The terms leader or ruler conjure up certain images and definitions in our minds. We often think of leaders as having special privileges. This is what James and John have in mind in today’s Gospel when they approach Jesus and say, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” The way they make their request reveals their attitude: they expect to be served, even by the Lord! The two brothers are looking for positions of honor. Jesus gently points out to them what their request would entail, that is, “drinking the cup” of his sufferings. They are quite confident that they can do so, but they clearly have no idea what they are agreeing to. It seems that they have completely misinterpreted what it means to be included in Jesus’ inner circle, and they are focused on obtaining the places of honor that they think are coming to them.
Jesus proceeds to shatter their ideas of what a leader is. He first tells them the world’s usual understanding of leadership; then he replaces it with something higher, his own view of how authority should work: “You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant….” This is a complete reversal of what James and John were thinking. It is a kind of reversal that we still need in own day, since we still tend to think of authority like “the Gentiles.”
Pope Francis makes the same point in this week’s Spiritual Reflection, in which he speaks of “two different types of logic: the disciples want to rise up and Jesus wants to immerse himself…. How many times we Christians, who should be servants, try to climb up, to get ahead. We should thus always evaluate our heart’s real intentions, asking ourselves: ‘Why am I carrying out this work, this responsibility? To offer service or rather to be recognised, praised, and to receive compliments?’” The model leader, the perfect example, is Jesus himself, whose whole approach to leadership is one of selfless service, even to the point of sacrifice. Thus he speaks of giving his life “as a ransom for many.”
In today’s first reading, Isaiah explains further what Jesus mentions briefly as “drinking the cup.” Isaiah, prophesying about the “Servant of the Lord,” says that his service will entail suffering, and that this suffering will, in some mysterious way, benefit others. “Through his suffering, my servant shall justify many, / and their guilt he shall bear.” We can only fully understand what Isaiah prophesies here by looking to the fulfillment of the prophecy in Jesus’ Passion, Death, and Resurrection. Jesus reveals a new dimension of suffering that is usually quite hidden from us. The unjust suffering of the innocent, so incomprehensible to us, has value in the eyes of God. United with the Cross of Christ, it is a way of participating in his work of salvation.
Our desire for greatness, if it is translated into selfless service, can be satisfied in part by our own share of the Cross. When we are going through trials, we are not alone, and our experiences are not worthless. We are being united ever more deeply with Jesus. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin.” In order to carry – and even benefit from – the many different crosses we must bear in life, “let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help.” Jesus, our great high priest, the Son of Man who came to serve and not be served, is with us. He intercedes before the Father for us so that we may receive “grace for timely help” – so that we too may find our joy in the greatness of service.
When am I most likely to focus on obtaining honors instead of serving? What has been my personal experience of benefiting from suffering, and of others benefiting from my suffering? How can I find joy in serving and giving myself to others?
Excerpt from The Anawim Way, Volume 20, no. 8. More information about The Anawim Way may be found here.