wasn’t about his name, but the Name of
the one who hung next to him: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your
kingdom.”
Jesus comes as a suffering Servant to serve. His followers,
His disciples, His baptized believers who share His cup. It’s no longer a cup
of suffering. His suffering was enough. Take and drink, He invites; this cup is
a cup overflowing with forgiveness, life and salvation in His blood. He drained
the dregs of curses so you might instead be filled with the cup of blessing.
James and John will not understand this until after Jesus
dies and rises. You have seen the resurrected Jesus. You, baptized children of
God, are here to serve, to lay down your lives for the sake of the Gospel, the
Good News of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. We live in a world filled
with glory seekers, power hounds, and easy button hunters. They laugh at the
cross and see it only as a symbol of foolishness and weakness. You see it
otherwise. You see the cross as an instrument of death that God used instead to
give life. You know that greatness in His kingdom is not about power but about
sacrifice. “Whoever would be great among you must be your servant; whoever
would be first among you must be slave of all.” That’s how the kingdom of God
looks in this world. Humble, self-giving servants of the Servant of all, who
endured the baptism of His cross and drank the cup of God’s wrath in order to
save you, me and the world.
Do you want to be great in the kingdom of God? Be a servant
of all. Do you want to be first? Then be last. Do you want a seat near Jesus?
Then go sit among the least and the lost and the lowly and the losers of this
world and you will find the Savior of all. He has a cup for you, drink it. He
has a Baptism for you, be baptized into it. He has forgiveness, life and
salvation for you. Believe it.
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