Second Week of Lent - Wednesday

Matthew 20:17-28

As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem,
he took the twelve disciples aside by themselves,
and said to them on the way,
"Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem,
and the Son of Man will be handed over
to the chief priests and the scribes,
and they will condemn him to death,
and hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked
and scourged and crucified,
and he will be raised on the third day."

Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee
approached him with her sons
and did him homage, wishing to ask him for something.
He said to her, "What do you wish?"
She answered him,
"Command that these two sons of mine sit,
one at your right and the other at your left, in your kingdom."
Jesus said in reply,
"You do not know what you are asking.
Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?"
They said to him, "We can."
He replied,
"My cup you will indeed drink,
but to sit at my right and at my left,
this is not mine to give
but is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father."
When the ten heard this,
they became indignant at the two brothers.
But Jesus summoned them and said,
"You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them,
and the great ones make their authority over them felt.
But it shall not be so among you.
Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you
shall be your servant;
whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave.
Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve
and to give his life as a ransom for many."

--Reflection
Jesus, against all odds, expectations and human programming, insists that we make the preemptive and positive move into "drinking of the cup" ourselves instead of always asking others to drink it.