They Didn't Know
Oct. 20: Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
I don’t usually plug my other Substack,
, here because it’s not often relevant. But the video essay I published yesterday is about exegesis and eisegesis, something I’ve discussed here several times, so I thought I’d share it: The Death of “The Death of the Author.”Reading I
Is 53:10-11
The LORD was pleased
to crush him in infirmity.If he gives his life as an offering for sin,
he shall see his descendants in a long life,
and the will of the LORD shall be accomplished through him.Because of his affliction
he shall see the light in fullness
of days;
through his suffering, my servant shall justify many,
and their guilt he shall bear.
God doesn't like to see humanity suffer, including and especially His only Son. But suffering is sometimes necessary for growth, and as an offering. Our suffering in this life isn't purposeless. Some good will come out of it, even if we don't know what it is.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22
R. (22) Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
Upright is the word of the LORD,
and all his works are trustworthy.
He loves justice and right;
of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.
R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him,
upon those who hope for his kindness,
To deliver them from death
and preserve them in spite of famine.
R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
Our soul waits for the LORD,
who is our help and our shield.
May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us
who have put our hope in you.
R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
We can't know what will good will come out of any particular suffering. All we can do is wait and hope, sometimes.
We can always hold onto the hope that no matter how it ends, even in death, God will be with us.
Reading II
Heb 4:14-16
Brothers and sisters: Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin. So let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help.
Mythology is full of stories of Zeus and Aphrodite and all the rest looking human, but in Jesus, God became human. Not for a day or a week, but an entire lifetime.
Jesus was a human being; we should never forget that. He went through the same pains and sufferings we all do. He can sympathize with us in a way that the "gods" of other religions cannot, even to their believers.
Alleluia
Mk 10:45
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Son of Man came to serve
and to give his life as a ransom for many.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
God didn’t need to become a man to have an easy, relaxing life. He could’ve done that in Heaven. He came to Earth to suffer for us.
Gospel
Mk 10:35-45
James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you."
He replied, "What do you wish me to do for you?"
They answered him, "Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left."
Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?"
They said to him, "We can."
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 or at my left is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared."
When the ten heard this, they became indignant at James and John. Jesus summoned them and said to them, "You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many."
A “cup” was a common metaphor in the Old Testament for the destiny God calls us to.1 Drinking the cup therefore means accepting God’s plan.
James and John didn’t know what that cup was, but they said they’d drink it anyway. I think there’s two ways of interpreting their response.2
First, we could assume that since they were being presumptuous in asking Jesus to sit at His sides, that they were also being presumptuous in saying they could “drink the cup” that Jesus drinks. They don’t know He’s talking about martyrdom; they’re just BS’ing their way through the conversation. “Yeah, sure, we’ll totally drink this cup of destiny, if it means sitting at your right hand.”
But there’s another, more positive way to view their response. They surely know “cup” means destiny. And now their rabbi asks them, in probably the most serious tone, if they can accept the same destiny as Himself. It was probably a nerve-racking experience. But they also trusted Him with their lives. If Jesus asks them to do something, even face their destinies, James and John will do it.
I wasn’t there, so I have no idea which really happened. Experience with human nature tells me the former, but still prefer the latter. I like the idea that their openness allowed Jesus to turn this into a teaching moment—we’re not meant to demand greatness; that’s not our cup to drink. It’s our job to serve, one another and the world, following in Jesus’s footsteps.
I could claim that, since my TMFS video essay is about interpretation, it relates to today’s Gospel, but I didn’t plan that at all.
