“Right,
Left, Cup, Baptism”
Like any
experienced parent has learned, Jesus already knows, never agree to do
something before you know what it is.
James and John say, like children, “Jesus, promise to do us a favor”. Uh huh.
“What do you want me to do?” Jesus asks.
And then their audacity shows.
We want
the highest positions in the new Jesus-regime.
We want to be picked first for your new team of governing
leadership. When you defeat Pontius
Pilate and drive out the Roman dogs, or when you depose the High Priest and set
up your kingdom, we want some sweet positions of honor and prestige. We want to sit at your right and left hand,
when you come into your glory.
How many
times did Jesus sigh, or roll his eyes, or have to exercise divine patience
with these petty and foolish disciples.
How many times must he do the same toward us? Sure it’s easy to see James and John in a
poor light. But we are no
different. We are no better.
James and
John were simply doing what sinful humans do – looking out for themselves. Putting themselves first. Jockeying for a position from which to look
down on others, be in charge, get their way, have their day in the sun. Their request came from a place of selfish
glory-seeking, not selfless neighbor-loving.
And so it’s easy to criticize.
But you do it, and I do it, and every sinful son and daughter of Adam
does it.
But James
and John are clueless. They don’t even know
what they are asking. They don’t really
understand what Jesus is about, and so their selfish request makes even less
sense. They think Jesus is going to
earthly, human, worldly glory, and they want in on the action. But Jesus is going to the cross. There in the blood and sweat and bitter pains
of the cross is his glory. And if they
knew that, they wouldn’t be asking for part of it.
Jesus has
a cup to drink, and a baptism to be baptized with. These are just two ways of speaking of his
suffering and death.
The cup –
that’s an Old Testament picture that is used especially in connection with
God’s wrath. For example:
For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup
with foaming wine, well mixed,
and he pours out from it,
and all the wicked of the earth
shall drain it down to the dregs. Psalm 75:8
Jesus
makes reference to this, also, in his prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane: “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup
pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
He
refuses to drink the wine mixed with gall when they first crucify him, for it
was a mild anesthetic, and Jesus would not turn away from the least bit of
suffering that he was due. But later he
drinks of the sour wine to quench his thirst just enough to fulfill prophecy
and utter his last declaration, “It is finished”. Oh, and he drinks the cup of wrath to its
dregs when he suffers the worst of it – the abandonment of his Father, “My God,
why have you forsaken me?”
Can
you drink this cup, James and John? Can
you drink this cup, dear Christian?
Or
his baptism – no, not the baptism by John in the Jordan – that was already
past. Though, by that baptism Christ did
indeed identify himself with sinners.
But the baptism that was coming was none other than the cross
itself. Like the cup appointed, a
baptism that could not be avoided if he is to do the Father’s will. And if you think of a baptism as a cleansing,
of course by the cross Jesus cleanses all sin.
Or baptism as a renewal – and by the cross he destroys death and wins
new life.
Can
you undergo such a baptism? No, you
can’t die for your own sins, James and John.
You can’t pay the price of your debts, Christian, even with your very
life.
But
Jesus can. And Jesus did. He drank the cup. He submitted to the baptism. And he does so, in a great twist, so that
indeed James and John and all sinners who trust in him would be spared the cup and
the baptism, and receive places of honor and glory in his kingdom. Even a crown of righteousness and share in
his eternal kingdom. What a twist! James and John, in a sense, do have their requests
fulfilled.
No,
they wouldn’t be on Jesus right and left hand when he accomplished his glorious
redemption at the cross. That was
reserved for the two thieves.
And
that account is sort of running in the background of this one, isn’t it? The gospel reader or hearer who knows the
rest of the story, who knows how Jesus died crucified between two robbers – it
comes to mind, doesn’t it, when James and John want to be at Jesus’ left and
right hand when he comes into his glory.
They don’t know what they are asking.
But we who have read ahead – we kind of do.
And
so their request for their own glory stands in a sort of contrast with the
request of the repentant thief. The one
who did have a place beside Jesus. This
transgressor with whom Jesus was numbered.
He got it right, exactly right, where James and John got it wrong. His request wasn’t self serving and self-aggrandizing. His request was the voice of faith. You know it, I’m sure: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your
kingdom”. No, “Jesus promote me” or
“Jesus honor me”, not “give me a place of power and prestige”. This thief had no time for any of that. He had bigger problems. He was dying for his sins, and he knew it.
But he also confessed it. And so his
request, his petition, his prayer to Jesus was simply to be remembered. Not a bad prayer for us to pray, as well.
When
Jesus remembers you – he does more than just think about you fondly. He acts.
He promises. He blesses. He gives you the same thing he gave this
thief – forgiveness in the face of impending doom because of your sins. He gives you more than you even ask for. He also promises you a place in his kingdom –
in paradise – in his Father’s house, even forever. What a contrast with the embarrassingly petty
request of James and John – the humble, trusting request of a repentant thief
facing his last hours. Not, “Jesus give
me glory”, but, essentially, “Jesus, forgive me, bless me, remember me” We can pray the same.
No,
James and John would not hang on the crosses next to Jesus. But James and John
and all the apostles, eventually, would suffer and be persecuted, and most of
them die for the sake of Christ and the gospel.
They had their own little cups and little baptisms and little crosses to
bear.
As
do we. “If anyone would come after me, let him take up his cross and follow
me.” And so we shoulder up the crosses
he has appointed for us – whether it be suffering under the brokenness of this
world, shame and ridicule in the eyes of a scornful world, or even persecution
unto death if it comes to that – God grant us all the strength and courage to
persevere in faith to the end.
And
can a Lutheran think of a cup and a baptism without connecting to the
sacraments? Where in the bread and cup
that are his body and blood, and in the baptism of water and the word, Jesus
pours out the blessings won for us by his drinking of the cup and the baptism
he had to undergo? Only for us, these
gifts are full of forgiveness and mercy.
There’s
so much here this morning – the bad example of selfish James and John, their
ill-informed request for self-advancement.
An example of how we all act in sin from time to time. In the background, the good example of the
dying, repentant thief whose request is simply the cry of faith to the only one
who can save, “Jesus, remember me”. And
then the reference to Jesus’ cup and Jesus’ baptism – that is, his suffering
and death – by which he procures for all the faithful a place in his
kingdom. And a reminder for us of where
to find his grace – in the cup (and also the bread) of his holy supper, and in
the baptism of his spirit which promises us a place in paradise. And so we do, indeed have a share in his cup
of suffering and the baptism of his cross – but we also have a share in his
resurrection on the other side of suffering and death. And there, we will be with him in his glory.
In
Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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