Honor in the Kingdom

"Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?"

Mt 20:20-28

In response to a genuine question from the mother of the sons of Zebedee, Jesus appears to mislead. He seems to ask whether a necessary qualification is able to be met, then, after being assured that it is, it seems to back out of following through in assuring the woman's desired reward. Such a "bait and slip" maneuver would be more than just not nice: it would be totally inconsistent with who Jesus is. Something else must be going on here.

Jesus asks James and John, "can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?" to which they respond, "we can." In this exchange, Jesus is offering, and James and John are accepting, a greater role than a seat of honor can provide. They are agreeing to share in Jesus' core identity as "a man of suffering" (Is 53:3). They are pledging to unite their hearts with his.

If our hearts are one with Christ's, we have no need for external honors. They are superfluous. We are already completely filled, completely at peace. This is the greater gift Jesus offers James and John, and us too. Will we likewise accept?