Our Rightful Place

 

 Mt 20:17-28

 Jesus Predicts His Death a Third Time

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!”

A Mother’s Request

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.”

Salome's ambitious request for her sons certainly misses the point of the previous verses where Jesus predicts his suffering and death. The followers of Jesus still had much to learn, as do we. to borrow from Notre Dame's associate professor, Fr. John Paul Kimes, do we see ourselves as "third"? God first, others second, and ourselves at number three?  Not only a good position to be in but actually the right position according to Jesus, who himself came not to be served but to serve. Adopting this attitude fits into our Lenten program of cleaning up our act and of setting our priorities in proper order: God first, you second, me third. 

Dear God, deliver me from vain ambition and help me to set my priorities straight.  Amen.