"james And John Call 'shotgun!!!'"

“James and John Call ‘Shotgun!!!’”

Mark 10:35-45

Did anyone else grow up calling “shotgun” when heading toward the car you were about to ride in?

If you called “shotgun”, you got the privilege to sit in the passenger seat in front, next to the driver.

And the first one to call shotgun got it.

Of course, someone would always say, “You already sat in the front last time,” and sometimes we would wrestle, for the fun of it, as we fought to sit in the front.

In this morning’s Gospel Lesson, James and John are sort of calling “shotgun” in the sense that they are trying to vie for the best seats next to Jesus when He is “glorified.”

The funny and, I suppose, sad thing about all this is that they have no idea what they are asking.

Jesus has just told the disciples, for the third time, what is going to happen in Jerusalem.

“We are going up to Jerusalem,” Jesus tells His disciples beginning in verse 33, “and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law.

They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him.

Three days later he will rise from the dead.”

But the disciples don’t appear to be listening.

It doesn’t sink in.

It doesn’t even touch the surface.

We are told in verse 35: “Then James and John…came to him.

‘Teacher we want you to do for us whatever we ask.’”

And Jesus patiently responds, “What do you want me to do for you?”

“They replied, ‘Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”

James and John are thinking that Jesus’ glory involves worldly power.

They think He will be politically lifted up.

They expect Him to rule over Israel like a worldly king.

And James and John want in on the power that they assume Jesus wants as well.

“You don’t know what you are asking,’ Jesus said.

‘Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?’”

“We can,” they replied not understanding a bit of what Jesus is about.

Which goes to prove that you can be a follower of Jesus Christ and still not “get it.”

And the same is true of us, is it not?

We too can be followers of Jesus.

We can walk with Jesus.

We can talk with Jesus.

We can hang out with Jesus’ friends and still, not “get it” about being a servant of others.

We can use the right religious buzz-words, but still not get the basic lesson of life that Jesus was trying to teach James and John and all of us.

“Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.”

And what does slave of all mean?

It means all, does it not?

It means we serve everyone; we are to humble ourselves before everyone…

…even the homeless…

…even those who everyone looks down on…

…even those who are being mean to us…

…even to those who hate us and backstab us and try and ruin us.

Wow.

That is what Jesus did.

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

So, Jesus says, “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”

Jesus is clearly referring to His upcoming crucifixion.

And this is authenticated in Gethsemane when Jesus prays, “Take this cup from me.”

It is the cup of suffering that Jesus is describing to James and John, and the baptism of death.

And its vitally important to understand this and understand the seriousness of this.

It should cause us to stop and think about our Christian calling.

The cup means, in a very real sense, that Jesus is going to experience unimaginable pain and ultimately death.

The baptism means, in a very real way, that Jesus will feel as though He is drowning in sorrow and suffering.

And little do they know that Jesus’ glory is the Cross.

And those who do end up at Jesus’ right and left in glory are a couple of thieves who share His same fate.

We need to be careful what we ask for, do we not?

“Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”

Our Gospel Lesson for this morning points out our need to recognize how easy it is to give lip service to an idea, and how difficult it is to live out the actual requirement of discipleship, which is complete submission to God.