It wasn’t often that Jesus was alone with His disciples, but this was one of those times. They are journeying toward Galilee and once again (remember last week’s Gospel?) Jesus tells them of His forthcoming death and resurrection. This time, though, no one interrupts His prophecy because they are too busy arguing among themselves: “When Jesus defeats the enemy (Romans) and becomes King, He will need a Court! Who of us will have the highest position?”
There is scarcely a more intimate moment than when one trusts another with the news of his impending death. It certainly isn’t news the listener wants to hear from his friend but generally the listener is giving his total attention to the speaker…and the speaker isn’t just giving a “news flash” either. He may not put it into words but his underlying question is “Will you make this journey with me? Will you be by my side through it all?” Can you imagine what Jesus felt knowing what the disciples were arguing about as He was trying to share such an intimate moment?
Without anger, He merely asks what they were talking about and the disciples were so embarrassed they couldn’t answer. How many times have we found ourselves in the same position? Big or small, it was probably something we shouldn’t have done and it was probably something that would reward us presently or in the future. Unfortunately our humanity and our culture drive us to be the best, be the most successful. And that is usually accomplished with a great deal of ambition and putting ourselves first.
Is it wrong to want to do the best we can and be the best person we can be? Of course not! Jesus WANTS us to be the best person we can be. But the “best we can be” in Jesus’ eyes is not always considered “the best we can be” in the eyes of the world. It’s not always so much what we do, but how we do it! It’s putting others before ourselves—something contrary to the secular viewpoint. It’s using our gifts and talents (God given, by the way) not so much for our own benefit, as for the benefit of others.
It can be very difficult to step out of our comfort zone for someone else—to spend time and effort to give to someone else, especially without anticipation that we will in some way be rewarded. Yet Christ gave everything—His very life for us.
Will we travel that road with another? Will we journey with the one who is having the difficult time wherever that journey takes us, to ease his burden however we can…to be a servant to someone else? To be the best, to have the highest position in Jesus’ “Court,” we must take a few minutes of our time to use our talents to serve one another—to be Christ to one another!
Linda Caminiti
