Lectionary Reflection — Proper 24 (29) (Year B)

Mark 10:35-45 (CEB; adapted):1

35 James and John, Zebedee’s sons, came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”

36 “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.

37 They said, “Allow one of us to sit on your right and the other on your left when you enter your glory.”

38 Jesus replied, “You don’t know what you’re asking! Can you drink the cup I drink or receive the baptism I receive?”

39 “We can,” they answered.

Jesus said, “You will drink the cup I drink and receive the baptism I receive, 40 but to sit at my right or left hand isn’t mine to give. It belongs to those for whom it has been prepared.”

41 Now when the other ten disciples heard about this, they became angry with James and John. 42 Jesus called them over and said, “You know that the ones who are considered the rulers by the Gentiles show off their authority over them and their high-ranking officials order them around. 43 But that’s not the way it will be with you. Whoever wants to be great among you will be your servant. 44 Whoever wants to be first among you will be the slave of all, 45 for the Human One2 didn’t come to be served but rather to serve and to give his life to liberate many people.”

Other readings: Isaiah 53.4-12; Psalm 91.9-16; Hebrews 5.1-10

                 

There’s a scene in Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron where the Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) casts a spell on the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and takes over his mind. Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.) tries to stop the mind confused Hulk from destroying a nearby city. As Iron Man tries to reason with the Hulk’s alter ego, Bruce Banner, he’s assembling his high-tech “Hulkbuster” armor. The mention of Banner infuriates the Hulk and he attacks Iron Man with a car.

With that, the fight is in on.

At one point, Iron Man knocks Hulk down using an elevator. When Hulk turns to get back up, Iron Man punches Hulk, knocking him down again. As Hulk slowly turns around, he stares coldly at Iron Man and spits out a tooth. There’s a long pause as we see Tony Stark’s face inside the Iron Man helmet. With a little panic in his voice he says, “I’m sorry.”

And then Iron Man’s thrown through a building.

Iron Man realized, a little too late, that he didn’t know what he was asking for when he took on the Hulk.

You can watch the whole thing here (the part described above starts about the 3:00 mark):

When I read today’s Lesson that scene from Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron was brought to my mind. It comes from Jesus’ response to the request from “The Sons of Thunder” — “You don’t know what you’re asking!”

They’ve asked Jesus to be on his right and left when he enters his glory. For the longest time I didn’t realize why that was such a bad request. It wasn’t until the teachings of Tom (N. T.) Wright that I understood.3

See, for a lot of us, Jesus’ entering his glory has been misunderstood. We’ve understood it as one of two things (maybe both): Jesus “Second Coming” and/or his enthronement in “heaven”. But according to Wright, the Gospels (especially John) shows what that really means — Jesus entering his glory is his crucifixion. It’s when he’s declared the world’s true king. Even Rome acknowledges this by putting the placard above his head stating he’s the king of the Jews. And what Jesus did/does for Israel, he does for the world.4 So, if he’s King of the Jews, then he’s King of the World (sorry Leonardo).

And what do we find when we read about Jesus’ crucifixion? We find that two other people were crucified with him — one on his right and one on his left. I can image that James’ and John’s faces would look a lot like Tony Stark’s in the clip above. While watching the crucifixion of the three men, I can hear them say, like Job, “We didn’t know what we were talking about…” (Job 42.3).

That leads quite naturally to the real problem for the disciples and us. And Jesus addresses that in the rest of the Lesson. The real issue is that of power. For the disciples, no less than James and John, their understanding of power was wrapped up in the way everyone else expressed it. The only way they had witnessed it their entire lives. That is, power was understood as ruling others, of sitting in places of authority. It meant that those in power were those with most of the wealth. They were the ones dictating policy — politically, socially, and religiously — that would continue to empower the powerful (themselves and others) while keeping others down. If we don’t see this as a mirror image of our own time, then we’re not paying attention.

“That’s the way it’s always been,” someone will say.

Sure. But that doesn’t mean that’s the way it’s supposed to be. The abuse of power should be a red flag to us that something isn’t right. Let’s put a pin here and come back to this.

Jesus tells the disciples ,“You know that those foreigners who call themselves kings like to order their people around. And their great leaders have full power over the people they rule” (Mark 10.42; CEV; cf. Luke 22.25).5 That is, their understanding of power is upside down, even if that’s the way it’s “always been.”

“But,” he continues, “don’t act like them. If you want to be great, you must be the servant of all the others. And if you want to be first, you must be everyone’s slave” (vv. 43-44; CEV). In other words, the people who follow The Way of Jesus must do things differently, or right-side up. The way of true power is through service to “all others.”6 It’s only in serving others that true power is shown.

But not just “regular” service work (whatever that looks like). No. Jesus means that type of service where we sacrifice our own wants and desires for the good of others — even if that means sacrificing our own lives.

On 14 October, Archbishop Óscar Romero was canonized (declared a saint). He served the poor of San Salvador and spoke out against poverty, social injustice, and violence. He was assassinated 24 March 1980 while officiating Mass in the chapel of the Hospital of Divine Providence. During his canonization, Pope Francis wore the rope cincture St Romero was wearing the night he was killed; it’s still stained with the saint’s blood.

This is what Jesus meant when he said the way of true leadership is in the service of others. He told the disciples, “The Son of Man didn’t come to be a slave master, but a slave who will give his life to rescue others” (Mark 10.45; CEV; adapted). It’s almost like Jesus was saying, “And before you ask, Peter, this is how far you must be willing to go in serving others. Follow my example.”

Now let’s come back to that pin we mentioned earlier.

If we’re followers of The Way of Jesus, and our actions don’t line up with what’s been seen in the Lesson today, we must humble ourselves, reexamine ourselves, and recognize that we aren’t serving others. We’re serving ourselves. If we aren’t looking out and working towards their betterment then we aren’t following Jesus’ lead in service. Following The Way of Jesus means sacrificing our own desires and wants and, perhaps, even needs. Like St Romero, it can sometimes mean putting our own safety on the line in service of others.

All-Loving God, you called your servant Óscar Romero to be a voice for the voiceless poor, and to give his life as a seed of freedom and a sign of hope: Grant that, inspired by his sacrifice and the example of the martyrs of El Salvador, we may without fear or favor witness to your Word who abides, your Word who is Life, even Jesus the Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be praise and glory now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

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In the Love of the Three in One,

Br. Jack+, LC

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1. Scripture quotations marked (CEB) are taken from The Common English Bible. Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible.

2. Or Son of Man.

3. To be fair, I’ve heard this for years but it didn’t really “click” until I started reading and listening to Wright.

4. Wright, N. T., (2012). How God Became King: The Forgotten Story of the Gospels [Kindle version]. Retrieved from Amazon.com.

5. Scripture quotations marked (CEV) are from The Contemporary English Version. Copyright © 1991, 1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.

6. It should go without saying but I’ll point it out anyway. By service others, Jesus wasn’t talking about serving the powerful, he meant serving the ones the powerful crush and keep down. Serving others is equal to serving the least among us.