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Jesus' Idea of Authority Many
people think of religion as a way of avoiding or getting around reality,
and of the Bible as a kind of holy religious book. Both assumptions
are very far from the truth. One of the reasons why the story of Jesus
is so powerful is that it is so human and so simple. It is a story of
human venality and ambition, of trial and error, weakness and strength.
It is a story with which most of us can identify. When
the evangelist Mark was writing this Gospel, the early Church was having
a lot of trouble with its leaders who were at first very dedicated and
self-sacrificing, but whose human weaknesses were now beginning to show.
One of the ways in which Mark responded to this situation was by portraying
the disciples in all of their human weakness in his Gospel story. The
lesson was this: if there was such human weakness amongst the disciples
of Jesus, should you be surprised to find the same weakness in our present
leadership - and within yourself? Then, if this weakness is ever present,
we need to learn to lean more on Jesus than on our own weak selves. When
Matthew tells the story of the ambition of James and John, he has their
mother approach Jesus. But Mark, in telling the story in today's Gospel,
is not so refined. He has these two most favored people doing their
own dirty work. They themselves come and ask Jesus to give them power
- to allow them to rule with him when he, as they assumed he would,
took over the government. The reaction of the other disciples is one
of great indignation. Being themselves most ambitious, they very much
resented the two who tried to get an inside track on them in the political
race. This is a very human story that is still being acted out where
human beings work together. It is to be found in the army, the government,
business, the home and even in the Church. The higher up one goes in
all of these institutions, the more subtle and the more ruthless the
protagonists tend to get. Jesus
responds to the two brothers by telling them that they do not know what
they are asking for. They are asking for a shortcut but there are no
shortcuts to God's favor. Earlier he had spoken about how he would be
handed over to the authorities - interestingly, the religious authorities
- who will condemn him to death and hand him over to the pagans who
will mock him and scourge him and put him to death. The two disciples
conveniently bypass this stage and want to enter and share Jesus' power
when he enters into glory, when the suffering has been done. Jesus
brings them back to the realization that kingship or authority is not
about wearing a crown but about carrying a cross. This often forgotten
message, learned by Moses when he, the chosen one of God, had to bear
with such criticism and condemnation from the people, is still being
learned today by parents, politicians and managers. Then
Jesus really got to the point. What is leadership all about? It is not
about self-glorification, but about the service of, and the upliftment
and empowerment of others. It is not for lording it over others but
for standing under others. For Jesus that is not a theoretical teaching;
he himself lived it. "For the Son of Man himself did not come to
be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many." In
this connection St. John of the Cross says that if you think you are
doing well and praying well, be careful when you come before the Lord,
that you are not there to glorify yourself instead of glorifying the
Lord! Prayer can also be part of our seeking for success in the world
and we can be seeking for success in prayer itself. Meditation, however, is a form of prayer that prescinds success. It is a way of prayer in which one never succeeds but through which one becomes aware that success is not what life is all about. It is a way of prayer by which one becomes at home with one's own imperfect reality and is thereby empowered to share that weakness in the service of others.
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