SECURING A SEAT IN HEAVEN!

WEDNESDAY, March 23, 2011

Lenten Weekday

By Lorenz S. Centino, Jr.

Matthew 20: 17 - 28

17 And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, 18 "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death, 19 and deliver him to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day." 20 Then the mother of the sons of Zeb'edee came up to him, with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. 21 And he said to her, "What do you want?" She said to him, "Command that these two sons of mine may sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom." 22 But Jesus answered, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?" They said to him, "We are able." 23 He said to them, "You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father." 24 And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. 25 But Jesus called them to him and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. 26 It shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave; 28 even as the Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

PERSONAL REFLECTIONS:

A BLESSED WEDNESDAY TO ALL!!!

To secure a better position or place for our loved ones, may it be in work, relationship, education or in life in general, is something that seem to be normal and praiseworthy. Who would want something bad and mediocre for the one that you loved. Love always desires what is best to the beloved. This might be the context for the mother of two of Jesus’ disciples who wanted her sons to sit beside Jesus in his kingdom. It is natural, or instinctual, for a mother to secure what is best for her children. A mother would do anything just for her children to have or get the better part in life.

The mother in the Gospel today, one might think, was not just after what is best in life for her two sons. She was after the BEST for the LIFE TO COME of her two sons. From this view, one simply sees in her the PURE HEART of a MOTHER wanting, hoping, and begging for the BEST for her sons. She was just trying to obtain the SECURITY of her sons to be partakers of the GLORY and BLESSEDNESS of the Kingdom of God. She knelt down and begged for it. How many mothers are like her? How many mothers kneel down in deep prayer asking for the best for their children? How many mothers knock at heaven’s gate for God to grant to their children the best in life?

However, looking at the context of the mother’s request within Jesus’ prophecy of going up to Jerusalem where he will confront the powerful, the mother could have some pure “earthly concerns” in her heart. If the disciples of Jesus, who stayed and followed him closely day and night, was not able to get and understand the whole import of Jesus’ prophecy, how much more will the mother be. The mother could have been asking Jesus to hand over to his two sons the HIGHEST POSITION of POWER when Jesus take control over their land and be their king. She could have wanted her sons to share AUTHORITY with Jesus. And so Jesus took the opportunity to teach them about how the rulers of the Gentiles lord over their subjects and how their authority was exercised to control them rather than serve them. And he said that it is not the same with them. He told them, “It shall not be so among you; but whoever would be GREAT among you must be your SERVANT, and whoever would be FIRST among you must be your SLAVE…”

Speaking about how they must be different from the Gentiles, Jesus has also taken the opportunity to catechize them about HOW a person secures a PLACE in the Kingdom of God. The prophecy of Jesus about his death was a lesson for his followers to learn about being FIRST. SUFFERING is the PATH to GLORY! Embracing the CROSS is the way to become FIRST! What is going to happen to Jesus three days after his death will reveal how by his suffering on the Cross he will enter into the FULLNESS of his TRANSFIGURATION. By his suffering and death, Jesus becomes the FIRST who tastes the GLORY of the RESURRECTION! And for anyone of us to share such glorification, however, is not for Jesus to decide. Jesus said, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” To be with Jesus in his kingdom is for the Father to give as a GIFT to those who DESERVE.

For us to deserve such a precious gift is for us to become the FIRST in becoming a SERVANT and the LAST in LORDING OVER others for self-glorification and power. To sit near, or beside, Jesus in his kingdom is to become like the ideal mother who only desires what is BEST for the beloved, for becoming a true servant is to be an agent of what is GOOD to others. Our Father, in heaven, is preparing a place in Heaven for those of us who SERVE rather than being served. And for us to become a servant is to share the cup of Jesus’ crucifixion. To be a servant then requires a lot of SACRIFICES, a lot of giving-up and detachments. To become first in God’s Kingdom entails DYING to ONESELF which is the HEAVIEST CROSS we have to carry each day. But such cross when carried steadily, despite how many times we may FALL and STUMBLE along the way, will lead to us to our glorification in God’s Kingdom.

May this Lenten Season helps us to have the courage and resolve to cut-off ourselves from those that hinder us from becoming a true servant by learning how to forget our selfish ambitions and self-serving thirsts for position, power and supremacy. Moreover, may these days of deep prayer and reflection lead us to fix our focus on the kingdom of God  as the most precious pearl that we have to find and invest everything that we have instead of being diverted and blinded by the temporary glamour of worldly wealth and security.