Road to Emmaus Twenty-Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time

Sep 16, 2009

First Reading – Wis. 2:12, 17-20

Responsorial Psalm – Ps. 54:3-4, 5, 6-8

Second Reading – Jam. 3:16-4:3

Gospel Reading – Mk. 9:30-37

 

In this Sunday’s Gospel reading from Mark we have Jesus predicting for a second time his Passion, Death and Resurrection. This second prediction, like the first, is followed by a blunderous reaction by the Apostles.

 

Jesus speaks of how he will be “delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him” (Mark 9:31). This is what was foretold in the book of Wisdom, from which the Old Testament reading is taken this Sunday. This passage, read in light of Jesus’ Passion, Death and Resurrection, is a clear indicator of what the Messiah, and those who follow him, will suffer.

 

In the passage from Wisdom it is the wicked who are speaking, and they say, “Let us lie in wait for the righteous man, because he is inconvenient to us and opposes our actions…” (2:12). Jesus’ words and actions are an inconvenience to the leaders of the day, in particular the Pharisees. They are indeed the ones who will deliver him to death.

 

The wicked go on to say, “Let us test him with insult and torture, that we might find out how gentle he is…Let us condemn him to a shameful death, for, according to what he says, he will be protected” (Wisdom 2:19-20). This certainly sounds a lot like the testing Jesus already endured earlier in his life when he was tempted by Satan. In this context the wicked can then be associated with Satan.

 

Jesus, of course, will be protected. We must always keep in mind the fact that Jesus predicts not only his Passion and Death, but also his Resurrection. The protection that he receives from the Father will be different then what the wicked expect. As a matter of fact Jesus will put death to death. As St. Paul will later say, “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (I Corinthians 15:54-55).

 

However, once again the Apostles don’t quite understand. Then they begin to discuss who of the Twelve is the greatest, or the first. Jesus makes it clear, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all” (Mark 9:35). Mary Healy, in her book, The Gospel of Mark, says, “To be first means to have priority over other…had more influence, prestige, and power than ordinary folk…But he [Jesus] turns human thinking on its head: the only way to fulfill these desires [for greatness], paradoxically, is to put oneself last in priority...[and] it must be expressed in concrete actions, by becoming a servant of all” (p. 185). This is the way to follow Christ, doing what Christ said and did.