Thoughts for the Day

Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, and kneeling before him, she asked a favour of him. And he said to her, ‘What do you want?’ She said to him, ‘Declare that these two sons of mine will sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.’ But Jesus answered, ‘You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink? They said to him, ‘We are able.’ He said to them, ‘You will indeed drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left, this is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.’

When the ten heard it, they were angry with the two brothers. But Jesus called them to him and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.’

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

Today is the Feast of Saint James the Apostle, and before we look at the incident mentioned in today's reading perhaps we should remind ourselves what we know about him. He is often called 'James the Great' to distinguish him from James the brother of Jesus. He and his brother John were Galilean fishermen, sons of Zebedee and were two of the first apostles called by Jesus to follow him. James was with Jesus for the three years of his ministry, and at many significant incidents during that time. He was present at his transfiguration on the mountain, at the last supper, and with him again in the garden of Gethsemane. After Jesus' death and resurrection he returned to Galilee and we see him fishing along with other disciples when Jesus appears to them.

But today's incident which occurs in both Matthew and Mark's gospels is something else. They annoyed the other followers of Jesus by asking to sit one on the left and one on the right of Jesus when he returned to his Father - presumably in places of honour. Matthew mentions that it was their mother who posed the question, whereas Mark omits her. To us this seems so inappropriate a question, even allowing for a mother's pride in her two sons. Surely after three years of travelling day in and day out with Jesus they would have realised how far they had stepped away from his teaching?

Jesus uses this incident to teach about the true nature of leadership in God's Kingdom which is one of service and humility rather than power and authority over others. Jesus reminds us that the true mark of a leader lies in serving others with love and compassion in a world that often glorifies power and authority. We know that James was to serve his Lord faithfully and was instrumental in passing on the Gospel message before being put to death by the sword in 44 CE at the order of Herod Agrippa, who hoped that by disposing of the Christian leaders he could stem the flow of those hearing the good news and becoming followers of Jesus. May we be as faithful to Christ's call today!

Collect for Saint James

Merciful God,
whose holy Apostle St. James,
leaving his father and all that he had,
was obedient to the calling of your son Jesus Christ
and followed him even to death:
help us, forsaking the false attractions of the world,
to be ready at all times to answer your call without delay.
Amen.