Sacrifice

Mark 10: 35-40

“35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”36 “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.37 They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”38 “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?”39 “We can,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, 40 but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”

A lot of talented people who play sports say they want to be champions but they are not willing to make the many sacrifices necessary to do it.  They like the idea of the prestige of being a champion but eventually they realize that there is a lot of time, work and effort that they are not willing to commit to.

James and John have asked Jesus if he would give them the honored seats when Jesus is in His glory.  Jesus asked them if they were willing to make the sacrifices necessary for this honor and they both answered “yes”.  But we know that they were not yet ready to “drink from the cup” or to suffer in the way that Jesus suffered.  They did not know what saying “yes” meant.

When we say yes to Christianity,  do we know what we are saying?  Do we know that being a Christian means that we are to live a life that is set apart and that such a life requires sacrifice?

Will we drink of the cup?

May the love of Christ be with you

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)