Salome

I am the wife of Zebedee, a fisherman and a man of some substance with hired servants to tend to duties with his fishing boats. Our home is at Bethsaida, on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. We have two sons who are also fishermen. Zebedee raised no objection when James and John chose to become disciples of Jesus. Nor did I. Nor am I sorry now, looking back.

James was our older son. After the Crucifixion he was with the other disciples in Galilee and in Jerusalem. He remained a faithful disciple. Sadly, his life ended by the sword at the hands of Herod Agrippa. With his own blood, James sealed his testimony to Jesus Christ.

John was with Jesus from the beginning. He attended the preaching of John the Baptist at the Jordan and came back with Jesus to Galilee. He was with Him at the wedding in Cana and at the raising of Jairus' daughter and at the Transfiguration. And he did sit next to Jesus at the table at the last supper. But that was because he had always been there at Jesus' side, not because of ambition.

Ambition . . . yes, in the latter days of Jesus' ministry, my sons and I were overly ambitious. It seemed justified for us to approach Jesus with a special request. After all, they were spending all of their time with Him while he preached and healed the sick. And I was among the women who traveled with Him in support of His ministry. Often we were puzzled by His words, but there was no doubt among us that He was a great leader and close to God.

Ambition . . . yes, I was over-zealous and perhaps my sons were, too. They joined me publicly when we went to Jesus with our request. They knelt before Him, and I said to Him, "Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom" (Matt. 20:21). But Jesus rebuked me, "To sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father" (Matt. 20:23). I came to understand then that true spiritual greatness is not a thing to be given but rather to be earned, that it can be earned only through sacrifice. Jesus defined true greatness when he discussed this whole incident with the other disciples. You see, the other ten were angry with James and John for having made such a request to Jesus in the first place. And so Jesus talked with them, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many."

And indeed that's what Jesus did. I was in the group of women who watched the Crucifixion from a distance. And I was with the women who went to the sepulcher with spices on Resurrection morning. I was proud of John when he promised to take Jesus' mother into his own home and care for her. Mary's been like a sister to me. I've always admired her. Even when great things were spoken to her about Jesus, she never expressed any human ambition for her son.

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List of Bible References

Salome

Matthew 20:20 Gen. 46 – Matthew 27:56 – Mark 16:1-8