Readings

Jeremiah 18.18–20 – Then they said, ‘Come, let us make plots against Jeremiah—for instruction shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, let us bring charges against him, and let us not heed any of his words.’ Give heed to me, O Lord, and listen to what my adversaries say! Is evil a recompense for good? Yet they have dug a pit for my life. Remember how I stood before you to speak good for them, to turn away your wrath from them.

Matthew 20.17–28 – While Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside by themselves, and said to them on the way, ‘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; 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.’ Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, and kneeling before him, she asked a favour of him. 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.’ 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.’ 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.’ When the ten heard it, they were angry with the two brothers. 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. It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.’

Reflection

In our reading from Jeremiah, we overhear something deeply uncomfortable. The prophet has spoken God’s truth, and the response is not gratitude but plotting. “Come, let us make plots against Jeremiah.” They dismiss his words, question his credibility, and then seek to silence him. Jeremiah’s anguish is palpable. He turns to God not with polite piety but with raw honesty: “Remember how I stood before you to speak good for them.” He had prayed for these very people; he had interceded for them. And now they repay him with hostility.

It is a lonely place to stand — faithful, but misunderstood; obedient, but opposed.

When we turn to the Gospel, we find Jesus walking that same road. Matthew tells us that Jesus takes the Twelve aside and speaks plainly: he will be handed over, mocked, flogged, and crucified. Unlike Jeremiah, he does not speak of possible plots — he speaks of what will certainly happen. The rejection is not a risk; it is the path.

And yet, astonishingly, immediately after this solemn prediction, the mother of James and John comes with a request. She wants honour for her sons — seats at Jesus’ right and left in his glory. The other disciples are indignant, perhaps because they share the same ambition. It is a jarring contrast. Jesus speaks of suffering; they dream of status. He speaks of a cross; they imagine thrones.

But perhaps we should not judge them too quickly. We too can be tempted to follow Christ while quietly holding onto our own expectations of recognition, security, or influence. We may accept the language of service, yet still hope for reward.

Jesus’ response reframes everything: “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them… It will not be so among you.” In his kingdom, greatness is not measured by prominence but by service; not by power held over others but by life poured out for others.

“The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” There is the heart of it. Jesus does not merely teach about service — he embodies it. His journey to Jerusalem is not a tragic accident; it is an act of self-giving love. Where Jeremiah prays for his persecutors, Jesus will go further still: he will forgive them from the cross.

And so the two readings speak to one another. Jeremiah stands faithful in the face of opposition, praying for those who seek his harm. Jesus walks knowingly toward rejection, redefining glory as sacrificial love.

For us, in this season of Lent, these texts invite reflection. Where are we being called to quiet faithfulness, even if it is unnoticed or misunderstood? Where might our ambitions need reshaping in the light of Christ’s servant-hearted kingdom? And where might we be called not only to endure hurt, but to respond with prayer and grace?

The Christian life is not a climb to prominence but a descent into love — the love that serves, that forgives, that gives itself away. That is the way of Christ. And it is the way that leads, paradoxically, not to diminishment, but to true life.

Amen.