Have you ever suddenly realized that you have no idea what’s going on? That you thought the world worked in a certain way and then suddenly see that you were wrong and that the way the world really works is something utterly foreign and unknown, a different language?
Have you ever had one of those moments when the scales fall from your eyes, the door is opened, the curtain is pulled back and boy is there a big surprise on the other side?
That is what today’s Gospel lesson is like to me, when ever I read it, it makes me stop, I suddenly realize that I have no idea what’s going on, that I’m just spinning my wheels.
There is a great deal going on in this reading.
Let’s take a minute to unpack it.
The cup that Jesus drinks is his own suffering.
The baptism that Jesus receives is his own blood on the cross, he is baptized into death, death swallows him up.
James and John will ultimately live a similar life and share a similar fate, the same cup, the same baptism.
The standard of true greatness is not power, or prestige or honor, or ability, or competence or most of those things that we think are so important but servant hood, belonging to others.
Jesus death is a ransom for many, an exchange for hostages, the ending of captivity. There is something unique about Jesus suffering and death that changes the DNA of the universe.
Then there is the place of honor, on the left and the right of Jesus in his glory.
It is not for James and John, or any of Jesus’ followers.
The glory of Jesus is his crucifixion.
The place of honor, to his left and right is for two nameless criminals, crucified on either side of him, who don’t even know Jesus, who mock Jesus even as they are dieing on their own crosses.
The place of honor was prepared for those who would reject Jesus. That is where Jesus belongs, that is where Jesus chooses to be, that is where Jesus is found, in the midst of the forsaken, the violent, the vulgar, the profane, the lost, in the midst of forsakenness.
They are the honored ones.
Jesus tells James and John that they have no idea what they are asking, they have no idea what they are talking about, they have no idea what the world is really all about.
And I am right there with James and John, not knowing much about anything.
I don’t know much about forsakenness, or servant hood, or rejection, or suffering or true greatness.
But I do know that God is not a weapon. God is not a wedge issue. God is a gift. An invitation. A blessing.
I do know that the Gospel is good news for everyone, not just some.
I do know that the life of faith brings people together, it is about the common good, not about finding a common enemy. The life of faith is always redrawing the lines so that everyone can be included, rather than excluded, God’s Gerrymandering always keeps us off balance, at least it does me.
I do know that the life of Christ is for the world, not against the world.
It is not us versus them, it is us for them, for each other.
The ransom is paid, we have been set free from the eternal violence of words, ideas, spilt blood. That old world is passing away, behold he makes all things new, a new way of being in the world has disturbed my status quo, it has disrupted my understanding and competence.
I no longer know up from down, I have to start all over.
I don’t know much, but I do know that Jesus is up to something new, different, foreign, beautiful. A life lived for others, for others.
Have you ever suddenly realized that you have no idea what’s going on? That you thought the world worked in a certain way and then suddenly you see that you were wrong and that the way the world really works is something utterly foreign and unknown, a different language?
Have you ever had one of those moments when the scales fall from your eyes, the door is opened, the curtain is pulled back and boy is there a big surprise on the other side?