Jesus teaches us on servant leadership

It’s the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time and today’s Sunday gospel gives us an idea that even the disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ had human desires for their spiritual future. They knew that our Lord came from God and so they tried to convince him to give them important positions when he comes to his glory. Sounds similar to what is happening today?

This gospel reading is timely for our up and coming Presidential elections, where we can see many people supporting their favorite candidates, with an ulterior motive that perhaps when their candidates win the elections, they would be given some favors, like a job or positions of power. This is why our kind of politics is really not good for country… but good only to the victors of this election. So let’s read today’s gospel on Mark 10: 35-45.

“James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus and said to him, ‘Master, we want you to grant us what we are going to ask of you.” And he said, “What do you want me to do for you?” They answered, “Grant us to sit one at your right and one at your left when you come in your glory.”

But Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I drink or be baptized in the way I am baptized?” They answered him, “We can.” And Jesus told them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and you will be baptized in the way I am baptized. But to sit at my right or my left is not mine to grant. It has been prepared for others.”

On hearing this, the other ten were angry with James and John; Jesus then called them to him and said, “As you know, the so-called rules of the nations act as tyrants and those in authority oppress the people. But it shall not be so among you; whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you shall make him self slave of all. Think of the Son of Man who has not come to be served but to serve and to give his life to redeem many.”

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So as this story goes, James and John, the sons of Zebedee went to our Lord Jesus Christ to ask him a favor… that when he comes into his glory, that both of them should sit on the right and on the left of his throne. But the Lord Jesus Christ must have been laughing inside himself that these two were asking something that even the Lord Jesus Christ could not give as it is not for him to give, but is reserved for God the Father to give.

So our Lord Jesus Christ told his two disciples that it was not for him to give and frankly tells them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and you will be baptized in the way I am baptized. But to sit at my right or my left is not mine to grant. It has been prepared for others.” This only gives you an idea that in the Kingdom of heaven, certain positions are already reserved for God’s loyal servants.

But this conversation between James and John with our Lord Jesus Christ somehow got into the ten disciples who were incensed that these two upstarts would dare ask the Lord for this special privilege, while the ten other disciples did not even dare ask him for such positions. So what our Lord Jesus Christ did was call the Twelve and told them what I would say is one of the most important teachings of Christianity.

The Lord Jesus Christ told them, “As you know, the so-called rules of the nations act as tyrants and those in authority oppress the people. But it shall not be so among you; whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you shall make him self slave of all. Think of the Son of Man who has not come to be served but to serve and to give his life to redeem many.”

The disciples of our Lord Jesus must have been stunned by this teaching. They had the belief that if their Master was indeed the Messiah who came from God, they would now have a place of honor and glory and just like ordinary human beings…they would Lord it over to the people, like the way that after we elect our political leaders, instead of serving the people, they end up as if they are our Lord and Masters! In a way, our Lord Jesus Christ gave the Twelve disciples and idea of how things work in heaven, which is totally different from the way things work here on earth.

What went on the minds of the disciples when they heard the Lord tell them, “But it shall not be so among you; whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you shall make him self slave of all.” For sure this is not what the Apostles James and John had in mind… to be a slave for all. This is why the Lord said to his disciples, “Think of the Son of Man who has not come to be served but to serve and to give his life to redeem many.” Indeed, these disciples later knew that our Lord Jesus Christ was sent from heaven to redeem the world by his ultimate sacrifice in dying on the cross. He taught us true servant leadership, which unfortunately our so-called Public Servants sadly still have to embrace.

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