Use this Catholic Bible Study for your own personal spiritual growth or with the apostolate you are involved with.
Matthew 20:17-28
Jesus Predicts His Death a Third Time
A Mother’s Request
Reflect
When people go on pilgrimage to the Holy Land, there are two places every pilgrim encounters grace. Once on the Sea of Galilee. Once during the Stations of the Cross in Jerusalem. Other than that, people have individual, completely unpredictable moments of grace. Galilee and Jerusalem are constants in this journey.
In this Gospel, Jesus is taking the Apostles from Galilee to Jerusalem. Jesus knows what this journey means. It is His path to the Cross.
His Apostles have other things on their minds. A couple of brothers are vying for the seats of honor on either side of the King of kings. Their mother does the heavy lifting in trying to secure the spots for her boys. The rest of the Apostles are having hissy fits about the posturing and positioning among the ranks.
They are stuck in the mindset of the kingdoms of men.
There is another Kingdom. The Kingdom of the God-Man, Jesus Christ. Can you drink of this royal cup? Can you accept a place of honor with a path that passes through mocking, scourging, crucifixion and death before it receives glory and encounters majesty?
Jesus ponders the Cross that awaits Him as they walk the eighty miles from Galilee to Jerusalem. He hears the murmuring. He recognizes the spirits that already toy with His Apostles.
His words to the men now echo in His Spirit. “I am going up to Jerusalem. There is a chalice there that I must drink.”
For the sake of the Plan set before the foundation of the world, the Master looks down at His feet, and He keeps moving them toward the Cross.
There is much to learn between Galilee and Jerusalem. He knows that Galilee has taught them how to live. Jerusalem will teach them how to die.
About the Author:
Denise Bossert is a convert to the Catholic Church. She is the daughter of a Protestant minister. In 2005, she converted to Catholicism after reading books by Carmelite saints. Her syndicated column called Catholic by Grace has been published in 63 diocesan newspapers. She has also written for Catholic magazines and appeared on EWTN’s Journey Home and Women of Grace. In May 2014 she traveled to Israel with the Catholic Press Association as a guest of Israel’s Ministry of Tourism. Ave Maria Press released her first book in March 2015–Gifts of the Visitation. Liguori Publications released her Stations of the Cross for a Wounded World in February 2018.
Denise is a Catholic speaker on topics that include: conversion, the Immaculate Conception, the Visitation and Women of Salvation History.
Listen to a clip from the American Catholic Radio interview with Denise or watch her video below.