It is unbelievable!

Who can understand the mind? Who can determine what goes on there? Listen to Jeremiah the prophet as he reflects on the mind of man: “More tortuous than all else is the human heart; beyond remedy, who can understand it? I, Lord, alone probe the mind and test the heart. To reward everyone according to his ways, according to the merit of his deeds” 17:9-10. Bob Marley sang in one of his reggae hits “if the night should turn into the day, a lot of people would run away.” Very true!

This reflection is taken from Mark’s Gospel 10: 35-37. Here we read: “Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” He replied, “What do you wish me to do for you?” They answered him; “Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right hand the other at your left.” Let us not forget what preceded this request. Christ had just told the apostles what was awaiting him as they went into Jerusalem. Let us back up little. “They were on the way, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus went ahead of them, they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. Taking the Twelve aside again, he began to tell them what was going to happen to him. “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will he 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”, 32-34. Now what would you say to these two brothers? You will call them selfish. Right? And you would be right. You would say they were inconsiderate. Right again. You may even say that they wanted to lord it over the other apostles. Right once again. But are we not too quick to judge?

In the heart of us all, there is something of James and John. We sometimes do not consider what others think or how they feel, so long as we satisfy our ego. We want to lead the parade; we want to be in charge, anyone who does not like it, well too bad. We tend to always think selfishly at times by asking, ‘what is in it for me?’  Instead of asking, ‘how can I help you attend your own goal?’ We find this attitude in every aspect of life. We even bring it into friendship and relationship. We think, many times of me, me and only me.

We must learn to put ourselves in the place of others and begin to feel as they feel, and see things as they see. Unless we do this, our ego will continue to get in the way of life. When this happens we begin to live a very sad and lonely life. But what did Christ do? Well he took pains to teach them a lesson on service. Listen: “When the ten heard this, they became indignant at James and John. Jesus summoned them and said to them, “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. For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many” 38-45. Christ never missed a wonderful opportunity of teaching. Authority in the Church does not mean lording it over people, it means being a servant of all. The James and John in us push us to be Lords, and Kings; but the Jesus in us calls us to be always in service to others.

Yes the attitude of the brothers is unbelievable indeed. It demonstrates the confusion that goes on in our minds. We hardly listen when others speak before we start presenting our request. We have to be humble before God and humble before others if we are to understand the true meaning of authority. Selfishness, greed, avarice and a bloated ego are the fruit of false sense of authority. Humility, love and service are the virtue of a true leader and a man of authority. How many of such people do you know? One in a million!