This week's gospel text details the disciples' third and most blatantly wrong-headed response to Jesus' third and most graphic passion prediction. If ever there were showcase examples of selective hearing, James and John's response to Jesus' revelation in 10:33-34 takes the prize. How can we comprehend the fact that Jesus' one precision prediction of the Jerusalem horror is followed by such self-serving bickering?

It's possible only by focusing on the opening and closing words of Jesus' teaching. After Jesus begins by declaring "See, we are going up to Jerusalem," he immediately identifies himself as the "Son of Man." The messianic title, coupled with the theological significance of the "Son of Man" entering Jerusalem, sounded the bell in the disciples' minds for all sorts of glorious ring…