The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ According to Mark
James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to Jesus and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”
And he said to them, “What is it you want me to do for you?” And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.”
But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” They replied, “We are able.”
Then Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.
”When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John.
So Jesus called them and said to them, “You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.
For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:35-45 )
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Some time ago, I came across a book by Andrew M. Greeley called ‘White Smoke.’ Andrew, who died in 2013, was a Roman Catholic priest with an insider’s knowledge of that church. He wrote many best-selling novels, most of which touch on the church, but are as powerful and dramatic as any you might read.
The novel, ’White Smoke’, is, as you might expect from the title, about the election of a pope. The cardinals charged with electing a pope are locked away in conclave, and each day they cast their ballots until a pope is elected. A two thirds majority plus one is required. The ballots are counted and then burned.
If black smoke rises from the chimney, (straw having been added to the paper ballots, to create the thicker smoke ) then no-one has been elected. When white smoke appears, then a pope has been chosen.
The novel, ‘White Smoke,’ published in 1996, is sub-titled ‘A novel about the next papal conclave.’ It was a timely read, as there was daily speculation about the health of the current pope in the news media at the time.
The novel tells of behind-the-scenes scheming, horse-trading, politicking, and downright chicanery, as various groups sought to influence the cardinals.
I thought about the book when I read today’s Gospel, in which Mark tells us John and James, asked Jesus for positions of influence.
It’s astonishing, isn’t it, that these two men were so ambitious? It is true that they had been, along with Peter, a part of Jesus’ inner circle. In addition, they were a little better off than the others – their father had been wealthy enough to employ servants – so perhaps they saw themselves as coming from a higher social strata than the other disciples, and consequently, were more deserving.
Even so, it’s astonishing that they still haven’t understood Jesus. Just before this incident occurs, Jesus has told them quite openly, and simply, “Look here, all of you. We are going to Jerusalem and the Son of Man is going to be handed over to the chief priests and lawyers, and will be condemned to death. They will hand him over to the Gentiles, and they will make jest of him, spit on him, scourge him, and then they will kill him. And after three days he will rise again.”
Like hello!!! Weren’t you listening?
They just didn’t understand, did they? And I don’t blame them. It is a fantastic thing that is about to happen. Who could grasp it?
When they pose their question, Jesus tells them, ”You don’t know what you are asking. Are you able to drink from the cup that I must soon drink from, or be baptised as I must be baptised?”
Can you go through the same sort of experience that I am about to go through?
“Yes” they say.
Sure enough they will.
In the days to come they do go through experiences similar to those of their Master. James was beheaded by King Herod Agrippa, and though we are not told that John was martyred, he did suffer much for Christ.
To their credit, they accepted the challenge of their Master, even though they were blind to what that challenge really was.
So James and John, regular human beings like you and me, were concerned about their well-being. They were ambitious. But they were so blind weren’t they?
And yet, when tested, they were more than equal to the task.
The church, as Andrew Greeley’s novel sees it, has within it, many of higher and lower rank who see the church as a way to power and glory – earthly glory – rather than a means of bringing the love of Christ into the world.
If you read his novel, you will be horrified at the villainous stuff that goes on. You may think it cannot possibly be as bad as that, but Andrew assures us it can. And is!
However, thank God, there are cardinals and bishops and priests and lay people who do shine like Christ in this world. Thank God there are those who with quiet faith and compassion and courage, embody the love of God, worshipping, and praising and serving Him in sometimes quite awful circumstances.
Even in the depths and violence of war, their love, and courage shines through.
One such person, was a flyer in the Vietnam war, Captain Gerald L Coffee. He was shot down over the China Sea, February 3 1966 and he spent the next seven years in a variety of prison camps.
The years of the Vietnam War were confusing and troubled times for American foreign policy, and for those involved. In fact, the seeming lack of a definite and legitimate purpose for being there made it worse for all the participants.
The effects of the trauma endured by some, last even to today.
Captain Coffee said that the POW’s who survived did so by a regimen of physical exercise, prayer, and stubborn communication with each other.
After days of torture on the Vietnamese version of the rack, he finally broke and signed the confession they demanded. Then he was thrown back into his cell to writhe in pain. Even worse was his guilt over having cracked. He was devastated, and alone.
He didn’t even know if there were other Americans in his cell block. But then he heard a voice, shouting out, “Man in cell number 6 with broken arm, can you hear me?”
It was Col. Robinson Risner. ”It’s safe to talk. Welcome to Heartbreak Hotel,” he said.
Coffee asked about his navigator. Had anything been heard?
Col. Risner told him he had no news of the navigator, and went on to say, “Gerry you must learn to communicate by tapping on the walls. It’s the only dependable link we have to each other.”
Risner had said, ‘we’ so there must be others. “Thank God I am back with the others, “ Coffee thought.
“ Have they tortured you, Jerry?” Risner asked.
“Yes” and I feel terrible that they got anything out of me.”
“Listen,” Risner said, “ Once they decide to break a man, they will do it. The important thing is how you come back. Just follow the code. Resist to the utmost of your ability. If they break you, just don’t stay broken. Lick your wounds and bounce back. Talk to anyone you can. Don’t get down on yourself.
” We need to take care of one another.”
Coffee would be punished for days at a time – stretched on the ropes – merely for some minor infraction. His buddy in the next cell would tap on the wall telling him to ‘hang tough’ and that he was praying for him.”
Coffee says, “Then when he was being punished, I would be tapping on the wall doing the same thing for him.”
Coffee says his friends and his faith helped him through. Every Sunday, the senior officer in each cell block would pass the signal – church call – and every man stood up in his cell.
Then with a semblance of togetherness, they would all recite the Twenty-third Psalm. “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies, thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.”
Coffee says, ”I realised that despite being incarcerated in this terrible place, my cup did run over because someday, somehow, whenever, I would return home to my wife and kid in a beautiful and free country.”
One day he received a letter from his wife, telling him about his daughter Kim and his son Jerry. His eyes filled with tears when he realised that little Jerry, named after him, had been born after his imprisonment.
On Feb 3rd 1973, the seventh anniversary of his capture, the peace treaty was signed, and he was freed.
What was wonderful to me in this story, is that these men, even though they couldn’t see each other, shared each other’s pain, prayed for, and with each other, and astoundingly, under those conditions, worshipped together.
They weren’t in a grand building. They had no beautiful music. There were no pews, no vestments, no candles. No committees. No structure.
They embodied the true church.
Huddled and suffering as they were in those prison cells they lived as Jesus instructed us, by serving others.
Jesus knows what it is like to suffer, and he suffers with us. He taps on the wall – if you like ‘on the wall of our heart’ – to assure us that he is there with us, and for us.
And if Jesus, Son of God, lives alongside us as brother, not as Lord and Master, then how can we wish to lord it over others?
The author of Hebrews tells us that Jesus was chosen by God as our High Priest. He accepted, not because he wanted the honor, but out of obedience to God.
He went to the cross out of obedience to God.
As members of the church – His body – we are also called to obedience to God.
Over the years leaders have risen, and fallen, flaring like comets across the night sky. Their appeal was to the hearts of men and women, to their needs and desires.
“ Follow me and I will make you great,” they said.
Jesus says, ‘Follow me and I will show you how to serve.”
“ The Son of Man himself did not come to be a slave master, but a slave who gave his life to save many.”