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Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
October 20, 2024
The LORD was pleased
to crush him in infirmity.
If he gives his life as an offering for sin,
he shall see his descendants in a long life,
and the will of the LORD shall be accomplished through him.
Because of his affliction
he shall see the light in fullness of days;
through his suffering, my servant shall justify many,
and their guilt he shall bear.
R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
Upright is the word of the LORD,
and all his works are trustworthy.
He loves justice and right;
of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.
See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him,
upon those who hope for his kindness,
To deliver them from death
and preserve them in spite of famine.
Our soul waits for the LORD,
who is our help and our shield.
May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us
who have put our hope in you.
Brothers and sisters:
Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens,
Jesus, the Son of God,
let us hold fast to our confession.
For we do not have a high priest
who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,
but one who has similarly been tested in every way,
yet without sin.
So let us confidently approach the throne of grace
to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help.
James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus and said to him,
"Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you."
He replied, "What do you wish me to do for you?"
They answered him, "Grant that in your glory
we may sit one at your right and the other at your left."
Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking.
Can you drink the cup that I drink
or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?"
They said to him, "We can."
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;
but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give
but is for those for whom it has been prepared."
When the ten heard this, they became indignant at James and John.
Jesus summoned them and said to them,
"You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles
lord it over them,
and their great ones make their authority over them felt.
But it shall not be so among you.
Rather, 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."
The main value of these reflections is that the writers share their insights. A second is that lay people get the chance to "do the homily", knowing it will be read by a few dozen people and thoughtfully commented on by a few - which is more than many priests can be sure of on most Sundays. Granted, ours is an easier task because the written word lends itself better to reflection, and our audience is entirely free to break off at any point,while in church they're captive to the end.
Like the gospels, these writings are more like speakers' notes than dissertations, or they might appear as an essay developing some idea in the hope it will give rise to other thoughts. They might reinforce an old meaning or offer a different angle; they might suggest where reform (metanoia) is needed in the community or raise new issues. The intention sometimes is simply to share one's thoughts.
To be part of this team you only need apply. We do take joint responsibility to the degree that it helps each contributor to know they're in a team and not just odd-bod loners.
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This gospel passage is a good read, just as it stands but there might be something to gain if we scratch around a bit.
I notice it is about two things: the competitive instinct and how to manage the exercise of power . These are hot topics wherever you live. You might say the world runs on ambition and competition and the power that winners can exert over others. When personal ambition is removed from a society things grind to a halt and stagnation sets in. The Soviet Union was the classic example of the ruinous effect of eliminating private enterprise. Our world would be pretty dull without the constant stimulation of sporting contests. So what is the gospel saying here?
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Can you drink the cup that I drink,
or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?"
In the Old Testament, the image of the cup can symbolize God's blessing; however, in the majority of instances, the cup represents the Lord's judgment and wrath on wickedness (Ps. 75:8; Isa. 51:22). Here in Mark 10:38, the cup has negative connotations, which means it represents the cup of divine wrath that Jesus would drink on behalf of His people to save them from their sin. https://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/cup-jesus-drinks
The other disciples were incensed that the brothers tried to steal a march on them. Why? Because they were just as competitive themselves, some probably thinking, 'I was going to try that, and they got in first!'
Jeshua saw what was going on and took the opportunity to make a lesson of it as to how authority is to be exercised. In passing, we note that ambition is not ruled out. It's okay to want to be first; in fact it's natural, instinctive, to want to be the best and to climb up the ladder of responsibility to the level of your talent. Paul encouraged the people of Corinth. Let us strive for the better gifts. (1 Cor 12:31. Aemulamini meliora was the motto of my old Marist Bros College.)
But having the authority of leadership in the community, Jeshua teaches, will not be like it is in the world out there. Rulers make their authority felt with harsh control; your role is to be that of a 'deacon', a diaconos. This word has an interesting history. (1)
In Acts 6, deacons were appointed to care for the needs of widows who were being neglected in the community assemblies. It's not that those people were weak or frail; rather they simply could not keep up with the people who had brought food and sometimes made a feast of it. Widows were, as a class, destitute. There was no system set up to provide them with even their basic needs. Since they brought nothing to the feast they were ignored.
Coming back to the gospel, Jeshua tells the apostles that their leaders will be commissioned for the role, but they will exercise their authority as if they were slaves. We need to look into this.
Firstly, what is characteristic about the slave's place in society? It's not what slaves do, for they may be well-educated scribes trusted with the family's secrets or they may be slushies just doing the cleaning. Here it's their standing that is of interest to us. Slaves have no standing, no autonomy, no authority of themselves; they do what they're told to do; likewise ambassadors deliver just the message of the ruler who sent them; they do not embellish it or substitute their own ideas. Insofar as they keep to this rule their representations have all the persuasive authority of their king behind them. So Paul will insist that he speaks not off his own bat but in the power of the Spirit.
For ages Christian leaders have completely neglected this stipulation, first accepting to take on the role of civic government as the centre of power in the Roman empire moved east to Constantinople, and then gradually becoming Emperors themselves. Their word was law! The wrongs done by the Holy Roman Empire in the name of Christ are well known. It is a terrible indictment that we have inherited.
There is no place in the kingdom of God for harsh control, for the iron fist of coercion. Leaders have no power to exercise authority in that way. Rather the opposite: they will be as everyone's slave.
Secondly, what is characteristic of the service done by a slave? Many things come to mind, but two or three seem to fit the bill here. A slave will be respectful, obedient and humble, i.e. doing whatever is required be it ever so menial. The slave will be powerless, will never know better than the master/mistress.
Obedience is an issue that needs more discussion in the church. To be obedient in a slavish way cannot be the meaning here. Perhaps 'as a [good] slave' would call for two more qualities: faithfulness and trust.
If this is not too fine a point, here we have the formula that Democracy runs on. The leader is commissioned to put into effect what the people want as outlined in the policy agenda during the election campaign; they are elected to serve the people, not to lord it over them.
As the disciples would have understood this (and as we would apply it today), in the Church there is to be no 'lording it' over others. Currently of course bishops have dropped the 'lordship' titles and they are trying not to stand over the people; however, deeply entrenched attitudes are not so easily shed, woven as they are into the legal and organisational and psychological fabric of the church.
By pressing for synodality Pope Francis is establishing a democratic workplace where the leaders must talk together and work towards agreement. In one blow this removes the debilitating aloneness of the autocratic bishop and creates a parliament that is representative of the variety across the nation and across the various levels of status in the church. Gradually Francis is introducing minor clergy and lay men and women to be part of that parliament.
Finally, Jeshua's situation is different again. His diaconia takes him to the extreme of giving his life for us.
For the Son of Man did not come to be served
but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Jesus did not come to be honoured as a king, but to deliver the message of the King to the people - and, as the gospel adds, to pledge with his life that the King, his Father, does offer forgiveness and reconcilation to us. Jesus' instructions were to put his whole being into that royal service, to put his life on the line in an attempt to break through the hardness of heart that was the long-standing attitude of the leaders of the 'chosen' people. It was as if his life was given as a ransom paid for our release, to redeem/buy back the captives.The truth he stood for in witness before Pilate's court is that the Father is making all things right again according to his original plan. We must not be discouraged. We must trust this pledge and have hope.
Looking back to the democratic principle, we see that among you the one who would be a diakonos will exercise his authority with the self-effacing humility of a doulos, as a slave would do it. A slave has no voice of his own, no will to dominate; he is ever alert to the voice of the one he serves. So must church overseers be attentative to the voice of the people they serve. And those commissioned as minsiters of the word will speak with total confidence in the Spirit who animates their speech.
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(1)It is well-known among us that Dr John N Collins (Herbie to us), in his doctoral thesis (Kings College, London), made this major discovery, that the original Greek word translated as 'to serve', diakonia, did not mean the humble service of caring for your physical needs such as you would expect from a slave. It is more like the service of an ambassador commissioned to present the wishes of the King to the one to whose court the ambassador/diakonos is sent.
The word diaconos referred, not to those who cared for people's basic needs but to someone with authority; someone commissioned to represent another. At the top level it would be an ambassador commissioned to deliver a message from one country to another. So caring for the needs of the widows, the diaconoi had authority to represent their case to whoever was in charge.
It would be valuable, if you have time, to re-read Herbie's explanation of the diakon- words and how his findings have been recognised by leading authorities in scripture studies but largely ignored in the RCC. As recently as last year Herbie had two articles published in La Croix International.
https://international.la-croix.com/news/religion/getting-down-to-work-on-the-synods-working-tool-2023/18149
https://international.la-croix.com/news/religion/a-publishing-event-of-some-weight-a-diakonia-handbook/18240
For a recent (2022) presentation of the issue by Dr Collins, see: https://international.la-croix.com/news/religion/diakonia-the-fallibility-of-two-popes-and-the-world-council-of-churches/16070
Note: this article from La Croix International is available in full for a short time at: https://alawlessblog.com/diakonia-la-croix.php
Further reading I:
A breakdown in our understanding of the charismatic endowment of the Church
Extract from:
Getting down to work on the Synod's working tool John N Collins (La Croix Int 2023)
Discerning the gifts of the Holy Spirit and understanding the true meaning of "diakonia"; simply a non-commissioned activity or a commissioned function? July 18th, 2023
https://international.la-croix.com/news/religion/getting-down-to-work-on-the-synods-working-tool-2023/18149
The Synod's working tool has fully embraced this perception in advocating today’s response to the question of authority in the Church (B3 27): “In particular, does authority arise as a form of power derived from the models offered by the world, or is it rooted in service?”
In such a way, since the middle of the 20th century, we have experienced a breakdown in our understanding of the charismatic endowment of the Church. At its most stark we had the astonishing enunciation by Karl Barth in Church Dogmatics IV/2 (1955: 694): “Even linguistically, [the Church’s law] must avoid the fatal word ‘office’ and replace it by ‘service’, which can be applied to all Christians…. either all are office-bearers or none; and if all, then only as servants.”
This issue (identified in the working tool 16) takes us to the heart of the apostle Paul’s perception of the Church’s endowments in 1 Cor 12:4-6. Thus, at the peak of the contemporary anxiety concerning the exercise of authority in the Church, the document (no. 21) urges that authority be “increasingly configured as ‘a true service … significantly called ‘diakonia’ …” (citing here Lumen gentium 24). Meanings attributed in this way to the diakonia of Jesus are, however, without scriptural endorsement.
Further, this error in misreading diakonia in the New Testament is compounded by a much broader misreading of the scope of the gifts announced by Paul to the unsettled community of Christians in Corinth (1 Cor. 12:4-6).
What St. Paul was really saying
In harmony with virtually all scriptural scholars, the Synod's working tool reads Paul’s text as intending to say, “There are many different gifts: there are different ministries and different other activities, all of these ministries and activities being available across the body of the Church.”
But to understand and benefit from the giftedness of the Church we need to ensure we understand what Paul was really announcing at this point. In a paraphrase he is claiming: “There are indeed differences among gifts: some individuals are gifted with commissioned roles [diakon-]–like me and colleagues of mine whom you have met – while every one of you is gifted in different other ways for activities arising from your membership within this community.”
The virtually universal misunderstanding of this passage in reform movements across the last century has arisen not only from distorted readings of the lead term diakonia but also from an historically conditioned aversion to thinking that Paul could ever be emphasizing here the existence of ministerial offices like his own. But that is precisely what he is doing, although our translations fail to express this clearly.
This is how NRSV translates it: There are varieties of gifts… And there are varieties of services (diakon-)… And there are varieties of activities…
The “And… And…” here is the Greek kai… kai…, a standard expression (still today among Greek speakers) for “both… and…”. Accordingly, thus: There are varieties of gifts…, both varieties of diakonia [commissioned functions]… and varieties of activities [non-commissioned activities] … Not all gifts of the Spirit are of the same character
Translations of the Greek in bibles are of little help in establishing this differentiation among gifts, although the issue is simple. Paul is acknowledging that the Spirit has blessed the community with “a variety of gifts” (12:6) but he needs to point out the simple fact that within a community of believers the gifts are not all of the same character. There are founders and sustainers of communities like Paul and his “co-workers” (see 1 Cor 3:5: Paul and Apollos are diakon-) and there are members of communities (as in a “body”: 1 Cor 12:12ff). In such a context Paul is expressly differentiating, by the use of “both… and…” (καί…καί…), the gifts named diakon- from the gifts named “activities”.
Given the attention due to such linguistic and rhetorical issues in Paul’s reflections upon diakonia among gifts, both the Church today in its teaching, and members of the Church in their enthusiasms as well as in their synodical aspirations, have pressing reason to evaluate what it is that the Instrumentum Laboris calls “a gift and a challenge” (no. 20), namely: “to be a Church of sisters and brothers in Christ who listen to one another and who, in so doing, are gradually transformed by the Spirit.”
John N. Collins is a world expert on the history and meaning of diakonia/ministry. A former Sacred Heart Missionary, he studied at the Pontifical Biblical Institute (Rome) and the Ecole Biblique (Jerusalem) and has taught in universities in Australia. He is the author of several books.
Further Reading II: Investigating the idea of"Ransom"
That word "ransom" again. First thing to do is check on what is the consensus on the text itself. It looks like an addition tacked on later, and if that is the case it may be less cogent; it may have less authority if its authenticity is in question.
(lýtron) occurs twice in the NT (Mt 10:28; Mk 10:45), both times referring to this purchase (ransom-price) which Christ paid. (Hub: Strong's).
lytróō (cognate with 3083/lytron, "a ransom-price") – properly, to release (set free) by paying the full ransom; "to release, on receipt of ransom" (Vine); (figuratively) to restore "something back, into the possession of its rightful owner – i.e. rescuing from the power and possession of an alien possessor" (Wm. Barclay).
Much depends on which element of "ransom" we focus on, and whether we fall into the trap of taking something literally which by the rule of Scripture should be taken metaphorically. Whoever first raised the issue of the Father literally requiring his son's blood as ransom price was not seeing that this is a metaphor. Jesus's death is like a ransom price. Jesus giving his life is like someone giving something very precious to buy back a slave. Even in the transaction among humans, the ransom price is not equal to the value of the one ransomed, except when they demand a substitute person to take the place of the captive one. This is not the case with Jesus. He "became sin" metaphorically, but not in reality.
The crux of the matter is that among us if someone demands a ransom in exchange for a prisoner it is not to satisfy their pride but to profit from the transaction. They want the money. In earlier times when honour killing was in vogue (it still is in some cultures) a life for a life was real. As we see it, it is repugnant and meaningless to say the Father traded his son's life for ours in reality, hence this cannot be the sense the scripture intends. It's like he did. It's a metaphor.
But why choose such a heavy metaphor, and why actually do it? Jesus really died, and as a criminal - executed in shame and with extreme cruelty, made sport of! Why did the metaphor of "giving his life as a ransom" have to be lived out so graphically, so horribly? This is where the idea of a lesson, a teaching moment, comes in. As we puzzle over all this our goal must be to learn what's behind it all, and unless we end up with "love" we should conclude we haven't yet got it right. The reality is Jesus willingly chose to go the whole way in portraying the worth to teach us a lesson - the lesson of his Father's love for us children, and that in itself is the greatest expression of love you can imagine.
At this point, again, we have to acknowledge that unless we are seeing the issue in this light we've still got it wrong. Upside down. And why would we not look at it right side up? Why do we look for explanations to problems that only arise when we are standing on our head?
The songs of the Suffering Servant in Isaiah are, no doubt, the source of much misinterpretation here. The Servant is portrayed in the plainest way as really the ransom price. (TL)