Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God the Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen!
In one of my most favourite Jesus movies of all time, entitled Risen, there is a scene where Pontius Pilate is having a conversation with a Roman Tribune named Clavius. Jesus has just been crucified and they are talking about the events of the day. Pontius says to Clavius, “Your ambition is noticed. Where do you hope it will lead.” “Rome.” “And?” “Position. Power.” Clavius answers. “Which brings?” questions Pilate. “Wealth. A good family. Someday a place in the country. … Peace. A day without death.” Clavius reveals the usual things that people think about when it comes to climbing the ladder of success. Power. Money. The general happiness and the good life that such things generally bring. People grasp at greatness. So powerful is this desire to be great that people are willing to do almost anything to attain it. From the first award we get in Grade 1 track and field to the 3,000 likes we got on our Facebook post, we always grasp at greatness.
This scenario is hardwired into our fallen DNA. Way back on the first pages of Genesis, we see the situation unfolding. Somewhere along the way, Satan desired to be as great as God, and in turn rebelled against God’s authority. He was cast out of heaven like lightning in response. This same desire for greatness led our first parents Adam and Eve to take a bite out of the forbidden fruit. The serpent told them they would be “like God” knowing good and evil. Position. Power. Wealth. It would all be theirs! The Devil tried the same routine on our Lord Jesus in the desert too. In the 3rd and final temptation “the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me” (MT 4:8-9).
Just flip through the chapters in the Bible and you’ll see the same pattern over and over again. Sinful people vying for power and prestige. Brothers Jacob and Esau in a family feud for the birthright and blessing of their father Isaac. Joseph’s brothers threw him in a pit and sold him into slavery because they were jealous of his standing in their father’s eyes. King Saul struggled for supremacy over the up and coming King David. On and on and on this story goes. Even today in our Gospel reading, it’s no different. The disciples themselves start jockeying for the greatness. But they should have known better by this point.
Their argument is prefaced by Jesus telling them about His upcoming death and resurrection. This has always been a hard sell for Christianity. I mean, who wants to believe in a guy who gets killed by a pack of pagans?! Certainly no Messiah worth his salt is going to get killed by his enemies. That’s not how Hollywood movies go. Blockbuster action movies have the conquering hero victorious after destroying all his enemies in a grand and macho display, filled with special effects and exciting music! Everybody knows that! A crucified and dead Messiah is no kind of Messiah at all. And yet, this is exactly what Jesus tells them is going to happen. And, as expected, it doesn’t compute with the disciples.
So instead of pondering our Lord’s words about His upcoming passion, what do they do? They argue, fight, feud and otherwise scrap about who will the be top dog alongside Jesus in the Kingdom of God. But the igjay is upsay! Jesus asks them point blank: “What were you discussing on the way?” (MK 9:33). These kinds of questions are rhetorical. He already knows the answer. It’s like when you come home and find your couch cushions torn to smithereens! There’s fluff and shards of fabric everywhere. You know exactly what happened but you talk to the dog anyways. “What have you done!?” And the dog just looks up at you with that “It wasn’t me” look on her face! It’s exactly like Adam and Eve in the garden after they broke God’s command not to eat of the fruit. God calls Adam and says “Where are you?” (3:9). It’s not that God didn’t know where Adam was. They weren’t playing ‘hide and seek’ in the trees. It was God calling Adam on his sin and giving him a chance to repent. Confess it, Adam. Tell me what you did. But, nope. Just going to go and hide instead. This is exactly what Jesus does with the disciples.
Think of it this way. If you got diagnosed with a terrible incurable disease, one that would rob you of life day by day and involve much suffering and pain, and as you go and tell your family about it, they respond like this: “Mom always wanted me to have her heirloom jewelry, so it’s mine!” Another says “No, I was always the favorite, so I’m going to get the house and you’ll be lucky to get a few bucks!” Yet another says “No no no, you’re all wrong. Since I took care of her in her old age, I’m going to get everything because you two never came and helped out during her illness!” It’s appalling, right? Outrageous! Unbelievable! How rude! What in the world is wrong with these guys?
Instead of losing His mind on the disciples, Jesus uses this as a teachable moment. He has this great object lesson for the disciples on the issue of greatness in the kingdom of God. Jesus tells the disciples “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all” (MK 9:35). Then to add some audio visuals to this, He takes a child and puts the child in the midst of the disciples, and takes the child up into His arms, and says “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me, but him who sent me” (36-37).
Culturally at this time, kids weren’t on the same pedestals they are now in our culture. They were rather insignificant members of society. They totally are dependent, needing to be supplied with food and clothes and diapers and everything else. Toilet training a bunch of mini-tyrants has hardly been looked at with prestige in society over the years! It involves giving of yourself to serve the needs of someone else who can’t meet their own needs. And this notion of serving is seldom linked to greatness in our eyes either.
But this is exactly Who Jesus is. The suffering servant has come to serve His people. From His most humble birth in Bethlehem to His humble ministry, everything our Lord did He did for others. The miracles. The healings. The teachings. The washing of the Disciples’ feet on Maundy Thursday, and ultimately His death on the cross - the humiliating death of a common criminal with maximum suffering and pain. Everything was for those around Him, His friends and also His enemies. Likewise, everything has been done for us too. Forgiveness, life and salvation reign where there was only hostility, death and puffed up pride. This grace of God is what transformed St. Paul’s life and caused him to write “For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake” (2Cor 4:5).
And this grace transforms us too. The next logical step is to look at your own life and ask “What am I seeking after?” Position? Power? Wealth? A good family? Someday a place in the country? Peace? A day without death? Perhaps we should be seeking instead a servant heart, walking in the steps of Christ our Lord. Look for people who you can serve in love and humility. Look for people you don’t want to serve in love and humility. It is then that you will walk the servant path that Jesus walked as you pick up your own cross and follow Him. In His name, Amen!
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