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Grace, mercy and
peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.
You
know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them,
and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among
you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever
would be first among you must be slave of all.
Prayer: Dear Lord
Jesus, send to all of us your Holy Spirit, to me that I may preach well, and to
all of us that we may hear well. Amen.
In the book of
Revelation, we read a wonderful verse about prayer. It says: Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my
voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with
me. We often have the wrong understanding that prayer
is simply asking God for stuff. We think that when we pray to Jesus, that we
are the ones who are in charge, who are going to twist Jesus’ arm to make him
do what we want him to do.
But in actual fact,
that’s not the case at all. Jesus is standing at the door and he knocks. He
already has something prepared to give us and he already is ready to give us
what he wants. And then when we pray, we simply welcome him in to give that
wonderful gift. So we read: Behold, I stand at
the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in
to him and eat with him, and he with me. We are not
the ones who are sitting there twisting Jesus’ arm, playing games with him, as
if we could trick him into giving us what we want, if only we said things
right, and if only we asked the right thing. No – when we pray to Jesus, we
simply welcome him, so that he can have access to all of our needs and shower
us with whatever blessings he had already prepared for us.
So everytime we ask
Jesus for something, he was already there beforehand, knocking on our hearts,
prompting our minds by his Holy Spirit, willing and ready to give us something
which he already knew that we needed beforehand. If
anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with
him, and he with me.
In our Gospel
reading today, we read about two of Jesus’ disciples, James and John. James and
John were part of what we call the twelve apostles. These twelve apostles were
there all throughout Jesus’ life and after Jesus rose from the dead, these
twelve were the ones who were sent by Jesus to bring the Gospel to all nations.
James and John, together with Peter, were often chosen by Jesus to witness some
special things. When Jesus went up on the mountain, and was transfigured—when
his face and clothes shone with the bright holy light of God and was found
standing there with Moses and Elijah—Peter, James and John were chosen as the
only ones to see it. Also, on the night before Good Friday, when Jesus was
crucified, we read about how Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane, and
prayed. Once again, Peter, James and John were chosen to come and pray with
Jesus.
So you can see that
James and John, who are mentioned in the reading today, were particularly close
to Jesus. They also happened to be brothers, the sons of a man called Zebedee.
Anyway, we read
that they come up to Jesus and ask him: Teacher,
we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you. Now, sure – Jesus wants us to ask him for things, he wants to hear our
mouths open up and talk to him, and pray to him. But Jesus also knows what we
need before we ask. But already before they have even asked Jesus for anything,
they already sound a bit suspicious. Could you parents imagine what would
happen if your children came up to you and said, “Mummy, daddy, I want you to
do for me whatever I ask of you.” I think most parents, even though they like
to do nice things for their kids, would possibly start to smell a rat, and get
a bit suspicious, and might say to them, “Well, it depends what it is that you
want!”
On the other hand,
wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could go to Jesus and say to him, “Teacher, we
want to do for you whatever you ask of us.” Remember when Jesus was in the Garden of
Gethsemane, he prayed: Father, if it be possible, take this cup away from
me. But nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. Your will be done. We
all know that this is often a difficult prayer for us to pray. We don’t really
want Jesus to have free reign over our life—we would rather have what we want,
to do what we want, and to get what we want. And so, we often ask Jesus for the
wrong things—even these two disciples even had the wrong attitude. But Jesus is
happy to listen anyway, and is happy to teach us, and to lead us gently on the
path that he wants us to walk, the path to eternal life. As Jesus says: I am
the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except by me.
So we read about James and John coming up to
Jesus and they say to him: Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask
of you. Jesus doesn’t tell them off, but he simply takes them as they are,
on their own terms and he says to them: What do you want me to do for you? We
read: And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one
at your left in your glory.”
To our ears, this is a very strange request,
but you know, but it is also a prayer that is close to home for many of us.
James and John recognise that there is something wonderful about Jesus. They
love him and they want to follow him. But at the same time, what they ask Jesus
for is really “all about them”. They are the ones who want to bask in Jesus’
glory—they are the ones who want to be heaped with honours and prestige.
So what does Jesus say when he hears this
request? They say: Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your
left, in your glory. Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking.
Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptised with the baptism
with which I am baptised?” And they said to him, “We are able.”
James and John really don’t what they are
asking. They don’t understand what Jesus’ glory really is—maybe they still
thought that Jesus was going to go into Jerusalem, and kick King Herod and the
Romans out of town, and establish his own glorious kingdom there on earth. And
then, once the battle had been won, and all the enemies had been finished with,
then James and John could sit next to Jesus. They would be dressed in royal
robes, sitting next to King Jesus, with them as his princes, being his right
hand men. Maybe it’s something like this that James and John are asking for.
But what actually happens to Jesus? Well, he
does enter into Jerusalem to set up his kingdom. But comes in gently, on a
donkey. And he doesn’t establish his kingdom by kicking out King Herod and the
Romans—instead, he is kicked out by them. He is sentenced to death, he is
whipped and beaten, and he led out of the city and nailed to a cross. And there
he dies, there he breathes his last breath.
But when this happens to Jesus, this is not
his failure. This is him in all his bleeding, naked glory, establishing his
kingdom. This is him laying down his life for the sin of the world. This is him
giving his life as a ransom for many, as he says at the end of
our reading. This is Jesus, our king, in all of his glory.
But who is on Jesus left and right on that
day? Two criminals. We often say they we robbers, but they are more highway
robbers, rebels, than petty criminals who might have stolen a loaf of bread. Is
that what James and John want? Are they really prepared to take their place at
Jesus’ right and his left?
And so Jesus says: You do not know what
you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptised
with the baptism with which I am baptised? Jesus speaks here of his
suffering as a cup that he drinks. When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane,
before he went to the cross, he also spoke to his Father in the same way. Father,
if it is possible, take this cup away from me. If you can imagine all the
sin of the world being put into one cup, this is what Jesus was required to
drink. God took all the sin, all the filth, all the pain, all the abuse, all
the heartache, all the suffering, all the darkness, every last scrap of it, and
he put it all in a cup—and Jesus then drank it. He drained it for the dregs,
and he did it for you.
But also, Jesus speaks about his suffering as
a baptism. In the church, Holy Baptism is that wonderful thing where God makes
us his own child, through water and the word. Jesus was also baptised by John
in the river Jordan. And it’s not as thought that baptism, or any baptism, is
an empty ceremony, but it means something. For Jesus, he was baptised in the
river Jordan, and his baptism was finished when he died on the cross. In fact,
just before he died, he said: It is finished. It is accomplished. It has
been done. My baptism is finished.
But where would we be is Jesus hadn’t drunk
that cup to the dregs? Where would we be if Jesus hadn’t finished his baptism
and hung on cross until his last, final breath? We wouldn’t have the
forgiveness of sins, because our sins would not be paid for. We wouldn’t have
eternal life, because it wouldn’t have been secured for us. We wouldn’t have
heaven, because Jesus wouldn’t have opened the doors for us. All this happens
because of Jesus’ terrible, bitter sufferings and death. But because all of
this was done for us, it is not a bad death, it’s actually not a terrible
thing, even though it looks terrible to our eyes. It’s actually a glorious
thing, a wonderful thing, because Jesus achieved so much. This is not Jesus’
failure—this is Jesus glory.
Did you think that James and John knew this?
And yet, Jesus asks them, “Are you prepared for this?” Are you able to drink
the cup that I drink, or to be baptised with the baptism with which I am
baptised? And they said to them, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The
cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptised,
you will be baptised, but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to
grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”
You can see here, that James and John asked
for something glorious. But they didn’t know what they were asking. Their
prayer is not answered as they wanted. But Jesus knows that for his disciples,
life is not going to be easy. Do we think that if we were living in those times
that we would have done things any better than the disciples? Would you have
expected Jesus to suffer and die on a cross? And yet, when Jesus is risen from
the dead, and sends his disciples out, he knows that they are going to have
hard times. He knows that they are going to suffer too. Jesus is going to
continually remind people of his own suffering, through the suffering of his
followers. In the bible, we read particularly about St Paul, and his suffering.
Jesus said about him that he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name
before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him
how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.
In 2 Corinthians, Paul tells about all kinds
of things that happened to him. Five times received at the hands of the Jews
the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was
stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea;
on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from
my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the
wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship,
through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in
cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on
me of my anxiety for all the churches.
Did James and John know that this was the
kind of thing they were asking? And yet, Paul also says: We are afflicted in
every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted,
but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body
the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our
bodies.
Why does Jesus let his disciples suffer like
this? Is he cruel? No—of course he is not cruel, but he shows us just how evil
the world really is so that he continually rise up our eyes to heaven, look
forward to the prize at the end of the race, and so that he can do his work
through us through his own strength. When we are weak, then Jesus can come in
and be powerful through us, and work his mighty power through us.
Let’s read what happened to the apostles in
the book of Acts: When [the Pharisees] had called in the apostles, they beat
them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. Do
you think then that they left disheartened and discouraged? Then they left
the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to
suffer dishonour for the name. And every day, in the temple and from house to
house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus. Can
you see how is not to their shame when they suffer, but they rejoiced that they
were counted worthy to suffer dishonour for Jesus’ name? May the Holy Spirit
work that kind of faith in us!
Are you prepared to drink the cup that Jesus
drinks? Are you prepared to be baptised with the baptism that he is baptised
with? James and John said: Yes. But they really didn’t know what they were in
for. We do know what happened to them now. And yet—what a joy it is to be with
Jesus! What a joy it is to follow him! Any rubbish that people want to throw at
us along the way is nothing compared with what Jesus has prepared for us!
Sometimes as a Christian you will find that
people chew you up and spit you out for no good reason. Sometimes you will find
that no matter how hard you try to be friendly and loving to people around you,
they just have it in for you and what to bring you down. Sometimes you find
that if people know that you are a Christian that they completely ignore and
ridicule almost everything opinion that you offer on almost any topic. Never
mind! They would do the same to Jesus. In fact, they are doing it to Jesus,
because Jesus is in you. You are a baptised child of God, and Jesus has
promised to be with you (personally and with his whole church) always
to the end of the age. It’s a wonderful privilege to suffer together with
Jesus. He already knew what he wanted to give to us. He said: If the world
hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you… I have said these
things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have
tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.
We should be careful of course of thinking
that everytime we suffer, we are suffering for Jesus. Jesus was not a sinner,
but we are sinners. We do many things that are wrong—we mess up all kinds of
things, and people around us will know it. There are times when we suffer and
it is completely our fault. But also, we realise that if God had made us suffer
for every single thing we had every done wrong, we would have to look back at
our lives and say that God has been very gracious to us, and he has been very
gentle with us. But God doesn’t punish us for our sins, because he had already
laid every sin upon his own Son, Jesus, the Lamb of God. Jesus has drunk the
cup right down to the dregs. But we also know that when everything has been
said and done at the end of the day, there are many things that have happened
to us, that would never have happened if we weren’t Christians, if we weren’t
followers of Jesus. There are many things that Jesus himself has allowed us to
suffer, not because he wants to punish us, but because he wants us to be a
living witnesses to his own suffering, and when he gives us something like
this, it is a wonderful privilege that he should choose us to bear it.
Of course, our flesh doesn’t like it. But
then when true Christian suffering and persecution comes our way, then the Holy
Spirit can comfort us and strengthen us and give us the comfort of God’s word
which our flesh would never have imagined.
At the end of our reading, Jesus says: You
know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them,
and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among
you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever
would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not
to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
Do you realise that Jesus asks us to come to
him here in the church today not first of all so that we can serve him, but so
that he can serve us? When we hear Jesus’ word and hear it preached, this is
Jesus coming to serve us. When we hear the wonderful news of the forgiveness of
sins, this is Jesus coming to wash the dirt off our feet. When we come to
receive the Lord’s Supper, this is Jesus himself coming to serve us with his
body and blood.
But isn’t it something, that Jesus serves us
in a way that we so often don’t recognise and so often don’t appreciate? Our
flesh has no idea about this. Our flesh wants to puff itself up and say, “I am
a great person. I am going to worship God in an amazing way that all people
around me will look at me and give glory to me.” And yet, Jesus comes gently
and serves us. And this is the way he sends us out wherever he has placed
us—not ruling it over people, not exercising force, but serving others. And
whenever Jesus asks us to sacrifice some part of our life, it is a small
reminder and a small witness of that one, perfect sacrifice which he made, giving
his life as a ransom for many.
Amen.
Dear Lord Jesus, give us your servant heart
and lead us wherever you would have us serve. Fill us with your Holy Spirit
that we may do for whatever you ask of us. Amen.
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