The London games are still a couple of days away and the first medals are
yet to be won but any Christian worth his salt would know that the fight for a
podium finish is not a new one but one that is at least 2000 years old.
Today , The Church celebrates the feast of St. James (Apostle & Martyr).
James was the brother of John, another apostle of Christ. Holy scriptures tell us
in Mark 10:35-45 the story of how these two brothers filled with ambitions of wane glory approached the Lord requesting
for a official position to the right & left of Christ, once the Lord would establish
His Kingdom. Now in Olympic parlance, the winner is at the centre, the silver
medal winner is to the right of the Gold
medal winner and the bronze medal winner to the left of the Gold winner. So
effectively, these two assumed themselves to be the next best after Jesus and had probably begun romancing the idea of succeeding Christ and inheriting His
kingdom. Obviously, they had no clue of what they were asking for. There is no point blaming these two, the other 10 apostles were no different.
Though they did not demand positions or designations, they were blinded by jealousy
and competitive spirit. They must have muttered amongst themselves “How dare these two ask of such a high favour from the
Lord, do they think we are not as good as them or do they think we are dead?" Insecure at
the thought of their other brothers taking prime positions in the kingdom (the
reality of which they had no clue of) must have made their inner being writhe with avarice. Perhaps, the thought of
losing a race, which never existed, was too much to bear.
The good Lord knowing well what was going on in the feeble minds of the ten
calls them and ends up giving them one of the most avoided teachings of Christianity
today. Those who want to be first in heaven will have to come last here on
Earth and those who want to be great in the Kingdom will have to become the least
in this world. There is a paradox in here. Sure
enough, Christianity is religion of many paradoxes. I mean where else do you get a God
who out of sheer love for His creation, comes down to become man and dies for
His people. Where else do we get a God, who not only takes our sins away but
also forgives them all. He erases our sins and washes us white as snow. A God who saves us inspite of us. This paradox was highlighted
by 'TheWoman@thewell' in one of her blogs sometime ago. Makes a fine reading.
To the ambitious duo, the Lord asked them if they will drink the cup (of
suffering) which is He was about to drink. Of course, still with only starry dreams
in their eyes, they replied ‘yes’. Though they had no idea what they were
saying ‘yes’ to, James & John ended up proving themselves as men of their word, though it
was only James who attained physical martyrdom. Infact, all the disciples of Jesus (except Judas) came out victors as true
disciples following their master’s footsteps, bearing their respective crosses and attaining heights of holiness
not by might or power of their own but by sheer Grace which flowed directly
from the Lord himself as His Spirit led them from one place to another in their
ardent quest to make Him known, the One who had saved them, sent them. By the time they
were done, the cravings of worldly success had left them and desire to be at
a lofty position and be known as successful leaders was dead. All that was alive
and glowing was a desire to meet their maker, their saviour, their All in All. To
win Gold , Silver or Bronze meant nothing anymore, all that meant was to lose
everything and gain Christ in return.
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