R. E. Able? Said the Master

Scripture — Mark 10:35-45 (NRSV)

James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to Jesus and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” And he said to them, “What is it you want me to do for you?” And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” They replied, “We are able.” Then Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”

When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. So Jesus called them and said to them, “You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

Devotion

I have a couple of stories about this passage that my mother told me, neither of which I can confirm with her since she is no longer with us, but both of which I think about every time I hear this story. They’re really not about the passage itself so much as about a famous early twentieth-century Methodist song for young people based on this passage: “‘Are Ye Able?’ Said the Master,” which starts out like this:

“Are ye able,” said the Master,
“to be crucified with me?”
“Yes,” the sturdy dreamers answered,
“to the death we follow thee.”
Lord, we are able. Our spirits are thine.
Remold them, make us, like thee, divine.
Thy guiding radiance above us shall be
a beacon to God, to love, and loyalty.

My mother’s first story about the song was that she went to college with a young man named R. E. Able (which does sound an awful lot like “Are Ye Able,” I admit), and that whenever this song was sung in college chapel, Mr. Able would stand up through the whole first verse and then sit down very dramatically. Her second story was that she had a family member (it may actually have been my grandpa, but I think it was a more distant relative) who disliked the sixth line because, he maintained, God is divine and we are not, so he wouldn’t sing the word “divine.” He would just sing “Remold them, make us, like thee—” and then make a face.

Now, there is a long tradition in Christian history of a concept called theosis, particularly associated with Eastern Orthodoxy but not limited to it, which maintains that we do, in fact, become more like the divine—specifically, more like Christ—as we grow in grace and discipleship. Nevertheless, I also think my relative, whoever he was, had a point—because the whole thing about Mark 10 in its larger context is that the disciples don’t get it.

James and John may, in the moment, think they are able to suffer what Jesus asks them to suffer. But they’re really not invested in readying themselves for that suffering; they are interested in what they see as the ultimate reward—sitting at Jesus’s right hand and his left hand. That, Jesus says, is _not _something he can promise. (It’s from this passage, among others, that preachers and teachers have expounded the concept of “servant leadership,” which has gotten a fair amount of press in the last few decades; see here and here, for instance—and which, when practiced well, is very difficult.)

Suffering will happen if we follow Christ, for sure; honor, at least as we conceive of it in an earthly fashion, is much less guaranteed. The sturdy dreamers may think they will make it through to the end; we will, many times, stand up like R. E. Able and offer ourselves to follow, thinking we can do it in our own strength—but, if we are truly offering ourselves up to be remolded and made like Christ, we will find ourselves in need of the grace and help of the serving Son of Man before long.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the High Calling archive, hosted by the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: The Serving Son of Man.