GOSPEL, Mark (10: 32-45)
Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark
A Third Time Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection
32 They were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them; they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them what was to happen to him, 33 saying, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death; then they will hand him over to the Gentiles; 34 they will mock him, and spit upon him, and flog him, and kill him; and after three days he will rise again.”
The Request of James and John
35 James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” 36 And he said to them, “What is it you want me to do for you?” 37 And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” 38 But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” 39 They replied, “We are able.” Then Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; 40 but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”
41 When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. 42 So Jesus called them and said to them, “You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. 43 But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. 45 For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”
The Gospel of the Lord
REFLECTION
‘Christ came to serve and give his life.’
“You don’t know what you’re asking for.”
In this passage of the Gospel, Jesus, on the way to Jerusalem, announces his passion to the apostles. “Jesus went ahead; the disciples were frightened and followed him with fear”.
Meanwhile, John and James make a surprising request to Jesus “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.“. This aspiration denoted in them a total ignorance about the kingdom of Jesus. Jesus takes the opportunity to instruct them on the exercise of authority in the Christian community. “whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant” “and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all”..
He showed us by example: he did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for all. He refused the temptations of ambition and power. He lived a life of service, giving, sharing and integrating those who did not fit into society but lived in its margins. His main concern was for those who most needed Him, the infirm, the marginalised or individuals excluded from society, not with those who sought Him because they were affluent or important.
To follow Jesus is to follow the same path with Jesus, to live in giving oneself free of charge. To follow Jesus is to learn from Him to live in Love.
Our greatness is in giving to others, in humility and in service to the needy, the homeless, the poor, the refugees, but this comes at a price: renouncing yourself by accepting to be challenged because of the Gospel.
PRAYER
We bless you, Lord, because you call us to live free with Christ
Lord, allow us to imitate Your gesture and embrace Your living example of Christian love and service; so that we may renounce our presumed importance, as a useless burden.