Twenty-ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time (B) [Mk
10:35-45]
10.10.2024
Ambitious and Power-crazy Apostles
1. Theme in brief
Christian understanding of power
2. Focus Statement:
Christian
disciples are called to use their power and authority not for domination or
“lording it over,” nor for exploitation, but for service to the point of making
painful sacrifices as Jesus did.
3. Explanation of
the text
Today’s gospel tells us about two
things: (1) the weakness that the Twelve apostles had for power, position and honour, and (2) Jesus’ views on the manner in which his
disciples should use their power. The text
shows how human the apostles were and how
impure and ambitious their motives. They
completely failed to understand the nature of Jesus’ Kingdom. They were still
thinking of him as a political Messiah who would defeat the Romans and
establish an earthly kingdom. James and John thought when he would become a
king in the near future, they had a better claim to be his chief ministers for
these reasons: (1) they belonged to his inner circle and were his close and trusted confidants; (2) he had picked them up to be with him when he raised
the daughter of Jairus from the dead (Mk 5:21-43) and was transfigured before
them (Mk 9:2-8); and (3) according to some scholars probably they were his
cousins. They wanted to use the good offices of a close relative for their own promotion. They approached Jesus with the hope
that he would do for them whatever they would ask of him (10:35).
In return, when Jesus asked James and
John about their greatest wish, they requested him to give them most important seats at his right and left hand (10:37) without
knowing that soon there would be two criminals or thieves on his right and left
side on the cross. Sitting at his
right and left hand implied their wish to be his chief advisors.
Jesus replied
their ambitious question by challenging them whether they were willing to drink
the cup of suffering he would drink, and take
the baptism of blood he would take (10:38) –
thus symbolically referring to his sacrificial death. In other words, he compared his approaching suffering
and death to drinking a bitter cup and undergoing a baptism or
immersion in blood. He was asking
them whether they were willing to be immersed (or baptized) in his sacrificial
death. They answered that they were able (10:39) without understanding that one
day they themselves would have to drink the bitter cup of persecution for
Jesus’ sake, or without knowing that one day they would run away when Jesus would
be arrested (Mk 14:50). But Jesus told them plainly that the seats requested by
them were reserved by his Father for those who were willing to share his
passion and death (10:40). James and John seemed to have totally missed the
point.
Naturally, the request of James and
John must have created a deep resentment among the other ten. The
other ten were no better than James and John. They too were claimants for higher posts. Mark had already mentioned that they too had
similar ambitions and were quarrelling among themselves who would be the
greatest among them (Mk 9:34). They must have thought that James and John had already
got bigger posts which each one wanted for himself. Hence they were angry and jealous of those two (10:41). At this point,
Jesus began to instruct them about his notion of power and authority.
Jesus taught
them, according to worldly standards, greater the power, greater is the
supremacy. In the world, one’s greatness is measured by how many people one controls; how
much wealth one
has; how much military
power one possesses. Jesus showed those Gentile rulers as
negative examples of how power should be used. They “lord it
over them” and “tyrannize” them (10:42). By saying, “It should not be so
among you” (10:43), he made it clear that the standards of worldly kingdom – to
which they were so much attracted and attached – are totally different from his
standards. According to him, a person does not become ‘great’ just because he
has power and authority. In his kingdom, the ‘great’ person is the person who
is willing to become a “servant” (10:43). As he repeated this principle, he used a
more radical term and said that real greatness could be claimed only when a
person was willing to become a “slave of all” (10:43).
Further, Jesus instructed them that he
had come to give his life or give up his
life in sacrifice as a ransom for many (10:45), which
meant for all. In those days, ‘ransom’
was the amount of money paid to the master to buy the freedom of a slave. What
Jesus meant was that he would pay the price of his own blood to redeem humankind. In
other words, he redeemed humanity at the cost of his own life. His
death would be the ultimate proof of his sacrificial service
for the redemption of all. He took upon himself the form of a servant and came
not to be ministered to or to be waited upon, but to minister (serve) or to wait on others like a
slave (10:45).
4.
Application to life
In all of us there is a desire for power and prestige. In today’s gospel, James
and John are shown to be the ones who were hankering after power and the rest
of the apostles are shown to be competing with them for the same. Like them, it is natural for
many of us to feel ambitious for power– though quite often it is subconscious and hidden. In the world
we notice a power struggle as well as abuse
or misuse of power in various fields and states of life. In today’s text Jesus expresses
his opposition to the abuse of power, because it was precisely the abuse of
power by the Jewish religious authorities that resulted in his condemnation to
death. Instead of nursing
ambitions of power and position and using them only for ourselves, Jesus calls
us to use that power for ministering to the needs of our neighbours. At the Last Supper he himself took the
role of a slave
when he washed his disciples’ feet (Jn 13:1-16). For him greatness consisted
not in how many people will be at our service but how much can we serve others.
Today, Jesus personally reminds us his disciples not to
hanker after rank, titles, and honours and curb our tendencies for power-mongering. Authority/ power exercised by
Christian leaders, parents and superiors is not meant for domination, exploitation of the weak, taking advantage of their
ignorance and powerlessness, but for ministering to their needs and working for their
good. All the positions of authority for us are not meant only to fill our own pockets but also occasions
to serve. People use power to fill their
pockets not only with money but also with authoritarianism, power-conscious attitudes, pompous behaviour and promotion of a
VIP-culture, cheap popularity, and desire for all types
of titles and honours.
Jesus’ teaching on the Christian meaning of power
applies not only to political and religious heads/ leaders but also to tribal
chieftains and village headmen too. As per their tradition, the tribal chiefs
and heads of village communities are supposed to catch and punish social offenders in their community. Fair enough, if it is done in a
justifiable manner as a social control measure. But as Christian disciples their
main concern should be how to use their authority for reforming and reconciling those who have gone astray or deviated
from the right path; or how to bring the offenders/ social deviants to the mainstream of society. Even if they need to
follow the traditions/ customs/ rules of their tribal system and impose
reasonable fines on social offenders, at the end of the day they need to show
compassion, especially when they admit their wrongdoing, and accept them into
the community with clear words of forgiveness and reconciliation. If they could use their power in this way, they could
render a wonderful service to the community by becoming ministers of reconciliation and peace, by bringing back the strayed ‘sheep.’
While
exercising power, Christians are called to be totally different from worldly
rulers. Jesus clearly tells his disciples that their ambition for power for ‘lording it over’ others is a gentile perspective, not at all Christian. In his time, most of the
rulers abused their powers. Their main concern was not so much to work for the
welfare of the citizens, but to exercise control over them; not so much to
protect them but to get their support and allegiance for their own splendour or
grandeur. The Gentile rulers used
power as a tool of coercion and control to
dominate others and secure their own power or
control. In God’s Kingdom honour
belongs to those who serve
rather than those who exact service from others. Jesus says that the greatness of his disciples
is measured by the use of power to serve people. Depending on the linguistic
usage of some communities, sometimes they speak of their leaders “dying” for power, and once those who are dying for it come into power,
people say, they “get drunk” or intoxicated with power. The
reason may be, they see so many negative examples such as dictatorship, authoritarianism and excesses of power exercised by political, civil,
ecclesiastical, religious and tribal authorities.
For
common people, the word ‘leader’ in civil society and politics often connotes
one who can wield a lot of power. As Jesus taught, it should not be so in the
Church. Instead of seeking promotion and positions, Church
leaders are called to render humble service either
to the community or to the needy of human society. To be at the service of others entails sacrifice of personal ambitions
for power and positions. Though many of us highly appreciate Pope
Francis’ simplicity and shining example of reaching out to the marginalized, it
is a different matter how many of us really imitate his style of simplicity and
leadership.
Both in today’s gospel as well as in
John’s, Jesus calls his sacrificial death on the cross an act of supreme service to humankind. In Jn13:7 he
says that the real meaning of his washing the feet of disciples – which is an
example of humble service – will be understood only “later on,” that is, when
he will sacrifice his life on the cross. In today’s gospel also he says that he
has come not to be served but serve to the extent of paying the price of a
sacrificial death (called “ransom”). In other words, he paid the price of
sacrificial death on the cross to render an act of supreme service, namely
salvation of humankind. This is the message we get: there is no service without
sacrifice and every sacrifice we do out of love for others is a great service
for them. Even our visit to a sick person in the neighbourhood is an act of
service; of course at the cost of sacrificing our time. As the world advances further and further, people
say they have no time for any service outside their families. Since many do not
want to sacrifice their time or find it painful, they say so as an excuse. It
shows that the quality of our love is dwindling day by day and we are becoming
more and more self-centred. Jesus always reminds
us that we are called not to be served but to serve and spend ourselves in
service of others. He came to give his life as the price to make us free. Like him, we are called to serve to the
point of giving our life
for the welfare of others.
In English language, a job is called a ‘service’ because of the service rendered to the
organization or to human society through it. Though earning money by doing jobs
is essential for living, according to Jesus’ mind Christian jobholders need to consider their jobs not only
as a means to earn money and live a decent life (which they are ought to do),
but also as a means to render service to the nation or human society. When we
do our jobs only for money, even smaller tensions of responsibilities in
jobplaces look great; but when we do them with a higher motive of rendering a
valuable service to human society or building up a welfare society, even bigger
tensions become bearable. When we travel alone to our workplaces (or while we
go for wage-earning in rural areas), it is a very beneficial habit to bring
these thoughts to our mind that we are going to work to make not only our life
but also other people’s life happy and comfortable. We need to think about the
wonderful opportunity the Lord has provided us to be at the service of society
and nation. If not, the monotony and routine of daily work will eat us up!
5.
Response to God's Word
How do we exercise our power as parents, teachers, leaders, pastors,
superiors, managers….? Do we use it for domination, exploitation of the weak, taking advantage of their ignorance
and powerlessness or for
service? Do we abuse our power to use it only to fill our own pockets, or to exhibit authoritarianism, power-consciousness, pompous behaviour or cheap popularity? What is our
attitude towards our daily work/ duty/ job? Parents, teachers, and all
Christians who exercise leadership roles must ask themselves, “Do I lord it
over my children, co-workers and colleagues?” Priests and religious who have
dedicated themselves to the service of the Church and the people must ask, “Am
I here to be served or to serve and spend my life for the people entrusted to
my care?” Those who have left their native place to become missionaries in
another region have to ask, “Am I here to lord it over the local people, or to
serve and learn from them?”
6.
A prayer
Lord, I offer you all my duties and responsibilities in my workplace and
also in my family, society and the Church. Grant that I may use my power and
authority in all these areas with an attitude of service and human welfare,
knowing well that service done to humanity is service done to you. Deliver me
from all type of unhealthy ambitions at the cost of others, and tendencies
towards authoritarianism, abuse of power and seeking after honours and titles. Amen.
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