Slave Freedom

In this episode, Fr Richard Healey delves into the Gospel of Mark, reflecting on Jesus’ journey towards Jerusalem and the profound themes of his ministry. He discusses Jesus’ predictions of his suffering and death, highlighting the disciples’ misunderstanding of his message about power and service. Fr Richard emphasises the importance of embracing a life of servanthood, as Jesus did, to experience true freedom and grace. He challenges us to shift our priorities from worldly success to serving others, reminding us that true greatness in the Christian faith comes from humility and selflessness. Join us in contemplating the cross and the call to servanthood.

00:00:00  So the gospel of Mark is, has been taking us on this great journey through the ministry of Jesus. But we’re on the 29th Sunday now. And so we’re coming to the very end of the gospel. Next week will be the final part, the healing of the blind man that we have at the end of chapter ten. Chapter 11 is the triumphant entry into Jerusalem. And so the last four Sundays of the year will all happen during Holy Week, during those last few days in Jerusalem. So the focus that the church is inviting us into is a reflection on the cross, to reflect on the passion and dying of Jesus. What happens when you think about the cross? What images come to mind? Are there certain hymns that we might know? Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Or one of the Taizé chants? Maybe it’s a favourite crucifix or cross that you have. Maybe it’s the end of your rosary beads and when you hold that cross, or maybe it’s a cross or crucifix that’s there on your wall at home, and it evokes all kinds of images and thoughts for you.

00:01:28  But remember, the cross is an instrument of torture. It was designed by the Roman Empire to be the very worst thing that they could do. You know, that whole experience of completely and utterly humiliating someone so that no one else seeing someone who had been crucified, would want to do anything that would step out of line. Because the cross, The crucifixion was such an awful punishment that no one willingly would go through it just before the gospel today. Jesus, for the third time, begins to tell the disciples about what is about to happen, what happens when they arrive in Jerusalem. And it’s the first kind of hint in the gospel of Mark that this is where the story is going. And when you read the Gospel of Luke from chapter nine, verse 51, when Jesus resolutely sets his face towards Jerusalem, and then for ten chapters there is this long journey towards Jerusalem. And again and again Luke reminds us that, oh, Jesus and the disciples are on the way to Jerusalem. But Mark isn’t structured like that.

00:02:51  Jerusalem kind of comes as a bit of a surprise, but here, that’s what the story is in chapter eight, verse 31, Jesus first foretold that he was going to die. He was going to suffer. And then what happens? Peter pulls him aside and begins to remonstrate, begins to try and cast out the demon that has got into Jesus to say that this was a good idea to be crucified. And Peter says, no, no, no, this can’t possibly happen to you. In the next chapter, in chapter nine of Mark’s Gospel, in verse 32 and 33, Jesus again begins to teach the disciples that this is what is going to happen. And then John says, hey, master, we heard someone teaching in your name, but he wasn’t part of our crew. So we tried to stop him. And now, for the third time here in chapter ten, verse 33 and 34, Jesus again teaches about what is going to happen and what happens? The two of the closest of the disciples.

00:04:01  So we’ve had Peter, we’ve had John, and now we have James and John all gathering together, and James and John completely missing the point, saying, hey, you know, you keep talking about the kingdom. You keep talking about coming into your power, into your throne. Well, we want to be there. We want to be part of that experience. We’re going to sit there at your right and left hands. We want to be part of of all of that and the experience of Jesus, of just the profound loss, the profound grief that even though it’s three times now that he’s just explained what is going to happen, that none of them, not even his inner circle, not even the ones that have been there at the the high points and the low points, the ones who have been there to experience the tenderness and the intimacy of the teaching of the life of Jesus that even Peter, James and John aren’t able to get it. And they instead say, hey, we want to be part of the power structure.

00:05:00  We want to rise. We want to ascend that that’s where this story is going. Even though we’ve just had the story about the rich man who wanted to enter into the kingdom, and what does Jesus say? You can only do that by emptying. You can only do that by letting go of your stuff, anything that’s in the way of life with God. Surrender that. Let go of that. Cut those ties so that you’re able to find this experience of freedom and life. But no: not only do the two ask this awful favour of Jesus, but the other ten feel indignant, probably because they weren’t the first to ask the question that they were wanting to take their places also there at the centre. And we get to what so many scholars say is the central teaching here in the gospel of Mark. Here at 1045, For the Son of Man did not come to be served, to be waited on, but to serve. Because this is all about this emptying that needs to happen. We heard it last week with the rich man about letting go of anything that is more important in our lives than God.

00:06:21  And now Jesus is saying, look, this is the only way that you’re going to experience freedom. So many of us say, yes, I believe in God. But then we look at our portfolio, we look at how much our house is now worth. We look at all of the other stuff that is, we think, not important. But that’s the thing that occupies so much of our focus, so much of our attention. But Jesus is saying no when it comes to the crux, when it comes to the heart of all of this. What is your attitude? Will you in fact be like a doulos? Like a slave? Will you in fact empty yourself? Will you in fact, open yourself to all that God has prepared for you? He wants the very best, but the only way that we can experience that is by letting go of anything that will get in the way of that. Anything that might prevent us from experiencing that full flourishing of life with God. That he’s inviting us into this freedom, into this truth, into this beauty.

00:07:24  But we need to do like Jesus did. There is no other way into the Kingdom than to become like the teacher, to become like the master, to become like Jesus. And he was the one who was the servant of all. He was the one who so faithfully and completely fulfilled the prophecy that we heard from Isaiah 53, that we will hear again on Good Friday in the 3pm service that is the fourth of the servant songs of the Lord. That all of those profound senses of what God is inviting us into is to worship the one who has offered himself so fully, who’s already paid every debt that is due. He’s paid the ransom for the poor, lost full of the multitude, for all of those who are opening themselves. There’s nothing in our criteria of what we have to do to earn this. It’s simply about grace. It’s simply about the God who is generously offering this gift and this grace to us. So today we again get to make this choice. Will we be like the disciples and strive for power, for glory, for prestige, for position? Will we be like them who just continue to be afraid and amazed rather than being faithful disciples.

00:08:52  Next week, we’ll hear about the blind man who got up and began to follow Jesus until this point. Most of the people that were healed by Jesus wanted to follow and he said, no, go back to your place, but we’ll hear of that man who begins to walk in the way of the disciples, to walk in the way of the kingdom. We’re all invited to do the same thing. To be part of this family, part of this community, part of a life where we surrender to him and we receive the gift of knowing that all of my junk, all of my guilt, all of my shame, all of my sin, all of that, that ransom has been paid and we can find our freedom. All we need to do is stop striving for everything else. Stop trying to find our way according to the way of the world, and simply live as servants in the way of the kingdom.