GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 10:35
Did You Hear Me?
In one college class, I was deep in a lesson and making an important point (of course, teachers always think every point is important). A student raised her hand. Wow, I thought: someone is paying close attention, and wants to contribute to the discussion. Teachers love students who join them in these deep explorations. I stopped and nodded to her, giving her permission to ask her question or make her point. She said, “May I go to the bathroom?”
At an MTV forum on April 19, 1994, a young audience member asked President Bill Clinton whether he wore boxers or briefs. The Rwandan president had just been assassinated, South Africa was holding its first multiracial election, and a genocide was unfolding in Rwanda—yet this young audience member asked the President of the United States what style of underwear he wore! In retellings, President Clinton reportedly replied, “It usually depends on what’s clean.”
Jesus was describing to his close followers what to expect when they arrived at Jerusalem: a dramatic picture of mocking, spitting, beating, and death. Both Matthew and Mark place the approach of James and John right after Jesus’ dramatic lesson: “And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him and said to him, ‘Teacher, we wish that you would do for us whatever we ask you.’” (Mark 10:35) Matthew’s account attributes the request to their mother, Salome. Combining the two accounts, it is likely that all three approached Jesus, with the mother encouraging her sons. (Matt. 20:20-21)
Where was the disciples’ attention? Did they hear what Jesus said awaited him in Jerusalem? His prophecy and their question seem to come from entirely different contexts—much like the student’s bathroom interruption or the question about the president’s underwear. It makes me wonder: has my own insensitivity ever led me to miss or misunderstand the Father’s message?
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