Read Mark 10:35-45.
Do you feel you’ve been here before? Just a few weeks ago in Mark, the disciples were arguing about who was the greatest. Jesus had just told them he would be betrayed and killed. But this was too hard to take in, and they were too afraid to ask. They ignored the big picture and focused on power politics. Jesus took a powerless child, and basically said, “Be like this”.
James and John were special disciples. Along with Peter, they were the only ones to see Jesus transfigured on the mountain. Maybe that gave them ideas of privilege. Anyway, we hear today that they wanted to firm this up. They wanted prime places next to Jesus when it was time for him to reign in glory.
Positioning. We hear it in politics. Placement. We hear it in marketing. James and John wanted a position and a place. They wanted to know where they would sit.
Jesus knew that his message from before hadn’t sunk in. The focus on status was off the mark. He asked them to think about what they had been told. What did it mean to be a leader like Jesus?
James and John had used an image to represent what they wanted. They asked for a seat beside Jesus. What they wanted was power and privilege. So Jesus used images to represent what he required. Could they drink his cup? Could they be baptised with his baptism?
“Yes, yes, we are able”, they said. Words are cheap sometimes. Did they fully understand what cup Jesus was speaking of? Of course, Jesus knew about his cup: the cup he would plead about in the Garden of Gethsemane, the need to die for unworthy humankind. His baptism was special because it involved not just water, but the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit sent Jesus to the wilderness, then had him “proclaim good news to the poor ... freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free” (Lk 4:18).
“Yes, yes”. We might promise all kinds of things at a job interview, when we’re eager to get the position. But a smart job provider will focus not on promises but on evidence of behaviour. It’s not what you say or even the letters beside your name that matter. It’s what you have done and what you can do.
It’s interesting then that Jesus actually says, “Yes”, too. There is a sense in which the disciples will drink his cup. And not necessarily as martyrs – there is only one Saviour. If we accept it, we all drink the cup of salvation which is God’s act of grace in Christ. The enabling power of forgiveness can be ours.
And “yes”, they will share in his baptism. The enabling power of the Holy Spirit is accessible to all.
But that’s the point: enabling. With the freedom to move forward from past sin, with the Spirit of the Lord upon us, the mission of Jesus is what lies ahead. Jesus equips us for action.
This is every disciple’s calling. A servant attitude. The higher our position of power, the more we can do for others. In our federal government, it’s true that we talk about Parliament “sitting”. And there’s a lot of talking. But the senior leaders are called Ministers. People who serve. The Prime Minister is merely the first among these servants.
Wherever we are placed, let’s not focus on our position. Use our vantage point to look out on God’s world and on what we can do to help. It’s not about sitting: it’s about serving!
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