Commentary on the Gospel of
The one who most resembles Christ
“The Son of Man will be delivered into the hands of men.” What a profound image of love—God the lover surrenders himself into the hands of his beloved, even if it means enduring rejection, torture, and death. The depth of his love is such that he has no other way to express it than to offer himself to his beloved. This is the incredible act of love that God has performed: He willingly placed himself in the hands of humanity, fully aware of the pain they would inflict upon him.
The disciples, like us, grapple with understanding this love of the Lord. How do we comprehend the defeat and even the death of the Messiah? They are unable to accept the scandal of the passion of the Messiah. Still, they continue to follow him to Jerusalem, but of course, with dreams totally opposed to those of Jesus. Centuries later, unfortunately, we continue to maintain similar aspirations of the disciples of Jesus and fight with one another for recognition, acceptance and power, positions and prestige.
“Whoever would be first among you must be the last and the servant of all.” This criterion is for evaluating the self, not judging someone else. Jesus did not say, “If your neighbour wants to be first, let him be the servant!” We have to be careful to avoid judgmental looks. In God’s eyes, the greatest is the one who most resembles Christ, who is the servant of all (Lk22:27).
Do I harbour resentments, jealousies, and conflicts in my heart? What impact do they have on my personal life, my family, my community?
