Both readings appointed for this fifth and final weekend before the Great and Holy Week, remind us of the sacrifice that Jesus, God incarnate, made in order for us to understand the meaning and purpose of life. We again read from Paul’s Letter to the Hebrews, which speaks of the sacrifice of Jesus. After asserting that Christ is the new High Priest, he writes:

“how much more will the blood of Christ, who though the eternal spirit, offered himself up unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works to worship the living God”.

We are reminded that the up-and-coming Great Week reminds us that Jesus showed us how to worship God by offering Him our lives in the same way that Jesus did, that is with nobility and courage.

Our Gospel reading shares with us Jesus’ third teaching, according to Mark, of His Passion and Resurrection. Mark depicts Jesus as describing to His disciples what He anticipated was going to happen to Him in Jerusalem. It also includes, however, the ambition of James and John. The conclusion of Jesus’ remarks is notable. He says:

“Anyone among you who aspires to greatness must serve the rest. Whoever wants to rank first among you must serve the needs of all”.

 What a truly significant teaching! The Jesus WAY of living is to be of service to others, thinking about others before thinking about self.

This story also highlights the fact that, despite all that the disciples had observed during their time with Jesus, they seemed to have missed the point of His teaching. This is included in the Gospel, I believe, to remind us that it is not sufficient to just hear the teachings of Jesus! It is imperative that after we hear His teachings we attempt to understand them in terms of how they impact our lives. They are not meant to be just nice words without any real meaning.

This story reminds us that followers of Jesus are not people who are concerned just about future rewards but, rather, about making God’s Kingdom real right now.

Jesus clearly states that being of service to others IS the way that God’s Kingdom is made real. As service to others is the hallmark of Jesus’ life, it must also be of ours.

So, if we truly want to be followers of Jesus we cannot think about being first but, rather, about serving others. This is not always easy to do. We humans tend to be self-centered and prone to put ourselves first before others. Why? Because we feel we might otherwise be cheated.