What is it that led James and John to be so bold, and ask for places of honor? What is it that led them to expect Jesus to grant their presumptuous request? Did they believe they were any better than the other disciples? Did they believe that they were any better than the hundreds of others who followed Jesus?
Because, when you take a look at the disciples, you quickly realize that they weren't chosen because they were the best of the best. Whatever criteria Jesus had for choosing disciples, it wasn't based on perfect faith.
Just think about that for a second. Jesus chose guys who were prone to mistakes, guys who were often slow to understand, guys who let their fears get the best of them.
They weren't even particularly loyal. They deserted him, denied him, and betrayed him. After Rome crucified him, they went into hiding.
In short, they were all imperfect disciples.
But that didn't stop James and John from asking for reserved places of honor.
They were fishermen, James and John. Fishermen, just like Peter, and Andrew, and perhaps a few others of the disciples. Why did they think they deserved the places of honor? What made them feel so entitled, that they dared to ask for such a favor?
Their sense of entitlement is not all that different from the sense of entitlement that the scribes, pharisees, and other top religious leaders had…
These religious leaders also felt entitled. They definitely had privileges in life that others in society did not. They were looked upon with great favor by the Roman rulers, as long as they kept the Jewish people in line.
Because of these privileges, they, for the most part, didn't face many of the day to day struggles that the people faced. They lived above that. Which made them feel entitled.
Jesus was a threat to the privileges they held. Jesus was a threat to anyone who had a sense of privilege or entitlement. His kingdom is one where the rich and powerful are brought down low.
The high priests, the scribes, the pharisees - they didn’t understand this...One would think that James and John would have understood this.
But maybe James and John were born into privilege themselves, and maybe this privilege gave them their sense of entitlement.
The Bible introduces James and John as the “sons of Zebedee.” And Zebedee - he did alright for himself.
He owned two boats. And he had hired servants.
Not many people owned their own boats or had their own servants. At best, they might temporarily hire servants when they hosted a banquet. They didn't have their own servants.
But Zebedee did.
So James and John were born into privilege, at least to some extent. Perhaps that's what led them to make their request.
How do you feel about James’ and John’s request? First, they ask Jesus to do for them whatever they ask. Jesus doesn’t flinch, he doesn’t bat an eye… and he doesn’t say yes or no.
Jesus says, “What is it that you want me to do for you?”
And James and John say, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.”
Does hearing this story make you feel angry? Do you picture yourself as one of the other disciples, resenting James and John for making this request, as if they are better than the rest?
It’s so easy to do. It’s so easy to judge James and John for this, to condemn them. We want to put them in their place.
Martin Luther King Jr., talked about James and John and the request they made in his “Drum Major Instinct” sermon. King reminds us that, “before we condemn them too quickly,” we should “look calmly and honestly at ourselves, and we will discover that we too have those same basic desires.”
…
Nah! It's so much easier to condemn James and John for their own privilege and sense of entitlement than it is to confront my own privilege and sense of entitlement!
Which is probably why we Christians are so much better at judging others than we are at confronting our own sins, our own shortcomings; and why we are so quick to complain about the privileges and abuses of others without considering our own privilege.
But “before we condemn them too quickly,” we should “look calmly and honestly at ourselves, and we will discover that we too have those same basic desires.”
OK. Fine.
I live with the expectation that every police officer I meet is an ally. Every single one. Someone who will always give me the benefit of the doubt unless I were to so obviously and blatantly break the law. That’s my entitlement. That’s my privilege, because of who I am, because of the color of my skin.
I expect to be believed. If it’s my word against someone else’s - my word against hers - I expect to be believed. That’s my entitlement. That’s my privilege, because of who I am, because of my gender.
I expect to travel freely, without harassment. Last month, I went to Canada. Upon returning to the U.S., passing through customs was a piece of cake. I got in the line for U.S. citizens, answered a few questions, and was quickly on my way. This is the treatment I feel entitled to, as a U.S. citizen.
I expect to be congratulated when Ginger and I celebrate our anniversary. My heterosexual marriage is honored and respected by society. No baker will refuse to bake me a cake. That’s my privilege.
But here’s the thing: if I think, for a moment, the privilege that comes with being male, or the privilege that comes from being white, or the privilege that comes from being an American citizen, or the privilege that comes from being in a heterosexual marriage, will grant me a special place in the kingdom of God, I am sorely mistaken.
We all benefit from privilege. Some of us benefit from privilege more than others. But we all benefit from some form of privilege.
We live in the united States.
We have opportunities that others do not.
Some of us have great privilege because of our race, our gender, our income, the functionality (or dysfunctionality) of our family background, what we received from our parents, our level of education...
Did James and John experience similar feelings of entitlement? Did they enjoy privileges in society similar to the ones I enjoy? What was it that made them so bold as to ask Jesus to grant them the seats of honor in his kingdom? Was it mere ambition, or did a sense of privilege and entitlement play a role?
I think it must have. They may not have been as privileged as some. They may have still been among those oppressed by the Roman Empire, and they may have struggled in many ways. But also, because of their family background and their father’s success, they also enjoyed privileges that some around them did not.
And that led to a feeling of entitlement.
After they made their request, Jesus said to James and John, “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.”
Jesus didn’t condemn them for their request to sit in glory next to him. But Jesus thought that, probably, they didn’t really understand what it means to sit in glory in the kingdom of God.
To sit in glory in the kingdom of God requires checking one’s privilege. To sit in glory in the kingdom of God means giving up one’s sense of entitlement. To sit in glory in the kingdom of God requires humility, service, and sacrifice, and may lead to suffering and shame.
In other words, sitting in glory in the kingdom of God is not like sitting in glory in the kingdoms of this world. In the kingdom of God, the first will be last and the last will be first. In the kingdom of God, those who are down low will be lifted up, and all those who tower over everyone else like mighty mountains will be brought down.
Like the disciples, we are very used to hearing things like this.
I’m not sure we fully understand.
Yet it’s more important than ever that we do understand, because today more than ever, the kingdom of God is so at odds with the kingdoms of this world.
The kingdom of God is like my nephew Josh; one day I asked him if he liked broccoli, and he said yes. Then he pointed out to me that it was “Opposite day.”
The kingdom of God is an “Opposite Day” kind of kingdom. Because those who want honor and glory will only find it by humbling themselves.
And in a world that is increasingly inhospitable to immigrants, a world that slams the door to diversity, a world that grants privileges to the wealthy and makes the poor pay for those privileges, a world that tolerates white supremacists but calls those who demand justice “angry mobs…” in a world like that, the kingdom of God extends a welcome to immigrants, and embraces diversity, and lifts up the poor and calls them blessed. And those who live in the kingdom of God give justice to the oppressed.
Even if doing so brings shame upon them.
Even if doing so requires sacrifice from them.
This is what it means to be baptized. Baptism is our “naturalization ceremony” into the kingdom of God. It marks our citizenship and our allegiance to God’s kingdom.
For this reason, baptism is revolutionary. Subversive. Political. Baptism initiates us in a new politics. Baptism transfers our citizenship to a new kingdom.
The old politics: seek glory for yourself. Like the kings. Like the Romans. Like the gentiles. Like the rulers of this world.
The new politics: 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.
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