29th Sunday 2024
Isaiah 53:10-11; Hebrews 4:14-16; Mark 10:35-45
You and I might be forgiven for thinking we had come to Mass at the wrong time of year as we listen to those readings. They seem to belong to Lent, or even to Holy Week, rather than to the closing weeks of the Church’s calendar. Let’s take another look at them.
We begin with part of one of the Songs of the Suffering Servant, from the prophet whom we know as Deutero-Isaiah, or Second Isaiah. These songs regularly crop up in Holy Week, when they remind us of the sufferings of Jesus the Christ, the true servant of the Father.
“The Lord has been pleased to crush him with suffering” we hear. That fits neatly with the Passion of the Christ. Was the Lord really pleased to make His Son suffer? No, but it was part of the divine plan that a human being should reverse the disobedience rooted in human beings from the beginning, and so restore the equilibrium and the purpose of creation. It was a matter of fairness and balance, not of pleasure.
“If he offers his life in atonement, he shall see his heirs.” I remember being told in Primary School, in Miss Hayward’s class, that “atonement” means “at-one-ment”, being made one with God. That, I think, is a more helpful understanding of the word in this context than its more usual meaning of “making up for a fault”, though in reality, the two meanings go together: it was Jesus’ sufferings, making up by His obedience for the disobedience of the world, which made the human race at one again with God.
“His soul’s anguish over, he shall see the light and be content:” we can interpret that as the Resurrection and Ascension of the Lord. Meanwhile, the final two verses express what Jesus has done for us: “By his sufferings shall my servant justify many, taking their faults on himself”.
In the Letter to the Hebrews, the story is taken further, as Jesus is described as the “supreme High Priest, who has gone through to the highest heaven”. As other parts of this letter make clear, this is a reference to the annual entry of the High Priest into the Holy of Holies in the Temple, taking the blood of sacrificed animals. Jesus, the writer tells us, has entered the true Holy of Holies, in heaven, of which the earthly one is only a model, taking His own blood, the blood of the supreme sacrifice.
Not only that, but because of what He has suffered, and because He has been tempted as we are, Jesus the High Priest is ideally placed to understand our human weaknesses, and to intercede with the Father on our behalf. This is particularly so in the Mass, when His role as High Priest becomes a reality for us, as He makes present on our altar today His once-and-for-all offering of His Body and Blood.
Turning to the Gospel, we recall that the request of the Zebedee boys comes during the final journey to Jerusalem which Jesus is making with the apostles. He knows that it is a journey to the Cross, a journey which will culminate in all the events foretold by Deutero-Isaiah, and interpreted by the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews. Hence, He speaks to the pushy pair in terms of drinking the cup and receiving the baptism which were to be His.
Despite the prophecies of the Passion which Jesus has already give them, James and John cannot grasp that He is speaking of the cup of suffering and the baptism of blood. Neither they, nor the other ten, can fathom what He is revealing, what He is demanding of them.
We do not have the excuse of ignorance to which they, effectively, cling. We have heard the words of Deutero-Isaiah and of the other prophets. We have received the explanation delivered in the Letter to the Hebrews. We know from the Gospels read to us year by year exactly how events played out. We hear now the Lord’s own words “The Son of Man came, not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many”.
What are the practical implications for us? We are to follow in the Master’s footsteps, but what does that mean in terms of our everyday behaviour? That beautiful word “compassion” surely comes into it. We must put ourselves in the other person’s shoes, seeking to see every situation from their point of view. If we set ourselves to do that, we should avoid the apostles’ mistakes. There should be no question of seeking to lord it over others, no room for jealousy. Instead, there should be a recognition of the face of Jesus in every face that we see, whether it be Lent, Holy Week, or October.
