“You do not know what you are asking”

In the Gospel reading, James and John make a request. Their request is similar to any number of requests that we ask Jesus on a daily basis. Jesus responds to them the same way He responds to all of us: Are we willing to drink the cup?
 
What are James and John asking for? They are asking for prestige. They believe that Jesus will be a great king soon and they want to be right there with Him to be showered with all the riches and glory Jesus will have.
 
Why do they ask for prestige? “Man is always trying to avoid suffering, and, instead, to assure himself of glory. But here Jesus undeceives him; whoever wants to share in his glory must drink the bitter cup of suffering with him: ‘Are you able to drink the cup that I drink?’”. [1]
 
What does Jesus mean when He refers to His own baptism? The Church teaches that there are three different types of baptisms: one by water, one by desire, and one by the blood as in a martyr’s death. Jesus is speaking of the last of the three baptisms here. The “metaphor of drinking the cup is used in the Old Testament to refer to acceptance of the destiny assigned by God. In Jesus’ case, this involves divine judgment on sin that Jesus the innocent one is to expiate on behalf of the guilty. His baptism is to be his crucifixion and death for the salvation of the human race….The request of James and John for a share in the glory (35-37) must of necessity involve a share in Jesus’ sufferings, the endurance of tribulation and suffering for the gospel (39). [2] “The baptism of Jesus is on his part the acceptance and inauguration of his mission as God’s suffering Servant. He allows himself to be numbered among sinners; he is already ‘the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.’ Already he is anticipating the “baptism’ of his bloody death. Already he is coming to ‘fulfill all righteousness,’ that is, he is submitting himself entirely to his Father’s will: out of love he consents to this baptism of death for the remissions of our sins.” [3] “…Jesus desires to associate with his redeeming sacrifice those who were to be its first beneficiaries.” [4]
 
How are we called to this baptism of suffering? While we may not be called to shed our blood for our belief in Jesus Christ, we can die to ourselves everyday. We let go of sin and die to sin. By this we mean that we say “no” to our sinful desires in order to say “yes” to Jesus Christ. By saying “yes” to Him, we become more like Christ and understand Him all the more. The “‘possibility of being made partners, in a way known to God, in the paschal mystery’ is offered to all men. He calls his disciples to take up their cross and follow him,’ for ‘Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example so that we should follow in his steps.” [5]
 
Does Jesus have the authority to grant James and John’s request? No and yes. As Jesus mentions in the Gospel, only the Father could grant this request at that time. This was because the “authority of assigning places of honor in the kingdom is reserved to God.” [6] He could grant their request theoretically because He is God and they are three in one, but He can’t because He cannot do anything unless the Father grants it so because they are one in three. Also, keep in mind that Jesus had not been seated at the right hand of the Father and made King of Kings yet. He had to suffer, die, and rise before He could make any distinctions on that point.

But how is getting what we ask for a bad thing? It’s not. Rather, it’s a challenging thing, at times. We must ask ourselves if we are willing to do what God asks of us to get what we asked from God? The Apostles wanted glory and esteem, but to get “what they wanted”, Jesus told them that they must humble themselves and rely solely on God, turning to no other things except Him. The spiritual reading touches on this point: “Why in our fear of not praying as we should, do we turn to so many things, to find what we should pray for? Why do we not say instead, in the words of the psalm: I have asked one thing from the Lord, this is what I will seek: to dwell in the Lord’s house all the days of my life, to see the graciousness of the Lord, and to visit his temple? There, the days do not come and go in succession, and the beginning of one day does not mean the end of another; all days are one, simultaneously and without end, and the life lived out in these days has itself no end.” [7]
 
How do we pray carefully? When we pray, we should always truly know what we are asking for. Will this prayer help us to become God wants us to be? Will it make us closer with God or will we become holier? Our prayers are meant “So that we might obtain this life of happiness, he who is true life itself taught us to pray, not in many words as though speaking longer could gain us a hearing. After all, we pray to one who, as the Lord himself tells us, knows what we need before we ask for it.”
 
If God knows what we are going to ask for why pray at all? As the Spiritual Reading continues, “Why he should ask us to pray, when he knows what we need before we ask him, may perplex us if we do not realize that our Lord and God does not want to know what we want (for he cannot fail to know it), but wants us rather to exercise our desire through our prayers, so that we may be able to receive what he is preparing to give us. His gift is very great indeed, but our capacity is too small and limited to receive it.”
 
What should we ask from God? On one hand, we must always want what John and James wanted, which was to be close to Christ, but we must also be ready to do what God asks of us. “It has not entered man’s heart; man’s heart must enter into it.” [8] “When the Apostle tells us: Pray without ceasing, he means this: Desire unceasingly that life of happiness which is nothing if not eternal, and ask it of him who alone is able to give it. [9]
 
MUSIC – “Faust, Midas, Myself” by Switchfoot
We’ve all heard the story of King Midas. This song is similar—a person has a dream in which he receives one wish. He asks to be able to have the touch of gold. In touching everything to gold he realized this is not what he really wants and wishes he can take it back. We have to be careful with what we ask for.
 
MOVIE – Freaky Friday (1973)
This scene is from the original Freaky Friday movie in which the daughter wished she had her mom’s life for one day and vice versa. How many times have we thought if only God made me like this person or that person we would be holier or better off. We must realize that we all have our advantages and our struggles. God will give us exactly the grace and mercy we need to reach Him.

[1] Divine Intimacy pg. 138-139
[2] NAB Footnotes, Gospel of Mark 10, 38-40
[3] CCC 536
[4] CCC 618
[5] CCC 618
[6] NAB Footnotes, Gospel of Mark 10, 38-40
[7] Spiritual Reading, From a letter to Proba by Saint Augustine
[8] Spiritual Reading, From a letter to Proba by Saint Augustine
[9] Spiritual Reading, From a letter to Proba by Saint Augustine