PROPER 24 (29) – Year B
22nd Sunday after Pentecost — October 20, 2024
Gospel Lectionary Text
Mark 10:35-45
10:35 James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you."
10:36 And he said to them, "What is it you want me to do for you?"
10:37 And they said to him, "Appoint us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory."
10:38 But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"
10:39 They replied, "We are able." Then Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink you will drink and with the baptism with which I am baptized you will be baptized,
10:40 but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to appoint, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared."
10:41 When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John.
10:42 So Jesus called them and said to them, "You know that among the gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them.
10:43 But it is not so among you; instead, whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant,
10:44 and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.
10:45 For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many."
CONTEXT
Welcome to the 22nd Sunday after Pentecost. In this week’s text, we find James and John asking Jesus for prime positions in His kingly court — one at His right hand and one at His left. The request angers the other ten disciples, but Jesus doesn’t reprimand James and John. Instead, he tells them, “You do not know what you are asking.”
It’s true. They have no idea! How could they? The throne where Jesus will be glorified isn’t what they envision; it’s a cross, flanked not by nobles but by two criminals, referred to as “brigands" (leistes: Matthew 27:38; Mark 15:27) — literally "gang members."
The disciples have no clue that the only “court” in Jesus' kingdom is a group of social outcasts, and the two brigands that will soon occupy the right and left, arguing about the kingdom that Jesus is calling forth — one of them cursing Jesus for his failed kingship. Perhaps this is why Jesus doesn’t blame James and John for their misguided request.
Instead, Jesus gathers to himself a cursed band of social outcasts and transforms them into a community of the cross that changes the world. Together they reveal a kingdom where there is plenty of room on Jesus’ right and the left, if we would but count ourselves among the brigands of the Lord.
Question
How might our own desires for recognition and status blind us to the reality of the kingdom Jesus is calling us into?
Prayer
Come, Holy Spirit, wild and free. Do as you please. Shine your light on me that I might see things as they are, not as I am. Free me to act in your name with courage, creativity, and compassion. See the complete prayer
Word from Below Reflections
A Different Kind of Power
By Lina Thompson |
One has to admire James and John’s audacity, as misguided as it was. But it appears they had either forgotten, or missed, what Jesus had already told them about the nature of power and where it resides. I empathize with them. I get it. They probably felt justified in their request.
Under The Table
By Ojii BaBa Madi |
I currently spend my days assisting staff at a nearby elementary school. Our team gets the call when students have serious issues with behavior or cooperation. This week, I was summoned to a normally tranquil kindergarten class, where a five-year-old was out of his seat, hiding in plain sight behind a giant smart board.
Brigands of the Lord
By Kris Rocke |
The New Testament scholar N.T. Wright in his book How God Became King: The Forgotten Story of the Gospels, reminds us that Jesus was glorified and crowned king in the most unusual coronation ceremony imaginable: on the cross. Of course, we like to think the coronation ceremony happened sometime after the nasty business of the...
Understanding the Bible anew through the Mimetic Theory of René Girard.
Weekly Homily by James Alison