A Reflection for the Wednesday of the Second Week of Lent

I’ve always loved the story in today’s Gospel, even though it’s a little bit cringe-y to read. It starts out with Jesus sharing with his disciples a profound truth - really, THE profound truth of our Christian faith: that he is the Son of Man, that he will be crucified and that he will be raised on the third day. And what do the Twelve do with this profound truth? The scene immediately devolves into a squabble over which disciples will sit next to Jesus in his kingdom. 

I think I love this story because it’s so completely, messily human - the mother who just wants the best for her children (completely relatable!) but who is totally overstepping (also relatable!), the brothers who might be just a teeny tiny bit overconfident about their ability to accompany Jesus going forward, the ten who are annoyed that THEY aren’t under consideration for a privileged place, the grasping for status and recognition, the stress and worry about your place in the group and how your friends are perceiving you… It all feels very familiar and very, very human.  

But Jesus sets the Twelve, and all of us, straight at the end of the story. It’s another set of profound truths, ones that we have all heard before but that are so difficult to live out and act on: that the last shall be first and the first shall be last; that we are called not to be served but to serve; and that it’s not necessarily the powerful and privileged here in this life that are going to be closest to the throne in heaven. 

On my very best Lenten days, I’m able to let these truths into my heart and sit with them, and ask how I can do a better job at being a servant to others rather than feeling like I need to be in charge all of the time (again, very relatable!). And on many other days, if I’m being honest, I’m doing the equivalent of bickering with the rest of the disciples about just who is going to be sitting closest to the throne. But I’m hoping to keep this image of Jesus cutting through the human mess and laying out clearly for us what our responsibilities are to each other with me during Lent.