Mennonite Weekly Review

Jesus is on his final trip to Jerusalem. He’s been teaching about God’s upside-down kingdom and repeatedly calling people to reimagine their lives within it. More recently, he’s been teaching that this kingdom belongs to those like little children (Matt. 19:13-15); it’s harder to enter if you’re rich (19:16-30); the Father’s way of rewarding isn’t what we’d expect (20:1-16); and in it “the last will be first and first last” (19:30, 20:16).

Andres

This new way of being and thinking is not always an easy thing to grasp — even for Jesus’ disciples.

Choose me, Lord

Though Jesus has repeatedly described the nature of God’s kingdom and his own suffering to come, the mother of two disciples asks Jesus to put her sons at his left and right hands in what she likely believes will be a political kingdom.

Jesus tells them they have no idea what they’re asking: “Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?” (20:22, NRSV)

Their answers reveal they don’t get what’s waiting for Jesus: “We are able.”

Oh, they’ll drink from the cup, Jesus says. But to their request, Jesus says it’s not his to grant: That’s up to the Father.

When the other disciples get wind of their request, their indignation reveals their own preoccupation with status. Jesus counters, telling them God’s kingdom is not like other kingdoms, with rulers exercising authority and tyranny: “It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many” (26-38).

Achieving greatness

Jesus is revealing another glimpse into God’s kingdom. In Celebration of Discipline, Richard Foster says Jesus was not just reversing the pecking order but abolishing it. Jesus introduces a new authority or influence, says Foster, one not evidenced by status and power but by serving others. Instead of manipulation and force, God’s upside-down kingdom and those who live in it influence others through love, which does what is best for others.