Scripture Study for
Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Isaiah 53:10–11 / Psalm 33:22 / Hebrews 4:14–16 / Mark 10:35–45 or 10:42–45
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Understanding the Word
By Dianne Bergant, C.S.A.
The role that God plays in suffering has long plagued religious people. The misfortune of sinners may be just punishment for their offenses, but the suffering of the righteous is always disturbing. In the reading from Isaiah, the servant gives himself as a sin offering; he endures his agony so that others can be justi fied. His death will win life for others, and in this way he will accomplish God’s will. The violence inflicted upon him is accepted, embraced, and put to rest. With the offering of this innocent scapegoat, reconciliation with God is accomplished.
In order to demonstrate Jesus’ preeminence, the author of the second reading compares him to the high priest. Just as the high priest passed through the curtain into the presence of God in the Holy of Holies, there to sprinkle sacrificial blood on the mercy seat, so Christ, exalted after shedding his own blood, passed through the heavens into the presence of God. His sacrifice far exceeds anything that the ritual performed by the high priest might have actually accomplished or hoped to accomplish. Unlike previous high priests who approached the mercy seat alone and only on the Day of Atonement, Christ enables each one of us to approach God, and to do so continually.
James and John seek places of prominence in Jesus’ kingdom and Jesus informs them that real prominence is found in service, not in wielding authority over others. The proclaimed willingness of the sons of Zebedee to accept the cup that Jesus will eventually drink and be baptized in his baptism is another example of their misunderstanding. Even if they had grasped the meaning of his words, they could hardly have imagined their implications. Since they believed that Jesus would reign in glory, they could certainly not conceive of his ignominious suffering and death. Jesus assures them that they will indeed face what he must face, but they will not do so willingly as they now presume they will.