Today's Gospel
Grapple with the Paradox
3 min
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Gospel
Mt 20:20-28
Then the mother of the sons of Zeb´edee came up to him, with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Command that these two sons of mine may sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” But Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave; even as the Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Readings are from Dynamic Catholic’s New Testament Bible: RSV Catholic Edition
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Transcript
Grapple with the Paradox
Welcome back to Radical & Relevant, where each day we explore the genius of Jesus' teachings in the Gospel. Today's reading is from Matthew chapter 20:20-28. "Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to Jesus with her sons and kneeling before him, she asked him for something. And he said to her, 'What do you want?' She said to him, 'Command that these two sons of mine may sit one at your right hand and one at your left in your kingdom.' But Jesus answered, 'You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?' They said to him, 'We are able.' He said to them, 'Then you will drink my cup. But to sit at the right hand and my left hand is not mine to give. But it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my father.' And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. But Jesus called them together and said, 'You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over and their great men exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. Whoever would be great among you must be servant and whoever would be first must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.'" So again here we see the birth of servant leadership. But what jumps out at you? What jumps out at you? How is it stirring your soul? Is there a word? Is there a phrase? Is there an idea? For me, I think that this idea of the first being last and the last being first, I think we always grapple with that. But the gospel is a-- it's a book of paradoxes. Jesus is constantly placing paradoxes before us, and we're called to grapple with them in everyday life. For me, it's a new call, a fresh call to serve other people and to serve people powerfully. And a reminder that that is the essence of our Christian call. What jumped out at you? Take that word, take that phrase, take that idea into your day. And remember, don't just be yourself, be the very best version of yourself, all that God created you to be.
