Christ-like Ambition

by Fr. Roger J. Landry - February 23, 2005

Gospel Passage

Matt. 20:17 While Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside by themselves, and said to them on the way, 18 "See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death; 19 then they will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified; and on the third day he will be raised." 20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, and kneeling before him, she asked a favor of him. 21 And he said to her, "What do you want?" She said to him, "Declare that these two sons of mine will sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom." 22 But Jesus answered, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?" They said to him, "We are able." 23 He said to them, "You will indeed drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left, this is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father." 24 When the ten heard it, they were angry with the two brothers. 25 But Jesus called them to him and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. 26 It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; 28 just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many."

Brief Commentary

The Twelve were so slow to hear what Jesus was saying to them.

If a friend tells us he has only a short time to live, we normally try to console our friend.

Three times Jesus had told his friends that he would shortly be condemned to death, mocked, scourged, and crucified. After the first, Peter refused to believe and said it would never happen (Mt 16:22). After the second, the twelve argued about who among them was the greatest (Lk 9:46). After the third, John, James and their mother asked for privileged seats in Christ's kingdom.

Rather than be exasperated, Christ continued their education.

To be great in Christ's kingdom means to love like the King. "Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?" John and James, who did indeed become great, made that desire their own: "We can."

Then Jesus showed that that type of self-giving love involves fighting for the towel to wash other's feet, not for choice seats at court. "Whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant."

Here again, Jesus teaches more by example than by words. "The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for the many."

The chalice and the towel wait for us.

Father Roger J. Landry is pastor of St. Anthony of Padua in New Bedford, MA and Executive Editor of The Anchor, the weekly newspaper of the Diocese of Fall River.