Discipleship: Being of Service, Not being Served

In today’s Gospel,  Mark 10: 32-45, Jesus is on His way up to Jerusalem.  Jesus knows what awaits Him there, as voiced by Him when he says to the disciples:  “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed  over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and hand him over to the Gentiles who will mock him, spit upon him, scourge him, and put him to death, but after three days he will rise.”

Walking with Jesus, James and John approach Him wanting favors in His Kingdom.  And the other ten apostles are indignant with them. Jesus rebukes all of them and reminds them that they are off track:   “You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.” I came, He says, “not to be served but to serve and to give [my] life as a ransom for many.”

Are you a “James,” a “John” or one of the other ten angry at James and John, wanting to be first yourselves and wanting to secure a place of honor? Or, are you another Christ, serving others quietly, being obedient to God even to death on a cross—not necessarily physical death but death to the ego, to pride, to selfishness?

At times in our lives, even at times each day, I believe, we are any one of those persons: James, John, one of the indignant ten or Jesus Himself, serving others quietly, sacrificing our pride, disciplining our selfish tendencies to be of service to others.  That is human nature, taken up by Jesus who shows us the way to the Father, who lives an other worldly life in accord with the Father's will.  What choices are you willing to make today?