Reading
Matthew 20:17-28
17 Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way, he took the Twelve aside and said to them, 18 “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death 19 and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!”
20 Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him.
21 “What is it you want?” he asked.
She said, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.”
22 “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?”
“We can,” they answered.
23 Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.”
24 When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. 25 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 26 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Meditation
Heading towards Jerusalem for the last time, Jesus embarks on his journey to the cross. For the third time, he speaks to his disciples of his impending passion. Peter, James and John had heard him discussing it also with Moses and Elijah, during the transfiguration. The announcement is a hard truth to understand and is not addressed to crowds, but only to those who follow it closely.
The misunderstanding is immediately manifested in the request of Salome, mother of the sons of Zebedee: James and John. These wish to reign with Christ, but this involves the ultimate gift of self. The chalice that Jesus speaks of is metaphorically, the destiny established by God, be it of blessing or judgment. Here it refers to his passion and his death.
If James and John have misunderstood the mission of the Son who came to serve, the other disciples, jealous of their request, are no less. But the political models of temporal power do not accord with the demands of the kingdom of heaven. Will of domination and prevarication must be banned from the Church of Christ. Believers are called to serve and give themselves for others, following the example of Jesus; in this way, existence acquires the fullness of meaning. When it seems that we are depriving ourselves of our life, it will be precisely then that we will find it (Mt 16:25).
The ransom paid by Jesus represents his substitute sacrifice that obtains eternal life for those who are slaves of sin. Suffering at the hands of the Jews and the Gentiles, he will reconcile both of them with his cross. Salvation excludes no one, as the word "many" (Gr. Pollon) might suggest, to be understood as a Semitism (cf. Is 53:12) to represent the whole community that benefits from the service of one.
The suffering of Jesus is not just an act of vicarious satisfaction of our sins. His giving of life "for many" (v. 28) also constitutes a theophany of God's inner nature. God is not only Being ("I am who I am"; Ex 3:14), but He is "Being for": God gives himself to man, in the incarnation of the Son, who "inhabits" our humanity to the point of suffering and death. But revealing himself as a gift, God also calls man, created in his image and likeness, "to make himself relation" for the others. In the light of the paschal events of Christ's death and resurrection, the apostle John will understand this ultimate truth, well expressed in his first letter: "we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love" (1 Jn 4:16).
Prayer
Give us, O Lord, the readiness to accept the sufferings of the present moment, aware that they are not comparable to the future glory that you have prepared for us; so that we can courageously testify your Name. Amen.
- Rev. Dr. Luca Vona
