The 19th Sunday after Pentecost, Oct. 19, 2003 (Proper 24B)
Isaiah 53:4-12; Psalm 91 (or Psalm 91:9-16); Heb. 4:12-16; Mark 10:35-45
James and John tell Jesus, “We want you to do for us whatever we ask of you” (Mark 10:35). We may be surprised at the patience of Jesus in handling the situation. He does not admonish them for their presumptuous attitude, but rather uncomplainingly inquires what it might be that they are demanding. There is sometimes a reaction from feminists against the attitudes in this story. For a good part of history men have been saying to women, “We want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” Some women might respond with anger and rebellion. This is not a surprise.
It turns out that James and John want to sit on the right and left hand of Jesus. It would be like making it to first base while the other apostles are still in the dugout. Jesus goes on to instruct them that they should rather strive to be servants. For years many women have been subservient to men. So to ask a woman who is reacting to this history to be a servant can be jarring. That is the same attitude many men have had toward women for a long time.
There is a general consensus among scripture scholars that Mark’s gospel was written prior to Matthew’s. It is further conjectured therefore that if Matthew tells the same story as Mark but the stories are slightly different, it is Matthew who made a change in the story. If we accept this consensus opinion, we see that Matthew changes the story to have not James and John make the request for pre-eminence but their mother who on their behalf wants them to be first among the apostles (Matt. 20:20). In this way James and John appear to be innocent of a competitive attitude and it is a woman who is to blame. This is like parents in the bleachers at a sports event wanting their child to be first.
We can hope there has been some progress in this area. When we are no longer saying to each other do for us whatever we ask of you, when we are no longer saying we want to be first, then we can move to being mutual servants of each other. This is what Jesus is after -- not for us to be subservient to each other, but to be mutually servants.
Look It Up
Check out these parallels to our gospel story: Matthew 20:20-28 and Luke 22:24-27.
Think About It
Competitiveness and striving to be first is often considered a virtue in our culture. Is this really the best of worlds?
Next Sunday
The 20th Sunday after Pentecost, Oct. 26, 2003 (Proper 25B)
Isaiah 59:(1-4)9-19; Psalm 13; Heb. 5:12-6:1,9-12; Mark 10:46-52
