8 March 2023 – Matthew 20:17-28
In the Gospel, Jesus takes his disciples aside to let them know what is about to happen to him. This is, in fact, the third time he speaks about it, and it is the most detailed of the Passion predictions.
Today’s Gospel, in addition to the third announcement of the Passion (Mt 20:17-19), presents the request of the mother of the sons of Zebedee (Mt 20:20-23) and the discussion of the disciples to occupy the first place (Mt 20:24-28) as
as if the kingdom of heaven were a company that procures collaborators. Jesus is quite harsh with both her and the two sons, it is not for Him to decide on this, for God will be the just Judge, it is up to God to have the last word.
Finally, Jesus defines the purpose of His mission and life: “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve!” Thus, the task of His disciples is not to rule, command, judge or condemn, but to SERVE, OBEY, LOVE AND FORGIVE, certainly the opposite of what they imagined!
The greatness of the Christian is HUMILITY and not power, for otherwise we would all be idolaters and God would be our subject.
Jesus himself taught us this:
SERVE: “Whoever wants to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you shall be your slave. Like the son of man … who came to serve.” (Lk 22:27);
OBEY: “Whether it is right in the sight of God to obey you rather than him, judge for yourselves; we cannot be silent about what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:19-20);
LOVE: “This is my commandment: that you love one another, as I have loved you” (Jn 15:12);
FORGIVE: “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother if he sins against me? Up to seven times?” And Jesus answered him: “I do not say to you up to seven, but up to seventy times seven” (Mt 18:21, 22).
Based on these principles, we can now better understand who can “sit at the right hand of the Father”, for “Not everyone who says, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Mt 7:21).
For good workers…
▪ The Lord tells us that to keep on the right path, one must put oneself in a position of service. This helps us to turn our attention away from ourselves and our own particular needs and to put our energies at the service of our brothers and sisters. Not to be better than others but because, in this way, life takes on that characteristic of service that makes it full of meaning, for us and for others.
▪ I came to serve and not to be served. This is the absolute novelty that Jesus revealed to us: God does not keep the world at His feet, it is He who puts Himself at the feet of all. God is the great servant, not the master. For He is Love.
P JOBY KAVUNGAL RCJ