"You do not know what you are asking." ~ A Reflection on the Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

Is 53:10-11

Ps 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22

Heb 4:14-16

Mk 10:35-45

"You do not know what you are asking... Can you drink the cup I drink..." were the words of Jesus in Mark's Gospel today.  In this reading, we hear Mark's version of an episode during the ministry of Jesus wherein Jesus stresses servant-hood rather than power and authority.

It appears that even among the disciples of Jesus, there was a desire to be placed among the highest and most important of the followers of the Lord when he comes into his Kingdom.  Such a human trait, isn't it?  And can't you imagine the anger among the other disciples on hearing James and John asking Jesus for this honor?  Could they have wanted it for themselves but had not dared to ask?

But Jesus brought them back to earth by telling them that they indeed would drink the cup...  they would suffer for their faith in him and even die for it, but that granting them the favor they were asking, was not his to give.

What the disciples were asking for, was power and authority.  They did not fully understand yet, that for Jesus, power and authority meant being a servant to all...  His power was linked to service to all who were in need; physically or spiritually.  To give of himself...  He brought healing through his miracles and through his loving concern for others... It was the inner person, that his concern and his miracles were meant for.  The outward signs of healing were overshadowed by the forgiveness given to the person and the change in their lives that occurred  because of this.

In the first reading, the prophet Isaiah describes the suffering servant, whom "the Lord was pleased to crush...in infirmity..."; that "through his suffering, my servant shall justify many, and their guilt he shall bear."  That suffering servant was Jesus...  The will of the Lord was accomplished through him, as Isaiah prophesied.

The disciples could not yet comprehend that Isaiah's prophecies were being fulfilled before their eyes...  Not until later, after receiving the Holy Spirit, did they really begin to understand what Jesus wanted of them.  The gifts the Spirit gave them, enabled them to conquer their fear and go out to preach the Word they had been given.  They became the servants that Jesus spoke of.

We too, are to serve others... to bring that Word to people in need by the way we live our lives as Christians and by how we give of ourselves to the poor in body and spirit.  We trust in God's grace to help us to use any power or authority we have been given, for the benefit of others, not for ourselves...

We pray along with the psalmist:

"Our soul waits for the Lord, who is our help and our shield."  (Ps 33:20)


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