gospel revisited

MArk 10:32-45

As we look back at the gospel of today, i could not help but be struck by a few things .

First, JEsus is once again headed toward JERUSALEM. Now we just ended the Easter Season. We are well familiar with the JErusalem scene. We know what is coming next. We are all aware of calvary, of the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

Yet, Here we are at the beginning of Ordinary Time, Jesus in is public ministry, and yet the church directs our gaze to JErusalem.

We are never finished with Jerusalem. Our gaze must never get tired of peering at the wounded head surrounded with thorns, or scarred hands and feet of the crucified. SO just in case we thought the Easter celebration was to turn our gaze from the passion and death of Jesus for good, we get a gut check. The passion remains the focal point of our gaze. The resurrection is the lens by which we begin to understand such beauty, such love, a reason for it all.

Secondly we get the encounter of the the two brothers who come to JEsus with a request in hand. They are bold. THey are courageous. THey do not mess around with petty request. The go all out, "Grant that in glory we sit one at your right and one at your left."

These brothers show us what we should desire above all else. We should never settle for less. We should seek the highest possible and be bold in asking.


JEsus responds with an invitation "to drink the cup that I drink." We must remember in order to arrive at our destination we will be asked to drink the cup that God pours for us, not the one we pour for ourselves. The road to glory is not often achieved by the smooth path. The cup of suffering shall always be offered. We must drink of it in order to move forward. We cannot bypass the passion, we cannot go around the cross that bars the passage. We must pick it up and trudge forward. We must let the cup JEsus offers to quench our thirst, for no other shall do.


THen the brothers respond in a way that is striking. When JEsus asks, "can you drink the cup that I drink?" the brothers do not respond in the singular affirmative, but rather they respond as a team working together. It is the "we" that will be able to endure, only then shall the "I" arrive at glory. We must stand together, only then shall we drink the cup God offers on the road to glory.