We just heard James and John ask Jesus: “We want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” Just prior to James and John asking this question, although we didn’t hear it in the Gospel today, Jesus had just given his apostles the most vivid description – in all of scripture – of what was about to happen to him: his suffering, death on the cross, and resurrection.
The very next words in Mark’s Gospel are those of James and John “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” Jesus responded: “What do you wish me to do for you?”
Their response, what they ask of Jesus: “Grant that in your glory we may sit, one at your right and the other at your left.” Jesus answered: “You do not know what you are asking.”
More perspective: where does Jesus come into His glory? Arguably, on the cross where he performs the act he came to perform:… dying for the forgiveness of our sins. Who are the ones to his right and to his left…there, on the cross? They are the thieves, crucified on the crosses to his right and to his left. Jesus responds to James and John: Can you drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?”
They said to him, “We can.”: (Oh, Sure we can! No problem…just give us the glory.) And, they truly have no idea what they are asking.
James and John were obviously not paying attention to Jesus’ words. Jesus responds to them with “the cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized. And they still don’t get it. They are still focused on positions of glory, and power.
What are we focused on in our lives?
In the very next story of Mark’s Gospel, Jesus asks Bartimaeus, the blind beggar, the same exact question he just asked James and John: “What do you want me to do for you?” Bartimaeus’s answer: “Lord, let me see”.
In this short section of Mark’s Gospel then…twice, Jesus, the Savior of the World, asks: “What is it you want me to do for you?”
How would, or how do each of us respond to that question…asked by Jesus?
Will I answer as James and John did, with a request for a position of power?
Or do I answer as Bartimaeus…the blind beggar, with “Lord, let me see”.
Aren’t we all blind beggars when it comes right down to it?
So, will we all respond with: Lord, let me see?
Let me see the brevity of my life?
Or Lord, let me see…the importance of the relationships in this brief life…with my family and friends, who are often gone before we planned on them being gone.
Lord, let me see…that you call me to be a reflection of you…sacrificing myself, my ego, for others.
Lord, let me see that my brother’s position on this topic, while maybe different than mine, is valid, and has merit.
Lord, let me see that I am not always right. 00
Will I respond to Christ’s question with: “Lord, let me see that, just maybe, I have no right or basis to have treated my daughter or son as I have. And that I am wasting years of our relationship with my behavior”
Will I ask in response: “Lord, let me see, to pay attention to and recognize the needs of those around me. Because we are all wounded by this life. Let me see where can I help another, by walking with them on their journey, helping to ease their pain.
Perhaps I will respond with: “Lord, let me hear the things I have, thus far in my life, been unable or unwilling to hear.”: The words of my wife or of my husband.
Lord, let me hear that my mother or father are truly sorry.
Or maybe I will respond: Lead me not into temptation. Grant me, through reconciliation, the understanding that your healing grace is there to relieve me of this burden, this demon, that I cannot bear alone.
Will I ask: “Lord, grant me faith, through this illness. The knowledge that you are here, walking with me, through whatever happens.
Will I respond: Lord, grant me peace. The loss of my loved one is so difficult. The pain is, at times, unbearable. Please help me through this pain, this loss.
John and James…when given the opportunity, asked Jesus for positions of glory and power.
Bartimaeus was a blind beggar. Unable to feed or care for himself without help, and in Jesus’ day, unworthy – not allowed to even enter the temple to pray, because of his blindness. He sat by the roadside, in his weakness, and called out to Jesus, against the hushes of the crowd: Elaeson Mae, Elaeson Mae: Have pity on me. Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.
Bartimaeus answered Jesus’ question: “What do you wish me to do for you”, with: “Lord, I want to see.” And Jesus responded: “Bartimaeus, your faith has healed you”.
In today’s Gospel, the Savior of the World asks us: “What do you want me to do for you?” How will we answer?