How do we measure greatness? What makes us great? In this weekend’s gospel, Jesus reflects a servant model of greatness. The gospel focuses on two brothers, James and John, the sons of Zebedee. Their request brings to light our natural human desire to be approved of and rewarded in worldly terms. These two disciples seek positions of importance next to Jesus. But Jesus’ teaching shows discipleship as a self-denying, self-risking part of lowly servitude for the redemption of the world. In contrast, much of our secular life views greatness as gaining a secure position of power, prestige and possessions. These two definitions of greatness stand in sharp contrast to one another. It is precisely the tension between these two definitions that gives this passage so much of its power and force. Unlike those who are regarded as ruling over nations, a disciple of Jesus must become a servant if one wants to be first. Suffering is also a part of true discipleship. Not an end in itself, but the consequence of a life of solidarity with the poor, marginalized, and outcasts of society.
For three years Jesus’ disciples walked with him, seen him perform miracles and heard his teaching. Yet, in this passage from Mark, James and John show how little they understand what Jesus had been showing them. At the first opportunity, they compete for special positions among themselves in the new heaven and new earth. If they really understood what Jesus was offering them, they would have seen how firm a foundation they stood upon, and how profoundly secure they were in Christ. There was no need to compete among themselves for positions with Jesus because Jesus offers more than they could possibly imagine. Because of what Jesus secured for us, we too stand on solid footing, a foundation that will never be taken away from us. From this position, we don’t need to compete with others; we can love them from the overflowing cup of love that God pours out on us through Jesus.
Despite all that Jesus taught them, despite their intimate association with Him, despite everything they had seen Him do, the disciples also could not understand Jesus as a suffering Son of Man. The disciples therefore had two specific kinds of misunderstanding: the necessity of Jesus’ sufferings, and their competition for greatness within the community. They not only misunderstand the message of suffering, but also reject Jesus’ suffering and call for a suffering discipleship. This passage affirms that Jesus’ life was one of service and that His death was for others. His life and death were peaceful, for the supreme service of Jesus Christ was the voluntary giving of His life as a ransom for many.
Jesus said to the disciples James and John that what makes us great is not our ability to rule over others, but rather to invest ourselves in the welfare and good of one another. The value of this weekend’s gospel is the manner in which Jesus reveals greatness as being quite different from the way the world uses the word “great.” Catholics are not called to find their validation in communal religious rituals, in pronouncements on social issues, or in the quality of our theology and religious tradition. Greatness is to be defined by our total and unconditional love for one another.
One of the most important ways our Holy Family parish community manifests greatness is through acts of kindness, love, and mercy, by providing a bag of groceries to the distraught, life-giving accompaniment to someone who is going through an unexpected crisis of grief or difficulty, and a willingness to go farther than others are willing to go. Discipleship is not only about hearing the words of Jesus, but having a willingness to act upon the words so that others may be supported and cared for. Sometimes we think of being members of a faith community as a kind of full-service mini-mart, a place to pick up the spiritual sacraments, resources, and services we need at the time in a quick and efficient manner. We may come to church for a mood boost, to receive a dose of forgiveness, comfort or belonging in the midst of acute grief and disappointment. Many come to church for encouragement when they feel depressed, confidence when they feel afraid, and inspiration when life grows stale. We all want to feel loved, cared for, validated, and significant. Ideally, we all ought to be. But if we are going to be Jesus’ disciples, we must give more than we receive.
The gospel of Mark has provided for us a unique description of early discipleship. Rather than idealizing the first followers of Jesus, Mark highlights their weakness, struggles, and failures. The disciples, like us, experienced confusion, were baffled, misunderstanding, and recoiled before the message of the cross and suffering. The disciples, like many religious leaders of our time, failed to grasp the essential nature of Jesus’ boundary-shattering ministry and servitude. Jesus’ nature expressed itself in a concept of messianic authority, oriented not to power over others, but power exercised to spread holiness and life. May we find our greatness in our willingness to follow Jesus’ example of servant-hood and accept suffering as solidarity with the poor, marginalized, and outcasts of society.
From Fr. Terry: Sixth graders in our Family Faith program are in the Secret Service. So far they have worked on combating nastiness with random acts of kindness and looked for opportunities to give compliments. See the Family Faith pages for more details on the good works they have done. Well done, sixth graders!
Fr. Rich Jakubik