The Gospel for Friday, April 2, 2004
Mark 10:32-45
They were on the road, going up to Jerusalem; Jesus was walking on ahead of them; they were in a daze, and those who followed were apprehensive. Once more taking the Twelve aside he began to tell them what was going to happen to him, ‘Now we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man is about to be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the gentiles, who will mock him and spit at him and scourge him and put him to death; and after three days he will rise again.’ James and John, the sons of Zebedee, approached him. ‘Master,’ they said to him, ‘We want you to do us a favour.’ He said to them, ‘What is it you want me to do for you?’ They said to him, ‘Allow us to sit one at your right hand and the other at your left in your glory.’ But Jesus said to them, ‘You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I shall drink, or be baptised with the baptism with which I shall be baptised?’ They replied, ‘We can.’ Jesus said to them, ‘The cup that I shall drink you shall drink, and with the baptism with which I shall be baptised you shall be baptised, but as for seats at my right hand or my left, these are not mine to grant; they belong to those to whom they have been allotted.’ When the other ten heard this they began to feel indignant with James and John, so Jesus called them to him and said to them, ‘You know that among the gentiles those they call their rulers lord it over them, and their great men make their authority felt. Among you this is not to happen. No; anyone who wants to become great among you must be your servant, and anyone who wants to be first among you must be slave to all. For the Son of man himself came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’ -- The New Jerusalem Bible. 1995, c1985. Doubleday: Garden City, N.Y.
A Study
Fourteen verses packs a powerful punch. This is a capsule of Jesus' message, writ large in few words. "Drink this bitter cup of death and submerge yourselves in the terror I will undergo in a few days. Can you do that?"
"Sure," they glibly replied, with no idea of his meaning, or so Mark would have us believe.
Writing to his early Christian audience in Rome, Mark needed to pound home that even these sincere disciples really didn't get it, and by inference, his audience may not have been getting it, either. Like us, sitting in our quiet homes in comfortable chairs, those Romans may have been lulled into thinking that Jesus had done it all, that the worst was over, and that all we have to do is sit back and collect the benefits. Pretty good deal, no?
But Jesus -- how often must we start sentences with those words! -- said, "Among you this is not to happen." Pop. No glory balloons for you, guys. This is hard work. You must be a "slave to all." For James and John and their mother, who had just asked Jesus for the best seats in the house after his messiahship came in, this was not the expected answer.
Jesus gave his life as a ransom. He didn't give it to anybody, he gave it away into the Cosmos. The ransom, the price that was paid by his sacrifice, is the redemption of our souls from the pit where they surely belong according to the Laws of the Hebrew Bible.
A Reflection
What do we expect of ourselves as "slaves"? Going to Church every Sunday except during football season should count for something, right? Tithing -- well, OK, one-percenting, after taxes -- that should count, right? Giving our old clothes to the annual rummage sale. Taking a turn every other year in the nursery?
The US Army Transport Dorchester was torpedoed and sunk on February 2, 1943. Of the 902 aboard Dorchester, 230 survived. The Rev. Victor M. Parachin wrote a second-hand account of a particularly significant portion of that night. Here is an excerpt:
"The altruistic action of the four chaplains constitutes one of the purest spiritual and ethical acts a person can make. When giving their life jackets, Rabbi Goode did not call out for a Jew; Father Washington did not call out for a Catholic; nor did the Reverends Fox and Poling call out for a Protestant. They simply gave their life jackets to the next man in line. As the ship went down, survivors in nearby rafts could see the four chaplains--arms linked and braced against the slanting deck. Their voices could also be heard offering prayers."
These were four courageous men who gave up their lives that others might live. We are frequently given non-combat examples: the man who throws himself in front of an oncoming car to save a child wandering in the street; the woman who leaps into a freezing river to rescue a drowning stranger; even bone-marrow donors who undergo significant pain and inconvenience, often to save the lives of strangers.
Yet these are examples of reactionary bravery. Jesus knew what was in front of him. He could have "just said no." He marched on "up to Jerusalem." up to Gethsemane, up to Golgotha. That ultimate servanthood which gained the ransom for our souls is the example he set for us.
We aren't asked to die, except to die to sin to the extent that we can. We are asked to serve in humility, with grace, and to love one another as He loved us. And to worship God.
So why does that new car look so much better than feeding a hundred children for three years? Why is a snazzy new church building more important than a place where homeless women can clean up, get a meal and day care, and start new careers for themselves and new lives for their families? That's not even as humilitating as washing somebody's feet, is it? That's not even humiliating at all? People drive old cars with their heads held high. They even manage to worship God and have fellowship in rented halls, without feeling as if they're slaves, for goodness' sake.
On Sunday many of us in the western Christian tradition will celebrate Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Hosannah!
That's a great part of the story, and along with Easter egg hunts, makes this season a memorable one for our children. What does Jesus call us adults to do to make it memorable for us and for our salvation?
Lord Jesus Christ,
you have taught us
that what we do for the least of our brothers and sisters
we do also for you:
give us the will to be the servant of others
as you were the servant of all,
and gave up your life and died for us,
but are alive and reign, now and for ever.
-- Church of England Postcommunion Prayer for Lent V
9:50:54 PM 
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