With Opened Bible
Humility in Service
“If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all”
The first reading and the gospel of this Sunday bring us to the heart of Jesus' primary mission, a mission of such profound significance that it is to die so that the world can live. His very name, Yeshuah, means 'God saves' (Cf. Mathew 1:21), underscoring the weight of his sacrifice.
Jesus is the perfect realization of the prophecies of the Old Testament. The Book of Wisdom mentions the sufferings that the Son of God would neglect. But he would know deliverance because he is Just.
Alongside the concepts of Sacrifice, death and resurrection, Saint Mark reveals to us a more astonishing aspect of Jesus' mission: his humility in service. This is a virtue that should not just be admired, but actvely strived for in our own lives, inspired by Jesus' example. "If anyone wishes to be frst, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all." How can we understand this idea when our humanity is inclined to power and authoritarianism?
Jesus never asked the apostles to do anything that he could not do. His entre mission rested on his obedience to the Father, which went hand in hand with his humility and devoton. "He became fesh and dwelt among us" (John 1). In doing so, Jesus (Pre-existent Word) gives us a lesson of humility and obedience: "For this reason, when he came into the world, he said: "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; holocausts and sin offerings you took no delight in. Then I said, 'As is written of me in the scroll, Behold, come to do your will, O God.'" (Hebrews 10:5-7) By becoming a servant of the Father and the world, Jesus becomes the first among his equals. Saint Paul sang this great truth to the Philippians: "Who, although he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he empted himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, e he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name* that is above every name. (Philippians 2:6-9)
Also, Jesus invites his friends to do the same. The first will be the servant of all. During the last supper, he showed the way: "Do you realize what I have done for you? You call me 'teacher' and 'master,' and rightly so, for indeed I am. If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another's feet. I have given you a model to follow so that as I have done for you, you should also do." (John 13:12- 15)
True Christians do not wait to be served but put themselves at the service of others. "You know that the rulers of the Gentles lord it over them, and the great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be frst among you shall be your slave. Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Mathew 20:25-28), we become great. And it is also by serving that we become the Master and the First.
