Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 20,20-28.
The mother of the sons of Zebedee approached Jesus 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.”
Power: one of the temptations that keeps you away from heaven.
1. Mediation: Here we see the mother of two apostles turning to Jesus to ask him for a favor. How many times have we turned to God to ask Him about getting a position of power and prestige? It would be like a priest asking God to become a bishop. When we demand of God to have certain powerful positions, we are only really desiring power which tempts us and keeps us away from heaven.
2. The Seats: Not even the apostles were free from the temptation of wanting to have lofty positions. The notion of ‘climbing the corporate ladder’ was even around in those days. The apostles thought that they could be powerful if they only had the ‘best seats.’ However, the ‘power’ that Jesus offers goes completely against these tempting desires.
3. Service: The more we move forward in our Christian life and within ministry, we should be sufficiently satisfied in serving and helping more than in wanting to govern. You should not allow the search for power to overshadow the search for happiness.
God bless you in the name of The Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit…and do not forget: Heaven is Our Goal!
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