DRINKING THE CUP OF THE LORD


SUNDAY, TWENTY NINTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

Isa 53:10-11; Ps 33:4-5,18-20,22; Heb 4:14-16; Mk 10:35-45

Drinking the Cup of the Lord

Conformity with the will of God is the high point of spiritual life. It is the perfection of our spiritual journey into God. It is through conformity with the will of the Father that rational creatures enter into communion with God. The mission of the Son of God is to make this possible for us men. By his life of total obedience to the will of God the Father, he gives us an example of conformity to God’s will and also redeemed us from sin and evil by the same act. The prophecy of Isaiah concerning the suffering of the Servant of God is about this plan of our salvation. “The Lord has been pleased to crush his servant with suffering. If he offers his life in atonement, he shall see his heirs, he shall have a long life and through him what the Lord wishes will be done.” The pleasure of the Lord is not in the suffering with which his servant is crushed, but in the rectitude of the servant's will in his suffering, the steadfastness of the servant is the source of joy to God. For this steadfastness, he rewards his servant. For the refusal of the servant of Yahweh to turn away from the will of the Father, God rewarded him with the ransom of many souls who will follow his example in steadfastness to the divine will. “By his sufferings shall my servant justify many, taking their faults on himself.” The greatness the servant attained through his steadfastness is due to his conformity to God’s will. Since the will of God is all-powerful, the one who becomes one with the divine will becomes one with God.

By the conformity of the Servant of Yahweh to his holy will, he preserves intact the gift of God and transmits it to his brethren. The ability to ransom slaves of sin comes from this gift he received and transfers to us. Thus, the letter to the Hebrews calls him a High Priest who can sympathize with us in our afflictions. “Since in Jesus, the Son of God, we have the supreme high priest who has gone through to the highest heaven, we must never let go of the faith that we have professed.” The humanity of our Lord can reach the highest heaven because he is joined to the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity hypostatically. This union is for our good and salvation, for by his steadfastness in suffering he united the human will to God’s will. And by his death, he won immortality for us who have come to put our hope in him. “For it is not as if we had a high priest who was incapable of feeling our weaknesses with us; but we have one who has been tempted in every way that we are, though he is without sin.” This is said of him because he had a human will that could be tempted. Because this human will remained united with the Father’s will, our human nature is saved in principle. Hence, through him, the grace of adoption can flow to us who profess faith in him. By the same procedure through which the Saviour united himself with God, we can also unite ourselves with Jesus Christ and participate in his salvific work for souls.

The discussion between the two sons of Zebedee and our Lord in the Gospel brings these points to the fore. The two expressed their desire to share his glory in heaven. He questioned them on their willingness to drink his cup and undergo his baptism. “Can you drink the cup that I must drink, or be baptised with the baptism with which I must be baptised?” Our Lord knew they would drink it after him because his drinking of the cup for us has made it attractive to us and obtained the necessary grace to taste and drink the bitter cup. His baptism has caused grace to flow into our human nature and condition, making it possible for us to follow his example to death. He explained the meaning of his cup and baptism as follows. “For the Son of Man himself did not come to be served but to serve, and to give this life as a ransom for many. The primary desire to ransom men from sin, evil, and death is that of God the Father. The desire is shared with the humanity of Christ and through him communicated to us daily as we eat and drink of Jesus Christ, in the Sacrament and in the reality of daily life.

Let us pray: Almighty ever-living God, grant that we may always conform our will to yours and serve your majesty in sincerity of heart. 

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