Gospel
Matthew 20:17-28 (NRSV)
17 While Jesus was going up to Jerusalem,
he took the twelve disciples aside by themselves, and said to
them on the way, 18 "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; 19 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." 20 Then the mother
of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, and kneeling
before him, she asked a favor of him. 21 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." 22 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." 23 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."
24 When the ten heard it, they were angry with the two brothers.
25 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. 26 It will not be so among you; but
whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, 27
and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave;
28 just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve,
and to give his life a ransom for many."
The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.