TWENTY-NINTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (2024)
Readings:
Isaiah 53:10-11
Psalms 33:4-5, 18-20, 22
Hebrews 4:14-16
Mark 10:35-45
The hints of what God’s kingdom would be like, are given in the Jewish Scriptures, most often in the prophets, from whose writings our Mass’s first readings are frequently drawn. It was the ‘business’ of the Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day to be well-versed in those Scriptures, although Jesus will often point out the enormous disconnect that kept them from recognizing Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah. Many of the disciples of Jesus had no such understanding of the Jewish Scriptures; they left that ‘intimate’ understanding to the ‘professionals.’ The gospels confirm that Jesus’ special disciples, those we call the apostles, were among the least informed of the hints that the Jewish Scriptures (prophets) could give about who the Messiah is meant to be. After all, most of those apostles were called by Jesus from their simple lives of fishing, a profession which no doubt left little time (or desire) for exploring the Hebrew Scriptures. Among the others, someone in the medical profession (Luke), and the real anomalous choice in the group of a tax collector (Matthew), likely also possessed little desire to explore the Jewish Scriptures, and the hints given there would go unnoticed.
As brief as our first reading is (2 verses), it contains valuable hints of what the coming Messiah will be like: God will “crush him in infirmity,” “he will give his life as an offering for sin,” “because of his affliction he shall see the light in fullness of days,” and “through his suffering, my servant shall justify many.” Isaiah speaks of the Suffering Servant (Messiah), the prefigurement of Jesus the Messiah who will truly “justify many,” and “bear the guilt of all.”
Had the apostles had a better understanding of the Hebrew Scriptures they might not “have been arguing along the way about who was the most important,” and James and John might never had the boldness (audacity) to approach Jesus and take advantage of His generosity by asking, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” (They sound like young children trying to manipulate their parents!) Thinking the Kingdom of Jesus is going to be like worldly kingdoms, they desired to be in what they presumed would be the places of honor. (I’m sure the thieves crucified with Jesus would have gladly traded places with the apostles!). It’s a bold move on the part of James and John, and clearly shows that, in spite of Jesus’ consistent teaching, they have no understanding wha His Messiahship is all about.
Jesus appears to take the exchange very calmly, in spite of the selfishness manifested by James and John. Jesus acknowledges that they do not know “what you are asking,” and instead replies with His own question: “Can you drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” As if to say oh boy, can we drink, they answer simply, “We can.” The apostles miss the Old Testament metaphors for enduring suffering, and they agree to what is in store for them. Sadly, they go away, after angering the other ten apostles, with nothing to show for their efforts, for Jesus tells them “to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared.”
Our gospel ends with Jesus lecturing the apostles about not trying to be like the civic rulers of the day, who “lord it over” their subjects, and they make their “authority” the center of their entire existence. Jesus’ disciples are meant to strive for something entirely different, for “whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (just like the Suffering Servant in Isaiah).” For most people, like the young man in last weekend’s gospel, pursuing power, prestige, and possessions, leads to ‘greatness.’ But this is not the way for Jesus’ disciples. Throughout His entire ministry Jesus modeled who His disciples were also called to be.
The smallest taste of power can cause us to try and “lord it over” others, to subjugate people to do what the powerful want them to do. There is much that is intoxicating about ‘power,’ and only the truly good can resist the temptations “to make their presence felt.” Our political world furnishes us with many examples who strive to be important and powerful only to be able to subjugate the ‘others’ who don’t conform! St. Paul told us in his letter to the Galatians that true believers are called to “serve one another through love” [Gal 5:13]. It is love that overcomes and overshadows the tendencies to pursue power and prestige for all the wrong reasons. Let us be models of love for one another, so that others will know who we are and what is most important – “they will know we are Christians by our love”!
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