CAN YOU DRINK THE CHALICE?

Not infrequently, people in the Church act romantically and others in an immature way. Some, excited by the testimonies of missionaries and leaders involved in the work of evangelization, decide to take such positions even without being called by God or knowing that this is his will for their lives. Others, seeking admiration and recognition and some even enrichment, struggle for prominent positions in the ecclesiastical community and act as stars to satisfy their egos.  

But this problem is not peculiar only to the Church today. The evangelist Mark recorded that near the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, near the end of his ministry, the brothers James and John made the following request to him: "Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory (Mark 10:37). They thought that Jesus was going to expel the Romans and restore the kingdom of Israel (Acts 1.6). So they approached Jesus and asked for positions of power and privilege. Mark recorded that the others, when they heard this, "they became indignant with James and John" (10:41).  

Upon hearing this request, Jesus said to them, "You don’t know what you are asking... Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?"Can you drink the cup I am drinking or be baptized with the baptism I am being baptized with?"  (Mark 10.37,38). The commentators of the New International Version (Bible) explain this expression "drink the cup". "It meant sharing someone's fate. In the Old Testament the cup of wine was a common metaphor of God's wrath against sin and man's rebellion (Ps. 75:8; Is. 51:17-23; Jer. 25:15-28; 49:12; 51:7). Thus the cup that Jesus had to drink concerns the divine punishment of sins that He Himself suffered by the sinful humanity (v.10.45; 14.36)" [1].  

Of course that this reflection is not intended to discourage people from assuming functions in the Church, nor to inhibit the desire for episcopal office. Jesus said: "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few" (Matthew 9:37). Paul, writing to Timothy, in his second letter says that if anyone wishes to be a bishop, he desires a noble office, but he also said that this is not for everybody (1Timothy 3:1-7). Fact is, however, that the excess of people not called by God to be leaders of the Church has trivialized the gospel and spread teachings and practices that shame those of the Christian faith.  

Those who seek relevant positions in the Church need to know that the struggle they will wage "is not against flesh and blood, but against... the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 6:12). Many who go into Christian service are surprised at the suffering that comes from it. About James and John, Jesus said to them, "You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with" (Mark 10:39). He said this in reference to the future that awaited them. James, soon after the death and resurrection of Jesus, would be killed by the sword by order of King Herod (Acts 12:2) and John would live, poorly, as bishop of the Church and, in old age, would be imprisoned on the island of Patmos (Revelation 1:9).  

Jesus, in Gethsemane, before being arrested to be killed the next day, as he moved along with Peter, James, and John began to sorrow. He said to them: My soul is deeply saddened, in mortal sorrow. Stay here and watch with me. Going a little further, he fell on his face and prayed: "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will" (Matthew 26:37-39). The text reveals that He said this prayer three times and then felt strong to face the suffering that awaited Him. But now, before all this, the question remains: can we drink the cup?

Antônio Maia - M. Div.

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