Hidden Motives and Humble Service!

Wednesday, March 4, 2026

Jer 18:18-20; Mt 20: 17-28

Today’s Gospel invites us to examine our hidden motives and course-correct ourselves so that we may be the true servants in the vineyard of God.

Jesus foretells his passion, death, and resurrection. However, his disciples do not seem to be concerned about it. Instead, the sons of Zebedee take their mother to recommend them to Jesus for their placement in his kingdom. The other ten become indignant at the two. 

While this is the obvious description, the text calls for a reading between the lines. If the request made by the sons of Zebedee was wrong, Jesus should have only corrected them. But he summons ‘all’ to teach them about discipleship as service. Why is that? What do we miss?

It looks as if the other ten disciples became indignant at the sons of Zebedee because they sought positions of honor. However, their indignation is more likely because the idea did not occur to them at first. Had the idea dawned on them first, they would have brought their parents to Jesus to make similar recommendations too.

This is where Jesus proves masterful. He examines the hearts of his disciples. Their jealousy exposes their hidden ambition for power, privilege, and honor. Hence, Jesus understands that their indignation does not come from purity of intention but from rivalry. Indeed, they follow Jesus but with wrong motives.

Sensing the unspoken competition among his disciples and their misconceptions about discipleship, Jesus proceeds to purify their understanding of what it means to follow him. He defines the Kingdom greatness not as climbing higher to lead but as bending lower to serve.

Moreover, Jesus turns himself into an example of what he is preaching. His disciples dream of crowns, but Jesus reminds them of the cross. They dream of high places of honor, but Jesus talks of Jerusalem. They seek glory, but Jesus emphasizes self-giving love. 

The passage serves as a reminder that even the so-called spiritual people may be driven by hidden ambitious motives. Hence, the passage directs us not only to examine what we do but also why we do what we do. After all, hidden motives can corrupt even good souls.

Do we seek Christ or seek ourselves in the name of Christ? 

Let us pray that our discipleship may be pure with no hidden motives or rotten ambitions.

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar