The Son of Man is to be Handed Over

Mark 9: 30-37

They 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 he 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. 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.”

Discussion Questions: 

1. Why do you think Jesus is so exasperated with the disciples at this point in Mark’s Gospel? Why might He be exasperated with us?
2. Whom do you consider to be a great person and why?
3. What actions do you take to reconcile the stark difference between Jesus’ idea of greatness with what we are shown each day by the world we live in?
4. What does the connection Jesus makes between one little child, Himself, and the Father, tell you about the nature of God?
5. What opportunities do you have to draw into your circle one who is usually overlooked?”

Biblical Context

Mark: 9, 30-37
Mary M. McGlone CSJ

According to Mark’s way of relating the story, Jesus was rather casual when he first told the disciples that he was headed for suffering, death and new life. As we heard in last week’s Gospel, he initiated the conversation with the question of who others thought he was and then went on to explain that his vocation was to be God’s suffering servant, not a warrior king. This week our Gospel presents his second attempt to help the disciples understand what he was really all about.

Mark tells us that Jesus was traveling in secret, carving out essential time with his disciples, trying to help them comprehend how he understood his vocation. Now he addresses his theme head-on and tells them that the Son of Man will be handed over, be killed, and will rise after three days. Instead of responding with sorrow or even protest, the disciples said nothing. Mark explains their silence saying, “They were afraid to question him.” That phrase reflects the original end of the Gospel (Mark 16:8) when the women who received the message of Jesus’ resurrection said nothing to anyone because they were afraid.

Of what were they afraid? Earlier in the Gospel, people responded with fear when Jesus calmed the storm (4:41); when they saw the exorcism of the man who lived among the tombs (5:15); when the woman who was healed by touching his garment came before him (5:33); and when Jesus walked on the water (6:50). In each of those instances, it was Jesus’ awesome power that led them to fear. Now it seems that his vulnerability frightened them. In either case, they responded with fear to what they couldn’t understand.

When Jesus had told them not to speak, the word of his accomplishments spread quickly. When he talked to them about what was coming or asked them what they had been arguing about, they remained silent. Fear is embarrassing to admit and confession, even though it is more honest, can be much harder than bragging.

The first message Jesus preached in Mark’s Gospel was, “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” His call to repentance (metanoia) invited them to take on an entirely new mindset, to begin to live as participants in God’s reign over creation. Everything that Jesus said and did from that on was a revelation of God’s reign, but it was so different from everyone’s experience and expectations that little glimpses of it were often frightening.

Jesus’ message that the powers of evil would muster all their strength against him was the most frightening message of all for disciples who hadn’t adopted his perspective. Jesus looked at life from the vantage point of the inbreaking of the kingdom of God. He knew it was like yeast: subtly but relentlessly at work in their midst. Even with clear signs that his enemies were about to strike, Jesus believed that darkness could not swallow up light, and evil machinations would prove impotent against the kind of power God wields. So, he lived as if death did not matter.

The disciples, so enthralled with their own ideas about   a messiah and their own fears, missed the most important point of what Jesus was saying. Even today, when we refer to this as a passion prediction, we truncate Jesus and his message. Each time that he was going to suffer, the promise that he would rise was an integral part of the statement. He warned the disciples that it would look like evil won, but he assured them that it wasn’t true — it wasn’t even possible. Rather than a Passion prediction, we could do better to call this a Resurrection prophecy.

Jesus also knew that the only way his disciples could believe what he taught was if he showed them it was true. No talk had been sufficient. The disciples continually fell back on their customary way of thinking, trying to out do one another, which is simply another expression of violence. When words were not enough, Jesus decided to shock them with a sign. He picked up a child and said in effect: “ You want to be important? Here’s what important looks like!”
Which of the disciples had to move over to make room for the new, young star of Jesus’ show? In reality he wanted them all to move over — all the way to last place with him. Like the child, he trusted in his Father, and like his Father, he watched out particularly for the little ones.

Jesus was focused on living in God’s promised future while his disciples were caught in the milieu of what they considered probable. The only way to really understand what he was saying was to do what he did, to trust in God as he did. One way to start was by learning to be a servant: servants of God and servants of God’s little ones.

 Becoming our Better Selves

Reflection
Fr. Michael K. Marsh

How do you imagine that argument went? Today’s gospel doesn’t tell us what the disciples said but it’s not difficult to imagine. We need only recall the times we’ve argued about and striven to be the greatest. I can easily imagine each disciple making a case for his own greatness and a case against the greatness of the others. Do you know why that’s so easy for me to imagine? Because it’s often the conversation I have in my head with myself. Maybe you do too.

It seems we are always establishing pecking orders of greatness. Look at the pecking orders in our world and country today. They are all around us. We live with and participate in them even if we did not create them.

Citizens are greater than resident aliens who are greater than illegal aliens. The educated are greater than the under or uneducated. The rich are greater than the poor. The employed are greater than the unemployed. English speakers are greater than non-English speakers. Men are greater than women and straight people are greater than gay or lesbian people. White or light skinned people are greater than dark skinned people. The gifted and talented student is greater than the student in shop class. Christians are greater than Jews who are greater than Muslims. And the list could go on and on.

I wonder what pecking orders govern your and my life today. Who are the winners and losers in those pecking orders? In what ways are you and I striving for greatness? What arguments or conversations about who is greatest are we having with ourselves or others? I obviously don’t know what the disciples said or how their argument about greatness really went but I’m convinced it did not bring out the best in them. Striving to be and arguing about who is the greatest rarely brings out the best in us. That may just be the greatest humanitarian crisis in our world today. We strive to be the greatest human being instead of bringing out the best in our humanity

But what if we have completely misunderstood what greatness is really about? What if Jesus is reversing everything we thought we knew or had been told about greatness?

“Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” That’s how Jesus understands greatness. Last place? Really? I don’t think I’ve ever argued about or striven to be in last place. Have you? Last place is the last place I want to be and I suspect that’s true for you too.

What if greatness in Jesus’ mind is not about how much we have or what we have accomplished, but about what we’ve offered and done for others? What if greatness is not about the position or place we occupy, but about the space and place we offer others? What if we stopped arguing about and striving to be the greatest, and we sought to discover or recover and bring out the best in ourselves and each other? What would that look like in your life today?

Here’s another way of getting at that. Who is the best person you’ve ever met? I am not asking about the greatest but the best. Why did you pick her or him? What qualities or characteristics make her or him the best?

I’m guessing it wasn’t their fierce competition or their indifference to the well-being of another. I doubt it was because of the position they hold or their reputation. And it probably wasn’t because they praised you or told you what you wanted to hear. And chances are it wasn’t because they were rich, powerful, or successful. And I’ll bet you didn’t review his or her resume before naming them as the best person you’ve ever met. I’m betting it was because of her or his authenticity, honesty, and integrity. What you saw is what you got. You could count on them. They had your back. They were there when you needed them. They saw you, respected you, and listened to you. They took your life as seriously as and sometimes more seriously than their own.

The bottom line is that they put your life and well-being ahead of their own. They called you into your better self. They helped you recognize the way you want to be and live and if you already knew this, they helped you remember when you had forgotten.

Jesus is always naming and calling forth the best in us. For God’s sake, for the sake of the world, for the sake of ourselves and one another, let’s stop arguing about who is the greatest.

If you were to be the best person someone has ever met, what would you want them to say about you? What qualities or characteristics would you want them to describe? Pick a couple things or ways you would want to be. How are you going to become that? What parts of your life need strengthening in order to become that and what parts need changing in order to become that?

What would it take today to offer another the very best of yourself?

Reflection Excerpt from, Interrupting The Silence , www.interruptingthesilence.com

Fr.Micheal K. Marsh, used by permission.