LOSING TO GAIN

The gospels tell us that when Jesus called Zebedee’s sons, John and James, they left their father high and dry to follow Christ. A few years down the line, Zebedee was still reeling in shock at their decision and probably also not bringing home any fish. His wife however would not give up and had a plan. She decided to approach Jesus and make sure that her sons would at least have the very best seats in the coming new kingdom.

Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him. “What is it you want?” he asked.

She said, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.”“You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?”“We can,” they answered.

Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from my cup, 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 by my Father.”———–whoever wants to be first must be your slave-just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”(Matthew 20:20-27)

Jesus’ words, ‘You don’t know what you are asking’, highlights the fact that his followers barely understood that his kingdom was not of this world. The community he lived in was hoping for the resurrection of the Davidic Israelite kingdom and hoped that Jesus with his superpowers would likely accomplish it. Unless faith in Christ leads us to a home beyond, our life is futile and so are all the decisions we take during our pilgrimage here on earth.

Many followed him hoping for earthly gain and still do so today. Most would end up disappointed because gaining the world is no good if one does not gain his soul. It is more likely that a Christian would be asked to sacrifice his comfort and worldly treasures for the sake of Christ than to become worthwhile in this world. And Jesus’ comment, ‘Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?’ indicates thatfollowing him would be to retrace his steps of drinking from a bitter cup. One stands to lose all here on earth, so that he might gain eternal life in the world to come.

Jesus goes on to indicate that there would be gradation in the coming world. While God’s sovereignty would determine any such gradation, the more you serve and the more you lose here on earth, the greater would be your value before God and your eventual position in God’s hierarchy.

Jesus turned on its head conventional wisdom and practice. It is counter-intuitive to adopt the pathway of being a loser and a servant in this world. But that is precisely the path toward eternal glory.

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