Mark 10:35 - 45
When we hear this gospel we are naturally drawn to the last part -- the part about if you want to be great, you have to be a servant. But I think we may be missing something in the other words Jesus says to James and John: “The cup that I drink, you will drink; and the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized.”
I don’t think the brothers were trying to take something from the rest of the apostles, which seems to be implied when we read that the ten became indignant. I think that James and John, remember, they are brothers and they have been with JEsus from the beginning, expect that Jesus will fulfill their hopes. They’ve decided that he’s the Messiah, and they want to be part of what is going to happen. After all, the Messiah is going to usher in a new era, a new world, where the Jewish people will finally rule, where all of those great prophecies will be fulfilled -- the great banquet, all nations coming to Jerusalem bringing gifts, the lion lying down with the lamb -- just check Isaiah and Ezechiel and Jeremiah -- they describe this new world.
So what is this cup, what is this baptism? Well, it isn’t martyrdom. James was martyred, yes, but John supposedly lived to a ripe old age much of which was caring for the Blessed Mother and if legend is correct, being the bishop of a Christian community in Turkey, somewhere. John’s life, at least from our perspective, wasn’t all that bad. So what is Jesus talking about?
Well, we get a hint when we read the first two readings. “The Lord was pleased to crush him in infirmity” and “through his suffering, my servant shall justify many, and their guilt he shall bear.” And the Epistle to the Hebrews reminds us that Jesus is the high priest who has been tested in every way. We know that in some way the suffering and death of Jesus is the price of our salvation. But we also know that we aren’t going to get through this life without suffering -- as long as we are alive, we can expect that we will suffer, even if things are going great now.
I want to give you a quote from Saint Paul who tells us “I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of his body, which is the Church…” That’s a hard one to understand, isn't it? What Is lacking in the sufferings of Christ? What could be lacking? I think Paul gives us an answer. His sufferings are for you -- the Collossian church to whom he is writing -- because they make up the body of which Christ is the head. Christ has suffered as much as the head can suffer, but the body must suffer as well. Jesus promises his two apostles that they will not escape suffering, nor will we.
So why do we have to suffer? It’s a real mystery. We know God doesn’t want us to suffer. Jesus, who is the image of the invisible God, goes through his public ministry relieving people who suffer. And Jesus does the will of the Father. The Father could prevent our suffering, but it would be at the expense of our freedom, our free will. The Father always allows us to say no to him. But He does something even better. He redeems suffering. Suffering, whether mental or physical or emotional, always means that we are not in control. If I have arthritis in my knee, I know I can’t walk or run like I would like. If I have a job I don’t like, but I can’t quit, I feel like a slave. If I have a life-threatening condition, I feel my future being taken away from me. If I love someone who doesn’t love me back, I suffer because I’ll never get what I want. The greater the suffering the less the control. When you look at Jesus on the cross, you see the ultimate suffering -- excruciating pain, not being able to do anything about it, not being able to draw a deep breath; naked and exposed to the ridicule of strangers, knowing that all of this will end in death -- and if we believe the gospels, Jesus knew this would be his fate from the beginning. He suffered not so that we wouldn’t have to suffer, but so that in our suffering it would be possible to share in his, and in doing so share in his resurrection. We Christians hate suffering as much as anyone, but we know that in our suffering it’s possible in a very special way to unite ourselves to Christ’s suffering. And here’s the thing: when we suffer, it’s possible for the Father to form Christ in us. Insuffering we are offered the cup that Jesus drank, and the baptism with which he was baptized.
If you are a disciple of Jesus, like James and John, you are going to suffer. But you are going to suffer anyway. If you are a disciple you are offered the opportunity to allow Jesus to be united to your suffering; and if you give up the desire for control, you let the Father take over and form Christ in you, which makes it possible for you to rise from the dead and share eternity with Him. That, by the way, is what we act out when we receive Holy Communion.
And that brings us to Jesus’ words to the ten disciples who were indignant. Whoever wishes to be first among you must be the slave of all. A slave is the ultimate one who suffers; his body is not his own, his life is not his own, he has no control whatsoever. So we pray that when we are called upon to suffer, we will remember that as we give up control, it is a time to invite the Father to form Christ in us. And in our suffering, may we hear those words Jesus spoke to the Good Thief -- “This day you will be with me in Paradise”.
