The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve.

Wednesday Second Week of Lent

Reading: Matthew 20: 17-28

While Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside by themselves and said to them on the way.  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; 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.’  Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, and kneeling before him, she asked a favour of him.  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 and one at your left, in your kingdom.’ 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.’  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.’

When they heard it, they were angry with the two brothers.  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. It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’

Reflection On the journey to the city that was of greatest historical and theological significance to the Jewish people, Jesus is preparing his disciples for what is about to happen to him. They were familiar with the story of how in obedience to God, Abraham took his son Isaac to be sacrificed to God on Mount Moriah. However, the Lord intervened and saved Isaac. A lamb sacrifice was made as a replacement offering. (Genesis 22. 1-14), a foreshadowing of the greatest sacrifice that would ever be made when Christ as lamb of God would be offered up on a cross on a Jewish hillside. Sensitive to their need for privacy, Jesus takes them aside to break bad news and to forewarn them of what is to come; ‘the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death; then they will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified;’ In his rising from the dead, the redemption of the world will take place. No indication of their response to this shattering news is offered; instead, the actions of a concerned mother for her sons is shared with us. She approaches Jesus, kneels before him and he says to her, ‘what do you want?’ Oblivious to the magnitude and inappropriateness of her request, she asks that the best seats in the kingdom of God are reserved for her sons; Jesus responds to this request by asking them if they can share in his cross and they respond that they are suggesting a lack of insight into the reality of sharing his cross. Instead of promising them seats at his right or left hand which were not his to grant, Jesus showed them and shows me a different way to enter his kingdom. I am called to be a servant of all and a messenger of peace and goodwill. (Romans 10:15) Like St. Paul we the baptised and chosen of God have been set apart and called through his grace’ (1 Galatians: 15) so that we might proclaim the goodness and mercy of God by acts of loving service to all but especially to those most in need. I am asked to approach the Lord and others in humility and not to seek the status of the world but to be ‘servants of all.’ I may do this through my active participation in my local St. Vincent De Paul or other social outreach group that responds to the needs of the vulnerable. This is the key to our happiness and the way into the kingdom of heaven. Humble service of others is an essential element of the discipleship of Christ. As a follower of Christ, I am also asked in different way each day to witness to the gospel by denying myself to take up my cross and follow me.’ (Matthew 16:24) Jerusalem is suffering greatly today. Prayer and fasting are needed so that peace may reign once more in this great city. Are you committed to pray daily for this.

On occasion I may ask favours of God without realising what I am asking. Does this ever happen to you?

Are status and worldly power and ambition important to you. Is God calling you to conversion in these areas during this Lenten season.

Are you dependent on God’s grace each day to walk in God’s way or do you rely on yourself for guidance.

What new social activity can you undertake to offer the alms of time or other practical support to another during this Lenten season.

Prayer

I ask for the grace to keep my mind and heart

focused on God’s kingdom and its justice.

May I ask each day for the grace to carry

the cross that has been placed on my shoulders;

the cross placed by the Lord,

not the one that I may choose for myself.

May my sharing in His cross draw me ever closer

to my Lord each moment of my life, Amen.