Wednesday of the second week of Lent

It’s hard to blame the mother of James and John. She’s doing what all good mothers would do. She is unashamedly ambitious for her sons. She wants her boys to have the top seats in Jesus’ Kingdom.

Jesus asks the two if they are willing to share his fate. They say that they are, but really they do not know what they are agreeing to. Jesus then goes on to say that he cannot offer them the places in the Kingdom that they are seeking, because those places are God’s to grant. At the end of time, James and John will simply have to trust in God’s fidelity and generosity. As must all of us who want to be Jesus’ disciples.

Not surprisingly, when the other ten disciples hear about the request made by James and John, they are jealous and angry. They also are full of naked ambition and are annoyed by the way the brothers tried to steal a march on them and obtain the best places in the Kingdom for themselves. If we were in their position, it’s fair to say we would probably have reacted in the same way. That’s human nature, after all.

Jesus uses this opportunity to take up the issue of how leadership is to be exercised in the Kingdom of God and contrasts it with the request made by Mrs Zebedee and her sons. Gentile rulers “lord it over” their subjects and make their authority felt, Jesus tells them. But this is not the way it is to be in Jesus’ community. Those who are leaders in his community must become servants and slaves of others.

As Christians, the only ambition we should have is to try to get into heaven. The way we get into heaven is not by being self-absorbed or unjust or ‘out for ourselves,’ but through humble service of one sister and brother to another.