The Lent Podcast series
Week 3, Wednesday in the Second Week of Lent

Lent, the period preceding Easter that in the Christian Church is devoted to fasting, abstinence, and penitence in commemoration of Christ’s fasting in the wilderness. In the Western Church it runs from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday and so includes forty weekdays
Writing and read by Joost Röselaars, Mpho Tutu van Furth, Rachelle van Andel

The Collect
O God, you so loved the world that you gave your only- begotten Son to reconcile
earth with heaven: Grant that we, loving you above all things, may love our friends
in you, and our enemies for your sake; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Gospel
Matthew 20:17–28
While Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside by
themselves, and said to them on the way, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and
the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will
condemn him to death; then they will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked
and flogged and crucified; and on the third day he will be raised.”
Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, and kneeling
before him, she asked a favor of him. And he said to her, “What do you want?” She
said to him, “Declare that these two sons of mine will 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 about to drink?” They
said to him, “We are able.” He said to them, “You will indeed drink my cup, but to
sit at my right hand and at my left, this is not mine to grant, but it is for those for
whom it has been prepared by my Father.”
When the ten heard it, they were angry with 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 ones are tyrants over them. It will not be so among you; but whoev-
er wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be

first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not to be served
but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

Reflection:

Can you drink this cup?

It’s the third time. The third time Jesus tells his disciples what he is going to face and has to go through in Jerusalem. He talks about his suffering, about being mocked, flocked and crucified. Earlier Peter didn’t believe him. This is not going to happen, to you, never! The second time he shares his story they are filled with grief…But still no one is capable to live it and understand what will happen.

Now, the third time two of them, James and John are jumping over the suffering. They think about the status and glory of the kingdom that will come, sitting next to Jesus. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?

Yes, they answer, immediately. But their hearts and minds do not truly grasp what it means, and are 1000 miles away, sinking into their future possibilities of status and grandeur.

In the Hebrew bible we read about this cup of life, the cup that overflows with life, it’s the cup we have to drink ourselves. The cup filled with our hopes and dreams. The cup which is also filled with our sorrow and despair.

But to drink the cup really….it means to live with it. To sit with pain and suffering in our lives, in our world. To not run away from it, hide is somewhere, bury it deep under the ground. It means to get the full package what life is giving us instead of picking the cherries we often like to do.

There is no easy way out, no resurrection before crucifixion. We need to walk the path of suffering together with Jesus, together with one another to experience our shared humanity,
Experience what we are able of and capable of
The live deep,
And high
It’s often messy
And bumpy

But we are in this together.
That is what Jesus is trying to say.
He flips the script at the end:
He doesn’t condemn or judge his disciples
But he gives them a reminder to focus on serving others.
It’s not our careers our status that matters ,
But in serving others,
That’s where true greatness lies and
Where we can fill our cups
Again with overflowing life
And joy
And beauty.

But it means we have to go right through the suffering and pain,
together.

What does it mean for you to drink the cup ?

Payer:
May God bless you and keep you
May God’s face shine upon you
May God be gracious to you
And give you peace
Amen.

gepubliceerd op 7 maart 2023