James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to [Jesus] and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you." 36 He replied, "What do you wish [me] to do for you?" 37 They answered him, "Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left." 38 Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?" 39 They said to him, "We can." Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink, you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; 40 but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give but is for those whom it has been prepared."
41 When the ten heard this, they became indignant at James and John. 42 Jesus summoned them and said to them, "You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them and their great ones make their authority over them felt. 43 But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; 44 whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. 45 For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many."
It's obvious from this passage that the Apostles of Jesus did not fully understand his real mission in life, that Jesus would die "as a ransom for many." Many Jews believed in their hearts that a Messiah would come or be sent in order to free the Israelites from the bondage of Rome. Later on this confusion among the Apostles would heighten when one group believed in that Jesus was sent to redeem us from our sins by God the Father, while another group believed that he would "save" Israel from the Romans.
The ambitious James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, did the most natural thing, to seek the highest position one can get when Jesus is already glorified. By this, they obviously meant that Jesus would already be sitting on his throne and the Zebedee brothers thought it was perfect to have one of them on each side of the reigning Jesus Christ.
Of course when the other Apostles heard this, they were enraged that the two brothers would be so callous to ask this of their Master while disregarding the concerns of the ten others. If you bring this story to a present day parallel, it is like being in the midst a Presidential campaign, that even before they have won the race, everyone is already asking the soon-to-be President what positions they would get when they win the Presidential race. What the President's men want are positions of power, not a discussion on how to serve the people if and when they get to win the race!
When the other Apostles were enraged by the ambitions of the Zebedee brothers our Lord Jesus Christ gave them a lesson on Christian leadership. He first talked about what the Gentile rulers would do to their subjects, making them feel the wrath of their authority. In those days, most rulers were notorious for their ruthlessness and wickedness and that is really felt by their subjects.
But in the Kingdom of the Son of Man, things would be different. This is why Jesus starts by saying, "But it shall not be among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you, will be your servant, whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all." For sure when Jesus told them this, it certainly did not make his Apostles comfortable. I'm sure they were thinking about this saying, asking themselves how could we who will be considered great will be a servant at the same time?
Remember, we are talking about a dialogue between our Lord Jesus Christ with his Apostles that happened 2,000 years ago. Yet eons later, people still cannot understand this saying. Too many of our political leaders make promises to serve the people, their constituents and the country, but when they get elected into office, they forget all the political promises they made and yes, lord it over to their constituents, acting like Gentile rulers instead of public servants.
With elections soon to come by the year 2007, it is the perfect time to reflect about our current political leaders, whether they have been up to the task in serving the people. We know too well that a lot of politicians spend a great fortune for a public office that pays a measly monthly salary. It is therefore illogical for one to run for public office and spend more than he or she could earn unless they already have a plan to recover what they spent through graft and corruption.
So Christian leadership means becoming a slave or a servant to all. Jesus exemplified this just before the last supper, when he washed the feet of his disciples. Can we find such leaders in our present time?