THE SON OF MAN CAME TO SERVE

WEDNESDAY, EIGHTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME     

1 Pet 1:18-25; Ps 147:12-15,19-20; Mk 10:32-45

Jesus Christ as the Servant of All

In today’s passage from the First Letter of Saint Peter, he continues to expound on the importance of our Christian mysteries. The great value and importance of the mysteries we have received ought to make us persevere in our faith with utmost care and attention. According to Peter, the pre-existing Son of God has now been revealed in our days for our salvation. “Who, though known since before the world was made, has been revealed only in our time, the end of the ages, for your sake.” In what sense was Jesus known before the world was made? Certainly not by human beings. The humanity of our Lord was not known by the angel as such, as the apostle intimated to us earlier in the part we read yesterday, when he said that the angels long to catch a glimpse of these mysteries of our salvation. That leaves the Trinity alone. In other words, the humanity of our Lord was willed and known by the Trinity before the world was made for our salvation, but only revealed in our time. This accords with Paul’s statement about the deep and unsearchable mysteries or riches of Jesus Christ hidden for ages in God, and now placed in the custody of the Church. The principalities and powers in the heavenly places are now to learn of the manifold wisdom of God through the Church. Cf. Eph 3:9-10. These solemn words call for sober and serious reflection on our understanding of the mysteries of Jesus Christ.

The humanity of Jesus Christ is what God foreknew before the creation of the world. The Trinity used the same humanity of Christ as the central content of the plan of our salvation and the redemption of the world. It constitutes the core of the unsearchable riches of Christ, designed and packaged for all men to receive through faith. So, the object of faith is deeper and richer than we can ever grasp or understand. The same humanity of Jesus Christ that existed in God before the world was created is now glorified at the right hand of God the Father after having fulfilled the will of God here on earth. Thus, Saint Peter says: “Through him you now have faith in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory for that very reason—so that you would have faith and hope in God.” The ancient mysteries, summed up as the mystery of Christ, are for our salvation through faith in the Gospel we have received. The Gospel contains these mysteries for our salvation. Thus, immersing ourselves in its contents daily deepens our knowledge and possession of the unsearchable riches of Christ. A habit of obedience to the Gospel message defines our journey into the mysteries and possession of God’s eternal glory with which he has glorified the Son of Man. “You have been obedient to the truth and purified your souls until you can love like brothers, in sincerity; let your love for each other be real and from the heart—your new birth was not from any mortal seed but from the everlasting word of the living and eternal God.”

No one knows the mysteries or grasps the depth of the unsearchable riches of Christ without living in the Gospel message, and using it to build his or her world and meanings. We must not be like the apostles, who were engrossed with earthly thoughts and concerns when they had physical possession of these mysteries in the presence of the Son of Man. Saint Mark, the Evangelist, described them as living in a daze due to their engrossment in worldly desires. But the Lord never ceased to put the mysteries before their eyes for their contemplation. “Once more taking the twelve aside he began to tell them what was going to happen to him: ‘Now we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man is about to be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the pagans, who will mock him and spit at him and scourge him and put him to death; and after three days he will rise again.’” These are the mysteries by which the Son of Man serves the course of our salvation. We rarely pay attention to how he serves us through the manifestation of these mysteries in our lives daily. We are distracted by worldly riches and glories that are passing away. The apostles were like us, or even worse, because they had his physical presence and still did not connect by faith. Without paying a faithful attention to understand how Christ serves the course of our salvation through our participation in his mysteries, his cup which we must drink will mar us instead of making us. “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.”

Let us pray: Grant us, O Lord, we pray, that the course of our world may be directed by your peaceful rule and that your Church may rejoice, untroubled in her devotion. Through our Lord Jesus, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.