Coffee With God

Reflection: Matthew 20:17-28

Jesus strides ahead towards Jerusalem. He knows for certain what awaits him in Jerusalem and has already spoken to his disciples about his impending torture, suffering and death. Jesus says that the religious leaders of the Jewish people, will condemn Him to death and will hand him over to the gentiles and he will be killed. Who would dare to walk up to his enemies, when he is certain that they would kill him. But, Jesus is not scared of the sufferings that awaits him. It is a profound teaching about suffering. When we try to avoid sufferings at all costs, we will spend a lifetime running, but it will catch up with us anyway; then we will be the unwilling victims of sufferings. But when we choose to face the sufferings of our life head on, sustained by the example and the grace of Christ, we become heroes of faith. The disciples are bent on becoming heroes in the Kingdom of Jesus. The desire of James and John to have important positions ahead of the rest of the 10 under the reign of Jesus was not well received by the 10. There was a potential threat of division among them. Jesus grabs the opportunity to give a powerful teaching on humility. You want to be great?” says Jesus, “Then change your attitude: Quit thinking about how much status you have over other people. Quit thinking about how much more intelligence or academic degrees you have over others. Quit thinking in terms of how much ability you have to manipulate and control outcomes. Quit thinking how high a position you hold in relation to others and how many people you can command from that position. It doesn’t matter who your Daddy is, or how long you’ve been a member of the church or even how much better you could lead than the men in current leadership.” Without love and a heart to serve, those things are all worth nothing. (cf. 1 Cor. 13) We see this principle illustrated in lives of the apostles later on: The otherwise destructive energy behind the urge to be greater was to be channelled into relationships of service. Their motivation would be drawn from the example of Jesus, whom they loved and whom they chose to follow. Greatness in God’s kingdom comes through humility and service! The Lenten season reminds us to seek humility, seek service and seek to be like Jesus. Let us challenge ourself to live out the Word of God today by finding ways to serve others.