25th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today’s gospel passage places Jesus and his disciples in the northern province of Galilee, however, Jesus did not wish anyone to know. Why was this? Because Jesus is entering the final stages of his life here on earth, thus he desires to spend more time with his disciples and less time with the crowds. Today we hear for the second time Jesus’s forecasting of his Passion, Death, and Resurrection. And there will be a third prediction to come. Recall in last week’s gospel passage that Jesus had predicted his suffering and death and Peter responded rather strongly, but Jesus reacted more strongly and said to Peter; “Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” Naturally at the second prediction of his passion the disciples remain quiet not wanting perhaps to be rebuked by Jesus. They were still trying to figure out how their messiah could face such a disturbing end!
In our day we take the passion of Christ as simply the path in which Jesus was born to travel. This same Jesus, who healed the sick, raised the dead, fed the hungry and forgave sinners. Certainly, Jesus was seen as a good person, yet he predicted that his enemies would kill him. The enemies of Jesus are personified by the wicked in the first reading; “Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us; he sets himself against our doings, reproaches us for transgressions of the law and charges us with violations of our training.” The first lesson we should glean is that to be a Christian, a follower of Christ, we must live lives of service to others. And we must be aware that our good deeds will not always go unpunished. Precisely because of our good deeds and faithfulness to the Gospel we will experience pain and rejection. Like Jesus we must learn to be gentle and endure such trials, for they will lead us to glory. The disciples struggled with this notion of suffering and so do we. Jesus predicted that he would be “handed over”, all who follow will be handed over, John the Baptist was handed over to Herod, Jesus was handed over by Judas to the Jewish authorities, they in turn handed him over to the Romans whom they hated. Later, the disciples will be handed over to kings and rulers. But let us not forget that in every Eucharist, the Body of Christ is handed over for us to break and to share. We then must become what we consume at mass.
The second half of today’s gospel passage brings us to our second lesson in being good Christian servants. Jesus asked his disciples what they had been discussing on the way? They remined silent because after hearing Jesus’ prediction of his death, a power struggle had already started about who would succeed him. Every time the disciples travelled with Jesus, they are on the “way”, for Jesus is the Way, he is the Truth and Life. So, Jesus naturally asked them what they were doing on the Way. Even though they were on the Way, their hearts were elsewhere, they were seeking power and glory.
To be a servant is to be on the Way, but we must seek to serve, to be the greatest we must humble ourselves. Christians have struggled with the correct notion of service from the very beginning. Our second reading points out the conflict among the early Christians; “Where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder…Where do the wars and where do the conflicts among you come from? Is it not from your passions that make war within your members?”
And so, who is the greatest in the Church? Is it the Pope? Bishop? Priest? Lay people? One of the titles of the Pope is the “servant of the servants of God”. It is reminder to him and to us that by virtue of our baptism we are all called to serve, to be humble. Even amidst the great splendor of the papal coronation in years gone by, he was reminded three times during the procession through St. Peter’s Basilica in the Latin chant; “SIC TRANSIT GLORIA MUNDI” thus passes the glory of the world, that such splendor served a higher purpose. Jesus took a little child in his arm to remind his disciples and us of the price of service. The child represents a person who is powerless, has no say, no influence; a person who can easily be controlled, abused, neglected and who has little redress. We must welcome such people if we are to welcome Christ in our lives. To welcome is to respect and to serve, it is to be concerned about the well-being of another person; the focus is on them rather than one’s perceived dignity or status.
Jesus, himself, is our model. He came not to be served, but to serve (Matthew 20:28). Paul the Apostle states that Jesus emptied himself and took the form of a servant (Philippians 2:7). Jesus lowered himself (he whose place is at the right hand of God the Father) and took on our lowly nature that he might raise us up and clothe us in his divine nature.