Loyalty

“We are able.” (Matthew 20:28).

Saints John the Evangelist and James the Greater Martyr (Mez the Elder)

Perhaps the most important thing for me is loyalty.  This is not to say that the people in my life need to follow what I say like little soldiers in my army.  However, it is to say that I do ask that they speak to me freely and tell me to my face what their true thoughts are.

That sort of loyalty demands a great deal of trust.

In ancient times, if a person wanted to prove their loyalty to another person, they would drink from the same cup.  This was to prove that they trusted each other enough to share the same fate as each other.  The drink in the cup could be poisoned.  If the drink was poisoned, then both of the people who drank from it would die.  If the drink were delicious and healthy, then both would enjoy it.  In this way people who drank from the same cup trusted each other entirely…

And this is a significant point to note, because the Mother of Zebedee used very particular words when she asked Christ to adopt her children at His Right Hand and His Left Hand.  And Christ responded using very particular words…

“Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him, with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. And he said to her, ‘What do you want?’ She said to him, ‘Command that these two sons of mine may 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 to drink?’ They said to him, ‘We are able.’” (Matthew 20:20-28).

Such intimacy that Christ was speaking of.  And the Apostles responded unhesitatingly, “We are able.” (Matthew 20:28).

What loyalty those men displayed.  Immediately they were able.  And I have been thinking about this today.  You see, I know that though Saint John was with Christ at His Crucifixion, Saint James was NOT and there is loyalty in both of their reactions as well.  You see, although Saint James did not stay with Christ in that moment of weakness, he certainly did return to Him upon His resurrection.  And this is significant.  Because that shows that Saint James was willing to humble himself and accept chastisement (if Christ chose to chastise him) and he was willing to accept this with humility…

And as a reward for their loyalty, Saint John lived to an old age – the only one of the apostles not to be martyred, and Saint James was the first of the apostles martyred (Acts 12:12)…

And there is Grace in both of those outcomes, and I know there is Grace because God rewards love and loyalty…  And nothing was a loyal as when those two men said, “We are able.” (Matthew 20:28).

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.