THE SALVIFIC SIGNIFICANCE OF JESUS’ DEATH

20160525 THE SALVIFIC SIGNIFICANCE OF JESUS’ DEATH

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: Green.

First reading

1 Peter 1:18-25 ©

Remember, the ransom that was paid to free you from the useless way of life your ancestors handed down was not paid in anything corruptible, neither in silver nor gold, but in the precious blood of a lamb without spot or stain, namely Christ; who, though known since before the world was made, has been revealed only in our time, the end of the ages, for your sake. 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.

  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. All flesh is grass and its glory like the wild flower’s. The grass withers, the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains for ever. What is this word? It is the Good News that has been brought to you.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 147:12-15,19-20

Gospel Acclamation

1Jn2:5

Alleluia, alleluia!

Whenever anyone obeys what Christ has said,

God’s love comes to perfection in him.

Alleluia!

Or

Mk10:45

Alleluia, alleluia!

The Son of Man came to serve,

and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Mark 10:32-45 ©

The disciples were on the road, going up to Jerusalem; Jesus was walking on ahead of them; they were in a daze, and those who followed were apprehensive. 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.’

  James and John, the sons of Zebedee, approached him. ‘Master,’ they said to him ‘we want you to do us a favour.’ He said to them, ‘What is it you want me to do for you?’ They said to him, ‘Allow us to sit one at your right hand and the other at your left in your glory.’ ‘You do not know what you are asking’ Jesus said to them. ‘Can you drink the cup that I must drink, or be baptised with the baptism with which I must be baptised?’ They replied, ‘We can.’ Jesus said to them, ‘The cup that I must drink you shall drink, and with the baptism with which I must be baptised you shall be baptised, but as for seats at my right hand or my left, these are not mine to grant; they belong to those to whom they have been allotted.’

  When the other ten heard this they began to feel indignant with James and John, so Jesus called them to him and said to them, ‘You know that among the pagans their so-called rulers lord it over them, and their great men make their authority felt. This is not to happen among you. No; anyone who wants to become great among you must be your servant, and anyone who wants to be first among you must be slave to all. 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.’

THE SALVIFIC SIGNIFICANCE OF JESUS’ DEATH

SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ 1 PT 1:18-25; MK 10:32-45  ]

The single most important word that is common to both readings is the consensus of the early Christians that Christ has given His life as a ransom to free us and to save us.  What precisely is the nature of this ransom of Jesus?  Theology students would know that this ransom is paid to no one, surely not the devil, nor to the Father.  The ransom paid by Jesus therefore must be understood figuratively or analogously.

The ransom paid by Jesus, according to St Peter, the author of today’s scripture text, is to free us from the useless way of life.  This futile way of life is, according to the gospel, our pursuit of glory, power and status.  Indeed, the apostles of Jesus, including James and John, were following Him for very low motives.  They had the messianic hope that Jesus would be the political messiah for Israel; and their association with Jesus would bring them personal gains.

But the truth is that such pursuits cannot bring them real happiness, for, as the first reading tells us, all humankind is grass and the glory of men is like the flowers of the field.  Success or material achievements cannot bring us lasting happiness.  Indeed, they are so unfulfilling and even frustrating.  We all know this from our daily experiences.  Consider those times when we did well in our exams, or when we won in a soccer game, or when we completed a project well, how long did our happiness last?  Not more than a few hours and after that we are back to our grumpy self again.  And then we have to start looking for other achievements to bring us happiness.  Truly, if our happiness is dependent on success in our projects and in our ministry, we are a most miserable people.

So what is it that brings us real and lasting happiness?  Simply this: when we realize that the way of the world is a futile way of living.  That is to say, when we see clearly that success and glory do not determine our happiness, but service in love.  Once that is clear, we will not hanker after success.  When we do everything for love and in love, it does not really matter whether we are successful or not.  Thus if we had studied hard for our exams with an attitude of love, so that we might be of better service to humanity and joy to those we love, then how well we do should not affect our happiness very much, because we would have given our best.  Our happiness cannot be dependent on the outcome of what we do; but it should be derived from the joy of giving ourselves to whatever we do.

In this sense, the early Christians understood the death of Jesus on the cross as a ransom, that is, the price of showing us concretely that happiness is not found in serving oneself, but serving God and our fellow human beings even unto death.  His death was also the price that Jesus paid to remind us that what is failure to us is success to God; and what is success to us, is failure to Him.  Jesus perceived this truth well.   Jesus realized that what was important for Him was not success in His Father’s mission, but fidelity to His Father’s mission. It did not matter if the mission was a failure, so long as it was what the Father wanted of Him.  It was His obedience and fidelity to the Father’s will that brought Him the greatest joy in His mission.  Indeed, the lasting joy of Jesus did not come from serving Himself but His Father and humankind.  It was not important for Jesus what the outcome would be, what was important was that He did all for the love of the Father and humankind.

Yes, today the scripture readings invite us to purify ourselves so that we might have a genuine love for our fellow human beings.  We can be sure that when we look deeply into ourselves, our motives for serving God and others, we are no better than the disciples who were seeking for position and power.  But like them, we need time to purify our motives for service.  And Jesus understands this and that is why He is so patient with us.  We need Him and His Word to continue to purge and purify us, until we can one day truly give our lives like Him in ransom as a sacrifice for others by living the selfless life of Jesus, discounting what personal gains we might get in return.  Like Jesus, we are called to serve and not to be served.

Written by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved