Hello friends,
Welcome to another installment in our special Lectio Divina series,
The Questions Jesus Asked,
Season 2.
As we begin today,
As always,
Just take a nice slow,
Deep breath in.
And gently breathe out.
Allow yourself to settle into stillness.
Let your shoulders soften.
Let your breathing become unhurried.
And as you arrive here,
Bring with you whatever this season of life contains,
Your hopes,
Maybe your tiredness,
Your uncertainties and your longings.
As today,
We sit with a question Jesus asks his disciples,
Which is a question about vocation,
Surrender,
And the path of love.
In Matthew chapter 20.
The mother of James and John approaches Jesus with a request.
She asks that her sons be given places of honour in his kingdom,
One at his right hand and one at his left.
The disciples are still imagining glory and worldly terms.
They're thinking about importance and recognition and status and nearness to power.
But Jesus responds by shifting the entire conversation.
You do not know what you are asking,
He says.
Can you drink the cup?
I am going to drink.
Now in the scriptures,
The image of the cup often symbolizes one's portion of life.
What one's going to receive or endure or embrace or surrender to.
Later in Gethsemane,
Jesus himself will pray about this cup.
He'll say,
Let this cup pass from me,
Yet not my will but yours be done.
So when Jesus speaks of the cup here,
He's speaking about the path ahead.
The path of self-giving love.
The path that includes suffering.
And humility misunderstanding.
Surrender and die.
Ultimately trust in God.
The disciples think that they're asking for prominence.
That Jesus asks whether they're ready.
For participation.
And maybe this question still reaches deep into our hearts today.
Most of us want the fruits of the spiritual life,
Peace,
Meaning,
Purpose,
Transformation.
But the way of Christ also asks something of us.
Surrender.
The cup isn't just suffering for suffering's sake,
Though.
The willingness to remain faithful to love,
Evil in love,
Becomes costly.
To forgive.
When bitterness,
It feel easier.
To stay tender in a world that's,
Well,
Hard.
To serve without needing recognition,
To remain open.
When fear urges us to close,
To continue trusting God in seasons that we don't understand.
And this is difficult because the ego prefers control,
Right?
Certainty.
Self-protection we want resurrection without crucifixion.
We want transformation without release.
We want depth without surrender.
But throughout the Gospels,
Jesus continually reveals that the path to fullness of life moves through self-giving love.
But still notice something important here.
Jesus doesn't force the cup on them.
He asks them,
Can you drink the cup I'm going to drink?
This is an invitation.
It's free,
But it's honest.
And that's because the authentic spiritual life can't be coerced.
Love must be chosen again.
And again.
And again.
And perhaps this question also invites us to reflect.
On vocation in a deeper way.
Not just as a career or a role,
But as the shape of it.
Of our becoming.
Like what kind of person are we becoming through the way we live?
Like what are we willing to carry for the sake of compassion and truth and justice and love?
What cups are already present in our lives that we resist receiving?
And sometimes the cup we're given is the daily surrender of ordinary faithfulness,
Caring for others,
Remaining present,
Living gently,
Continuing when weary,
Choosing love in small,
Unseen moments.
Maybe holiness is formed there more than anywhere else.
So as we move into reading today's text.
Listen slowly and allow the question of Jesus to settle within you without rushing to answer it.
Just listen to the voice of God as we contemplate the text today from Matthew chapter 20.
Versus 20.
To 28.
Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons.
And kneeling before him she asked a favour of him.
And he said to her,
What do you want?
She said to him,
Declare that these two sons of mine will sit,
One at your right hand and one at your left,
In your kingdom.
But Jesus answered,
You do not know what you're asking.
Are you able to drink the cup that I'm about to drink?
I said to him,
We are able.
He said to them,
You will indeed drink my cup,
But to sit at my right hand and at my left,
This is not mine to grant.
But it's for those for whom it has been prepared by my father.
And when the ten heard it,
They were angry with the two brothers,
But Jesus called them.
You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them,
And their great ones are tyrants over them,
But.
.
.
It will not be so among you.
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 as a ransom.
For many.
Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons.
And kneeling before him she asked a favour of him.
And he said to her,
What do you want?
She said to him,
Declare that these two sons of mine will sit,
One at your right hand and one at your left,
In your kingdom.
But Jesus answered,
You do not know what you're asking.
Are you able to drink the cup that I'm about to drink?
I said to him,
We are able.
He said to them,
You will indeed drink my cup,
But to sit at my right hand and at my left,
This is not mine to grant.
But it's for those for whom it has been prepared by my father.
When the ten heard it,
They were angry with the two brothers,
But Jesus called them.
You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them,
And their great ones are tyrants over them,
But it will not be so among you.
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 as a ransom for many.
Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons.
And kneeling before him she asked a favour of him.
And he said to her,
What do you want?
She said to him,
Declare that these two sons of mine will sit,
One at your right hand and one at your left,
In your kingdom.
But Jesus answered,
You do not know what you're asking.
Are you able to drink the cup that I'm about to drink?
I said to him,
We are able.
He said to them,
You will indeed drink my cup,
But to sit at my right hand and at my left,
This is not mine to grant.
But it's for those for whom it has been prepared by my father.
And when the ten heard it,
They were angry with the two brothers,
But Jesus called them.
You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them,
And their great ones are tyrants over them,
But.
.
.
It will not be so among you.
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 as a ransom for many.
As we close our time today,
We pray.
Christ who walks the path of surrender.
You don't call us towards power or prestige,
But towards love.
You know how often we resist the cups placed before us,
The cups of patience,
Forgiveness,
Humility,
Vulnerability,
And trust.
Yet you continue to invite us gently into deeper faithfulness.
Teach us not to fear the transforming work of surrender.
Teach us to release the need for control and recognition.
Teach us to remain open-hearted.
In a world that often rewards hardness.
When the path feels difficult.
Stay near to us.
When we grow weary,
Strengthen us.
When suffering comes,
Help us carry it.
Without losing compassion.
And may we learn slowly and deeply that the cup of Christ is not merely a cup of sorrow,
But a cup of self-giving love that leads towards life itself.
And may grace,
Peace and love fill us and overflow from us as we walk in that life today and always.
Until next time,
Friends.
Bye for now.
