Sons of Thunder Scripture Reflection



Do you ever have a moment when something in a familiar Scripture passage jumps out in a way it never had before? That happened to me with today's Gospel (Matthew 20:20-28) where the mother of James & John approached Jesus, asking for honored seats by Him in His Kingdom. When they replied to Jesus that they can drink of the chalice, He says, "My chalice you will indeed drink...." 

He went on to explain to His disciples about being there to serve others, not to be served. I always took His chalice comment to mean that His disciples would indeed follow His example to serve & minister to those they meet. And in a way, He probably did mean that, but there is a deeper meaning.

The chalice He spoke of was one of sacrifice & persecution. He knew His path to Calvary was coming. He also knew that His disciples would face the deaths of martyrs. According to How Did the Apostles Die?, it is believed that each suffered brutal deaths for being followers of Jesus & spreading Christianity after His death, resurrection, & ascension to Heaven.
  • James the Greater - beheaded in AD 42 (1st to be martyred)
  • James the Less - stoned
  • Thomas - stabbed
  • Andrew - crucified
  • Bartholomew - skinned alive
  • Philip - crucified upside down
  • Matthew - martyred while presiding over the Mass
  • Simon - crucified
  • Jude Thaddeus - clubbed to death
  • Matthias (who replaced Judas) - crucified or hacked to death
  • Peter - crucified upside down
  • John (brother of James the Greater) - only disciple not martyred, but not for lack of trying; was a prisoner & boiled in oil, but saved miraculously
One of the lessons to be learned for me today is to not speed through the reading of Scripture passages that I've heard or read numerous times. That's the beauty of Scripture. Each time, you can go deeper into God's Word & in turn grow in your faith & understanding of His great plan for His children!  
 

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