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| Servant Leadership |
* [53:10–11] Reparation offering: the Hebrew term ’asham is used of a particular kind of sacrifice, one that is intended as compensation for that which is due because of guilt. See Lv 5:14–26 and note. Justify: the verb means “to be acquitted,” “declared innocent,” but since the servant bears “their iniquity,” an effective rather than simply legal action is suggested.We connect the sympathy of Jesus with our circumstances to His experience as high priest of the New Covenant as described in the Letter to the Hebrews.
* [4:14–16] These verses, which return to the theme first sounded in Heb 2:16–3:1, serve as an introduction to the section that follows. The author here alone calls Jesus a great high priest (Heb 4:14), a designation used by Philo for the Logos; perhaps he does so in order to emphasize Jesus’ superiority over the Jewish high priest. He has been tested in every way, yet without sin (Heb 4:15); this indicates an acquaintance with the tradition of Jesus’ temptations, not only at the beginning (as in Mk 1:13) but throughout his public life (cf. Lk 22:28). Although the reign of the exalted Jesus is a theme that occurs elsewhere in Hebrews, and Jesus’ throne is mentioned in Heb 1:8, the throne of grace (Heb 4:16) refers to the throne of God. The similarity of Heb 4:16 to Heb 10:19–22 indicates that the author is thinking of our confident access to God, made possible by the priestly work of Jesus.In the Gospel from Mark, Jesus counters the ambition of James and John for leadership in Jesus Kingdom with the example of being a servant for others as true leadership.
* [10:42–45] Whatever authority is to be exercised by the disciples must, like that of Jesus, be rendered as service to others (Mk 10:45) rather than for personal aggrandizement (Mk 10:42–44). The service of Jesus is his passion and death for the sins of the human race (Mk 10:45); cf. Mk 14:24; Is 53:11–12; Mt 26:28; Lk 22:19–20.Eileen Burke-Sullivan comments that Pope Francis talks about trying to understand mercy, not as a noun, an “it”, but as a gerund form of a verb: Jesus encounters us and He “mercifies” us – that is, he both transforms us in his mercy and makes us effective as mercy for others.
Today’s Gospel tells us that Jesus assured those closest to Him that they must be servants of all – they must lead by serving in the manner that Jesus serves – by “mercifying” the world. A short passage from one of the Servant Songs of Isaiah, the first reading today, discloses the servant-leader as one who utterly knows and loves his followers. A servant leader does not sin, but she enters the consequences of sin and forgives and heals it. A servant leader does not “lord it over” but he stands under (understands) the other. A servant leader does not enrich or aggrandize him/herself but is enriched only by God’s mercy so that s/he can pour riches out on those served.Don Schwager quotes “Not to be served but to serve”, by John Chrysostom (344-407 AD).
"[Jesus] says, 'The Son of man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.' It is as if he were saying, 'I willed not even to stop at death but even in death gave my life as a ransom. For whom? For enemies. For you. If you are abused, my life is given for you. It is for you. Me for you.' So you need not be too picky if you suffer the loss of your honor. No matter how much it is lowered, you will not be descending as far as your Lord descended. And yet the deep descent of one has become the ascent of all. His glory shines forth from these very depths. For before he was made man, he was known among the angels only. But after he was made man and was crucified, so far from lessening that glory, he acquired further glory besides, even that from his personal knowledge of the world." "So fear not then, as though your honor were put down. Rather, be ready to abase yourself. For in this way your glory is exalted even more, and in this way it becomes greater. This is the door of the kingdom. Let us not then go the opposite way. Let us not war against ourselves. For if we desire to appear great, we shall not be great but even the most dishonored of all. Do you see how everywhere Jesus encourages them by turning things upside down? He gives them what they desire but in ways they did not expect. (excerpt from THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 65.4.25)The Word Among Us Meditation on Mark 10:35-45 concludes that It seems that James and John missed an important point.
they didn’t realize that Jesus had come to die, not to reign. He had come, not to be served like royalty, but to serve his people—to the point of giving up his very life for them.Friar Jude Winkler connects the Songs of the suffering servant to the concept that expiation by suffering is not usual in Jewish thought. In the Letter to the Hebrews high priest tradition becomes visible in Jesus as high priest able to sympathize. The Cup of sorrow and suffering of which we partake is a promise to live and die like Christ, to our old life.
Gerald Segal asserts a poor link to Jesus as ’asham’ in accord with Jewish tradition.
Gerald Segal asserts a poor link to Jesus as ’asham’ in accord with Jewish tradition.Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, contemplates that the genius of Jesus’ ministry is that he reveals how God uses tragedy, suffering, pain, betrayal, and death itself (all of which are normally inevitable), not to punish us but, in fact, to bring us to God and to our True Self.
After all, on the cross, God took the worst thing, the “killing of God,” and made it into the best thing—the redemption of the world! If we gaze upon the mystery of the cross long enough, our dualistic mind breaks down, and we see in hindsight that nothing was totally good or totally bad. We realize that God uses the bad for good, and that many people who call themselves good (like those who crucified Jesus) may not be so good. And many who seem totally bad (like Jesus’ crucifiers) end up being used for very good purposes indeed.Fr Richard quotes Etty Hillesum (1914–1943) who found the indestructible nature of the True Self in the midst of all the horrors of the Westerbork transit camp.
Truly, my life is one long hearkening unto my self and unto others, unto God. And if I say that I hearken, it is really God who hearkens inside me. The most essential and the deepest in me hearkening unto the most essential and the deepest in the other. God to God. [2]Fr Richard reminds us that sooner or later, life is going to lead us (as it did Jesus) into the belly of the beast, into a place we can’t fix, control, explain, or understand. That’s where transformation most easily happens—because only there are we in the hands of God—and not self-managing. In our transformation, the experience of Jesus as Suffering Servant, sympathetic and compassionate minister, and servant leader becomes our journey.
References
(n.d.). Isaiah chapter 53 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved October 21, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/isaiah/53
(n.d.). Hebrews chapter 4 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved October 21, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/hebrews/4
(n.d.). Mark chapter 10 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved October 21, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/mark/10
(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections .... Retrieved October 21, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved October 21, 2018, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
(n.d.). Saint Paul of the Cross, Priest (Optional Memorial) - Mass Readings .... Retrieved October 21, 2018, from https://wau.org/meditations/
(n.d.). Did Jesus fulfill the role of the asham, "guilt-offering,"? | Jews For .... Retrieved October 21, 2018, from http://jewsforjudaism.org/knowledge/articles/did-jesus-fulfill-the-role-of-the-asham-qguilt-offeringq/
(n.d.). Daily Meditations Archives - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved October 21, 2018, from https://cac.org/category/daily-meditations/
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