Sparkles of Light (Mk 9:30-37)

21 February 2012, Tuesday, 7^th Week of the Year

 WHO IS THE GREASTEST?

Jesus and his disciples left from there and began a journey through Galilee, but he did not wish anyone to know about it. He was teaching his disciples and telling them, "The Son of Man is to be handed over to men and they will kill him, and three days after his death the Son of Man will rise." But they did not understand the saying, and they were afraid to question him.

They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house, he began to ask them, "What were you arguing about on the way?" But they remained silent. For they had been discussing among themselves on the way who was the greatest. Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them, "If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all." Taking a child, he placed it in their midst, and putting his arms around it, he said to them, "Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me."

Mk 9:30-37

The Gospel for today basically has two parts.  First is what we call as one of the passion prediction of Jesus where he tells his disciples what will happen to him and yet the disciples does not understand about this, and they are afraid to ask Jesus about it.  Second, Jesus answers the question, “Who is the greatest?”  The disciples were expecting Jesus to recognize the “greatest” among them but instead Jesus place a child in their presence and said, “Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.”  This passage from Mark is really apt as we will start the Lenten season tomorrow by the imposition of the holy ash on our foreheads.

The disciples don’t understand and they were afraid to ask Jesus because they were expecting Jesus to be their earthly Messiah.  They thought Jesus was the one the prophets spoke about who will liberate them from foreign rule and bring back Israel’s former glory.  They were blinded with such prediction because they can’t really see that Jesus is more than this earthly Messiah.  That is why the more Jesus reveals to them the way of discipleship and about the Kingdom of God, it gets more confusing for the disciples.

Since they see Jesus as an earthly Messiah, they were also expecting that being his disciples, they were in a sense above others.  But in the literary style of Mark, it is the opposite.  It seems that the others know better who Jesus really is rather than his own disciples.  Jesus then, like a patient and good teacher, called his disciples and showed them what it means to be the greatest.  Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.” 

Jesus invites us to do selfless sacrifice and humble service. Jesus in his very life served others.  He came to serve and not to be served.  He also suffered in many ways - misunderstanding, opposition, and torture. In the end he sacrificed his life for us. Yet his life was lived to the full – full of meaning, peace and joy – leading to the same for us, if we believe and follow him.  This is the way of true discipleship.

To further emphasize his point, Jesus chose a child to be our model.  Why a child?  I think Jesus chose a child because during his time – even in our present time -- a child has no say, no power, no authority, no possessions, and no prestige in society. Yet a child is innocent, simple, trusting, open – a true image of God.  An image of a baby for example has the power to melt the hardest heart – the power of attraction, and that is the power that God prefers to use: the power that God used in Jesus’ birth as a baby, and in his death on the cross as the crucified Messiah. 

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday.  I like to invite everyone to receive the holy ashes in your parish or wherever it is available.  As you receive the mark of the cross on your forehead, may it remind you that we are all sinners and in need in God’s grace and mercy.  And this Lenten season is a good time for us to renew ourselves by following the way of the cross – for it is in dying in our sinfulness, weaknesses, selfishness and attachments that we are being born to eternal life.