We called James and John the sons of Zebedee. It was kind of a joke. John was as loud as an earthquake, as forceful as an evening wind. They were big men, rough men, the kind you could stake your life on.
Maybe in some ways we had. Since Jesus had called them, throwing out bait like a fisherman pitches a net, James and John had willingly, delightfully followed our Master.
The other day, though, they did something strange even for the Zebedee boys. "Teacher," they began. We want you to do for us whatever we ask." Yeah, like that was going to happen.
Jesus asked playfully, "What do you want me to do for you?"
James replied, "Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory."
When we heard these two braggarts, we had to concentrate to keep from, well, busting out laughing.I'm not just talking about this one time, but nearly every day. They were filled with themselves. hey, these brothers could have been named the Big Mouth Brothers, but we just called them the Sons of Thunder because they were filled a couple of blowhards. I mean it.
When the other disciples heard about James and John’s request, they became indignant so Jesus had to explain to them all that the value structures of this world are meaningless in the eyes of God. Nothing could eat at the structure of the disciples like ego and pride, and pride and ego were the tools of Satan. That it was right around Passover, and that it was about the time for Jesus to finally show who he was, was critical to all of us. And these two brothers...always worried about who was greatest, who was on the right and who was on the left.
They were fishermen. FISHERMEN.
We took it in, tried to be calm, but it ate at us. Jesus said, "You don't know what your are asking. Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?"
They said, "We can."
Jesus looked down at the dirt, and pondered the task at hand I guess. He had just predicted his death a few minutes earlier. His death. He was talking about dying for this cause, and the brothers wanted to know who was the more important of them.
The brothers, hey all of us I guess, were looking outward. Jesus was looking inward.
Jesus was preparing us all for, well, something. Something new. Different. More. But we were preparing ourselves for ruling when Jesus took over.
We were looking for a crown. He was looking for a chorus of the poor.
We were looking for the love of rule. He was looking for the rule of love.
He told the brothers Zebedee, "You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, 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."
The cup he offered was bitter. But we were walking toward table. It was almost time to enter Jerusalem. The crowds were building.
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