Listen

Jesus replied, “You don’t know what you’re asking! Can you drink the cup I drink or receive the baptism I receive?”

“We can,” they answered.

Jesus said, “You will drink the cup I drink and receive the baptism I receive, but to sit at my right or left hand isn’t mine to give. It belongs to those for whom it has been prepared.”

Mark 10:38-40

Think

Just before the verses we read today, James and John have asked Jesus to let them sit at his right and left hand. At that time, the closer someone sat to a king or other ruler, the more important they were considered to be. And still today, a person’s “right-hand man” (or woman) is someone they work very closely with.

Maybe James and John, knowing that Jesus’s death was coming, just wanted to make sure they were as important to Jesus as Jesus was to them. But instead of “Yes! Absolutely!,” Jesus basically says, “Are you sure?,” followed by, “It’s not my decision to make.”

Maybe Jesus knew they still had some growing to do. Later, when Jesus is getting arrested, all the disciples run away, despite all the time they had spent learning and serving alongside him. Joining Jesus in making the world a more just and loving place isn’t always comfortable or easy. And we don’t always get clear answers when or how we’d like. Even so, we don’t have to find our way forward alone.

Allison Wehrung

Question to Ponder:

What is something, big or little, that you want to work on in your faith life?

Pray

God of growth, I am a work in progress, still learning what it means to follow you. Sometimes I bite off more than I can chew, and other times I don’t challenge myself as much as I could. Deepen my faith in you, so I can do my best to follow your example. Amen.

Go

God be the love to search and keep me

God be the prayer to move my voice

God be the strength to now uphold me

O Christ, surround me

O Christ, surround me

Richard Bruxvoort Colligan, “O Christ, Surround Me”