|
| Lent 1 "Are You Ready for This?" |
Reader one: Perhaps the most important announcement in Jesus ministry was this. He was going to Jerusalem. None of Jesus’ friends – none of Jesus’ disciples were happy to hear that. The trip meant trouble, though none of them had any idea what kind of trouble. For starters, they never felt at home in Jerusalem. They were all from Galilee and they spoke with a thick Galilean accent. Everyone in Jerusalem would treat them like a bunch of asinine back-country types that didn’t know how to act or speak in sophisticated company. Which is exactly what they were. But Jerusalem was also the spiritual centre of their faith. Jesus and his friends worshipped regularly in the synagogues near home, but the temple in Jerusalem was the centre of their faith. It was the obligation of every Jew to make a sacrifice in the temple at least once a year, and the best time of year was the season of Passover. As they were walking the long, dusty, dangerous road from Galilee to Jerusalem, all of them – the disciples, the friends – were wondering what kind of reception they would get in the big city. They were all aware that Jesus had a reputation as a spiritual leaders – as a healer – and as a trouble-maker. They were all aware that leaders – healers – trouble makers from the countryside, didn’t always get a warm welcome in Jerusalem. The story of this journey to Jerusalem is told in two of the books of the Bible. Matthew and Mark. But Matthew is the only one that tells a story about the mother of two of the disciples – James and John – the sons of Zebedee, the fisherman. We don’t know her name, though it may have been Salome. She, along with other women, helped make the ministry of Jesus possible. Here’s the story as it is told in Matthew’s gospel. Reader Two: While Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside by themselves, and said to them on the way, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death. Then they will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified; and on the third day he will be raised.” Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, and kneeling before Jesus, she asked a favor of him. And Jesus said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Declare that these two sons of mine will sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” But Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?’’ They said to him, “We are able.” Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left, this is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” Reader one: James and John and their mother had no idea, really, what Jesus was talking about. They had no idea what following Jesus was really all about. What it would cost. And, as you might expect, the rest of Jesus’ disciples were annoyed. Who did these two guys and their mother think they were? The nerve, to go an ask Jesus for this kind of priviledge! Jesus must have felt exasperated with his disciples. They didn’t seem to get the point. Jesus kept talking about his kingdom, his shalom, and how God did not operate on the rules of power and privelidge. In God’s kingdom, things were different. Reader two: When the ten disciples heard about the special request, they were angry with the two brothers. But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came – not to be served but to serve. And to give his life a ransom for many.” Reader one: The road from Galilee to Jerusalem was long and dusty and dangerous. The road from Ash Wednesday, through Lent to Easter is long and confusing and dangerous. And the story asks us the question. “Can we drink the cup? Can we walk with Jesus and his friends to Jerusalem? Do we have what it takes to be a Christian? Story "The Zebedee Boys and their Mom" |