Daily Gospel Reflection

Be Careful What You Ask For

I'm Matthew Kelly. Welcome to Radical and Relevant. Today, we discover the core, the essence of the servant leadership concept. It's become very common and very popular in our culture over the past 20 years. The concept comes from this reading, which is in Matthew's Gospel, chapter 20 verses 17 to 28. And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, He took the 12 disciples aside, and on the way, He said to them, "Behold, you are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and deliver him to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and He will be raised on the third day." Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came 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 the other 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 hand is not mine to give. But it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father." And when the 10 heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. But Jesus called them and said to them, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lorded 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."

So this is the essence of servant leadership is right here toward the end of this reading. And so that's the phrase that jumped out at me is, "Whoever would be great among you must be your servant." Of course, the mother comes and asks for her sons to sit at the right and the left hand of God, and it's bold. It's definitely bold. And as Jesus said, you don't know what you're asking for. You don't know what is required to walk that path. And then he says something interesting. He says, "That's not for me to give," And I think very often, we're like the mother. We're asking for things, we have no idea what we're asking for, or we're asking for things, and we want them to come easily. We're not willing to do and suffer what needs to be done and suffered in order to achieve, accomplish, or receive those things. And are we like Jesus who is very mindful of what is his and is not his to grant? And we see that here. So there's obviously some boundaries, right? And then it's not boundaries because he couldn't do it. It's boundaries out of respect. And we need that in our own lives too. And so if you are a leader of any type, and most of us are, you might be a leader of a family, you might be a leader of a team, you might be a leader in many, many different ways in your life. Are you exercising servant leadership? Or are you lording it over people like the Gentiles that Jesus described? God bless you. Have an amazing day. And remember, don't just be yourself, be the very best version of yourself, all that God created you to be.