In today's Gospel it is obvious that the request that Jesus should grant the highest places in his kingdom to James and John is coming from the brothers themselves. Jesus addresses the brothers directly and asks them if they realise what they were letting themselves in for by making such a request. They might not have been so ready to answer in the affirmative if they had recalled that the word "cup" meant the destiny assigned to a person by God. In the case of Jesus that destiny was suffering and death for the salvation of the world.

In fact James and John did have the courage to accept the "cup" with Jesus in his service and for our sake. It took time, however, for such a profound change to take place in them. It seems incredible that even after spending some considerable time in Jesus' company, listening to him and watching him at work the brothers and the other disciples were still thinking in terms of power, prestige and influence. Not so incredible, however, when we look around us and see the extraordinary ease with which some people in power convince themselves that they must retain power for the good of their people. And this when they are manifestly unsuitable for the job.