Upended Paradigms
This is what I preached last Sunday, Oct. 21, at St. Timothy Lutheran Church. The gospel text was Mark 10:35-45 . We need to go back a few verses to get the full impact of James’ and John’s request. Jesus said to the disciples, ” … the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death; then they will hand him over to the Gentiles; 34 they will mock him, and spit upon him, and flog him, and kill him; and after three days he will rise again” (vv. 33-34). This is Jesus’ third announcement of his approaching crucifixion, which ends at v. 34. Then we get to this Sunday’s gospel, beginning with verse 35 and the sons of Zebedee’s desire. We could call the first scene in today’s gospel “Be careful what you wish for.” James and John are among the inner circle of the disciples, along with Peter. They have had experiences with Jesus that the other 9 have not. James and John witnessed the glory of Jesus’ transfiguration, r...