In our low points in life we may be tempted to ask ourselves what the point of life is--we are born, get old and die. So, we may be temped to ask ourselves, why do anything? On the other hand, he may also be tempted to throw ourselves into work and focus on that to provide for our families, as we should, but are sometimes tempted to prefer spending more time at work when given the opportunity, away from those we love. Presented are two extremes: hopelessness and love of busy work.
St. Peter today tells us in our first reading (1 Pt 1:18-25) that Jesus has come to ransom us from our "futile works." As humans we get so caught up in what we are doing and our routines, bad ways of thinking, and we miss the bigger picture. James and John in today's Gospel enjoy what they do with and for the Lord. They are caught-up in it. They want to be rewarded for it, so they ask Jesus, the Son of Man, if they can sit at his right and left when he comes into his Kingdom. They still don't get that Jesus is King of the Eternal Kingdom, not some temporal realm. They were missing the big picture. They were just like us.
Jesus gently admonishes them. The key to seeing the bigger picture, for holding the Kingdom in our vision and not this temporal world, is by focusing our attention on loving those in need, serving those who need to be served.
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