Part 2: Among you it will be different!

Mark 10:41-45 When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant. So Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Context: One of the major themes of the Gospel of Mark is servant-leadership: the contrast of authority in the way or the world and the authority in the way of Jesus. In the Roman world of the early church, the socio-political authorities ruled with control and abuse of power. Jesus insists that the Christian community must be different than the worldly authorities. Together we serve one another and this is the source of our authority.

This is the end of the 3rd and final extended passage which highlights this theme, beginning with Mark 10:31 and ends with 10:45. This extended passage may form a chiasm, also referred to as parallelism, which is used “to symbolize the inverted sequence or crossover of parallel words or ideas in a bicolon, sentence, or larger literary unit.” (See the Handbook of Biblical Criticism by Soulen & Soulen)

A But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.’

B They were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them; they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid.

C He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them what was to happen to him, saying, ‘See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death; then they will hand him over to the Gentiles; they will mock him, and spit upon him, and flog him, and kill him; and after three days he will rise again.’

D James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, ‘Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.’ And he said to them, ‘What is it you want me to do for you?’ And they said to him, ‘Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.’

C’ But Jesus said to them, ‘You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?’ They replied, ‘We are able.’ Then Jesus said to them, ‘The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.’

B’ When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. So Jesus called them and said to them, ‘You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them.

A’ But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.

Clearly Jesus teaches that to be a disciple one must be a servant! Indeed Jesus freely offers his own life for all of humanity and this is the ultimate example of servanthood.

Going Deeper: As we experience the way Jesus interacts with the disciples in their emotional outbursts and listen to his gentle teachings on servanthood, we find that we are called to extend that same gracious space to others even when they don’t live up to our expectations. Although we all walk the path of discipleship, we walk the way we must and move with the timing we must. Living in community with others, in a similar way that Jesus did, we can find the same accountability the disciples found with each other and hold one another in the light of God’s love in Christ. We find the shalom (communal peace) that God desires for us as we live and work together.

Pondering: How do you respond to Jesus as he encourages you to lead by serving? What does it mean to serve one another? What gifts do you have to offer to the community? How is your community different than the world? How do you describe the shalom you experience in your community? If you aren't a part of a community, where does your resistance come from? What would you need to overcome your resistance?

Praying: Pray these words attributed to St. Francis of Assisi. Read them slowly and savor the spirit of servanthood that permeate this prayer:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury,pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen