Today the Church directs us toward Jerusalem, that is, toward the celebration of the Passion of Christ, with Jesus’ solemn declaration in the Gospel (Mk. 10:32-45): “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem…” He goes on to describe his condemnation, reviling, scourging, crucifixion, and death, with the final note of victory through his resurrection. We’re also celebrating St Mary of Egypt today. She too went up to Jerusalem, but for quite a different reason, though she ended up embracing the Cross of Christ and became a shining example of what the grace of God can do in a sinful soul. I’ll return to her in a while.
It seems like the apostles were not paying very close attention to Jesus’ prediction of his imminent sufferings, and it became clear 
that James and John had a different agenda they were eager to implement. One would think that after their beloved Master had just told them of the horrors He was about to endure, they would have been overcome with grief. But no, they were more interested in securing positions of glory for themselves when Jesus Himself would manifest his glory. Not only did they not offer to console Jesus over his coming Passion (or even try to talk Him out of it, as Peter once wrong-headedly but good-heartedly attempted), but they boldly said: “We want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”
I guess we shouldn’t be too hard on them, though, for they sound so much like we do! In our prayer, is it not more often the case that we let the Lord know what we want Him to do for us, rather than ask what we can do for Him? He may want us to meditate on his Passion or endure some trial or suffering for his sake, but we want to receive consolations or some other tangible benefits instead.
So Jesus might tell us what He told the sons of thunder: “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink…?” What Jesus is saying here is that the disciples basically want the Resurrection without the Cross (again, so much like us!). They want the glory without the pain, the reward without the labor. Jesus would later say to a couple of his mindless (his own term, anoitoi) disciples: “Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and so enter his glory?” (Lk. 24:25-26).
Jesus would indeed enter his glory, as the disciples expected, but rather than ask if they could be granted the privilege of sharing his sufferings, the only sought the glory. That is why Jesus presented them with the image of drinking the cup, symbol of the sufferings the Father called Him to accept for our salvation. Even when Jesus put it to them that way, their glory-seeking was not diminished. Without taking any time at all to consider what “drinking the cup” might mean for them, they said they were able to do it. Jesus could have said to them: “Fine, but in a few days you are going to abandon Me, fleeing to save your own skin when my adversaries arrest Me in the garden. Is that what you mean by being able to drink the cup I drink?”
But Jesus didn’t say that, because He had compassion on their weakness and ignorance. He could also see farther than their loss of nerve in the garden, for after Pentecost they would in fact drink the cup of suffering in his service, fearlessly and courageously, and they would ultimately enter his glory after enduring many trials.
Having heard this request, the other ten apostles became indignant at James and John. Not that they were above such a base request; they were probably upset because they hadn’t thought of it first! But now they could take the high road in denouncing the ambitious aspirations of their brothers. So Jesus took the opportunity to give them all a little lesson on service and humility. It’s only the unbelievers who jockey for positions of power and glory, He told them. That is not for you who are My disciples. If you want to be great, you have to be a servant (diakonos); if you want to be first, you have to be a slave (doulos).
Jesus immediately offers Himself as the example of this: “For the Son of Man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” This is perhaps the best one-sentence summary of the mission of Jesus that we have in the Gospels. St Paul tells us that even though the Son was “in the form of God”—and thus deserves to be served by all creation—He assumed “the form of a slave,” precisely so that He could give his life for us by obediently accepting a humiliating death by crucifixion (see Phil. 2:5-11). But then the Father exalted Jesus’ humbled humanity; thus He who came to serve was manifested as Lord of Heaven and Earth.
In today’s epistle from Hebrews (9:11-14), we hear of this exaltation of Christ in terms of his high-priestly sacrifice. He entered the Sanctuary of Heaven with the sacrifice of his own body and blood, in contrast to the animal sacrifices prescribed in the old covenant. With his Precious Blood, Jesus “secured for us an eternal redemption”—this is what He meant in the Gospel by saying He would give his life as a ransom, redeeming us from bondage to sin and death. This Blood of Christ, continues the author of Hebrews, will purify our consciences so that we are made fit to serve the living God.
So this life is all about service, not about glory. In the next life, service and glory will be inseparably united, for in Heaven, to serve is to reign, and we will find our everlasting delight in the privilege of being allowed to serve the living God. As for me, I’ll be happy to be the slave of every soul in the entire Kingdom, if only I’m allowed to enter there!
But we won’t be allowed to serve in Heaven if we don’t get a little practice here below. That’s why Jesus told his disciples that if they want the glory to come, they have to drink the cup now: the cup of self-emptying service, of the self-denial that characterizes true discipleship, even to the point of suffering for truth and righteousness, for Jesus’ sake and the sake of his Gospel.
I said I’d say something about St Mary of Egypt’s journey to Jerusalem. At least the disciples were basically good fellows, even though their ambitions showed they did not yet have the mind of Christ. But Mary of Egypt’s ambitions were much baser than the disciples’. She was not interested in glory but in pleasure. She had been feeding her sex-addiction for 17 years (she was 29 at the time), and the only reason she went to Jerusalem was because she found a group of young men going there, and she would make this pilgrimage a pleasure cruise.
Now at this point she wasn’t exactly a devout churchgoer, but she liked to go wherever the crowds went, so when in Jerusalem she followed the crowd to a church where a relic of the Precious and Life-giving Cross of Christ was being venerated. Everyone freely entered the church except poor Mary, who was barred by some unseen force. I’ll let her tell you what happened next: “Having repeated my attempt three or four times, at last I felt exhausted… so I went aside and stood in a corner of the porch. And only then with great difficulty it began to dawn on me, and I began to understand the reason why I was prevented from being admitted to see the life-giving Cross. The word of salvation gently touched the eyes of my heart and revealed to me that it was my unclean life which barred the entrance to me. I began to weep and lament and beat my breast, and to sigh from the depths of my heart. And so I stood
weeping, when I saw above me the icon of the most holy Mother of God. And turning to her my bodily and spiritual eyes I said:
“‘O Lady, Mother of God, who gave birth in the flesh to God the Word, I know, O how well I know, that it is no honor or praise to you when one so impure and depraved as I look up to thy icon, O ever-virgin, who kept your body and soul in purity. Rightly do I inspire hatred and disgust before thy virginal purity. But I have heard that God who was born of you became man in order to call sinners to repentance. Then help me, for I have no other help. Order the entrance of the church to be opened to me. Allow me to see the venerable Tree on which He who was born of you suffered in the flesh and on which He shed his holy Blood for the redemption of sinners and for me, unworthy as I am. Be my faithful witness before your Son, that I will never again defile my body by the impurity of fornication, but as soon as I have seen the Tree of the Cross I will renounce the world and its temptations and will go wherever you will lead me.’”
After this, she easily entered the church and venerated the Cross. Then she spent the rest of her life in the desert, in prayer and fasting, and through much struggle ascending to great heights of holiness. Mary of Egypt drank the cup, and at length she entered into glory. So she meant one thing by going up to Jerusalem, but God meant quite another in allowing her to do so.
As we hear the solemn words of Christ inviting us to go to Jerusalem, let us be sure that we are going for the right reasons. Let us not try to skip the Cross and get right to the Resurrection. Let us not say, “Easter is just two weeks away, and then all this fasting and prostrating will be finished, and we can eat, drink, and be merry.” Instead, let us set our hearts and minds on accompanying Jesus in his dread Passion, willing to share the cup that the Father offered Him in Gethsemane and on the Cross.
We shouldn’t, however, blithely tell the Lord we are able to drink his cup if we are not even willing to serve according to the requirements of our vocations. It is not our bravado in proclaiming how faithful we are to the Lord (Peter had to learn that lesson the hard way), but rather our humble willingness to serve inconspicuously, that will enable us to drink the cup and find blessings therein. As Jesus’ disciples, we are to offer our lives, in all their daily details and troubles, in union with his, to help win grace for souls, so that they can turn to their Redeemer and receive his mercy. For the Precious Blood of Christ, which we will soon receive from the Eucharistic chalice, alone secures the eternal redemption, which will guarantee the everlasting glory of all those who walk the way of service and sacrifice on the way to the Heavenly Jerusalem.
