On His Majesty’s Service

Ann Henderson came home from her doctor’s appointment looking much the same as usual. Maybe she was a little quieter, but not enough to cause comment. The whole family was home for dinner that night, for once. She was grateful. She would only have to say it once. She waited for a moment when nobody was speaking - not an easy thing in this large and noisy family - and said, “I have something to tell you.” “Yeah, Mom?” from a middle son, reaching across the table for the catsup. “It’s important,” Ann said. “Please listen.” “OK,” and they all looked at her expectantly. She took a deep breath and prayed that her voice would be steady.

“I saw the doctor today, I’ve been waiting for some test results, and the news isn’t good. He says I have only about a month to live - probably less.”

There. It was out. How were they going to respond? Could she summon the strength to help them deal with all the possible reactions: denial, anger, incredulity, tears? She waited. No one said anything. Finally,

“Have you decided who’s gonna get what?” said Jane. “I want the wide screen TV.” “Can I have the RV?” said John, “I can live in it at college.” “That’s not fair!” shouted the others, “they’re always grabbing the best stuff! There won’t be anything left for me at this rate.”

“Stop it!” Ann wanted to scream. “Is that all you care about?”

This is a pretty appalling scenario, isn’t it? Have you ever seen such a display of greed and insensitivity as this?

And yet this is almost exactly what was going on that day in Jerusalem 2000 years ago. Jesus had just told them yet again - that he was going to die. Luke records this touching little scene as taking place at the last supper Passover supper right after Jesus tells them one of them will betray him, but we know from Matthew and Mark that this wasn’t the only time Jesus had lectured them on this very topic.

Each time Jesus speaks to the disciples about his coming suffering, his words go in one ear and out the other. He has told them time and time again that he is going to Jerusalem to his death. He has told them that he would be betrayed, and that the scribes and priests would kill him. Do you remember the scene John describes at that same Passover meal, where Jesus gets up and washes the disciples’ feet? I’m pretty sure that this little argument happened before the foot-washing.

Their teacher, their master, their Anointed One, the Hope of Israel, is about to go off to die, and all they could think about was what they would get out of it. So Jesus has to get their attention somehow. Words alone aren’t going to do it.

To be perfectly fair to the disciples, of course, it isn’t that they didn’t care. It’s just that they didn’t believe Jesus was going to die. How could he? He was the Messiah, the Redeemer King of Israel, and that meant power. And power is good, right? Power is being able to tell other people what to do. Power is not having to do what you don’t want to do, like eating spinach or getting up in the morning. Power means you can get back at people you don’t like, and take care of your family and friends. Power is getting, and having, and keeping. Power means being on top.

You see, as important as all of this is, as much as they’ve given up to follow Jesus, and as much as they really do love him, they’re not taking it seriously yet. They’re on that wonderful high that comes with the first glimmering that this may, indeed, be a championship season. This small town, bush league, class C team is going to go all the way to the finals! They’re already planning the victory party.

The disciples still think of victory, of royalty, of glory, in exactly the same terms they always have. They envision an earthly kingdom founded and run according to human standards. They assume that when Jesus takes his rightful place as Messiah, his friends will get special privileges. The new age they look forward to looks just like the old one, starring pork barrel politics and influence peddling. They fancy themselves as the elite of the elite, ruling over others as others now rule over them. If they heard anything of Jesus’ words of suffering at all, they see it as temporary, just a rough spot on the road to glory. They really expect a kingdom for themselves, where they can impose their will on others. They hope to replace the self-glorifying, oppressive structures of the Romans with their own self-serving control structures. And nothing would change except the names of the rulers and the faces of the slaves. Oppression gets recycled and new tyrants rise to the top. It’s the same old same old, deja vu all over again.