25th Sunday of OT B: Power to Elevate, Lift, Raise, Give Life
Dear sisters and brothers,
Today’s gospel continues where last Sunday’s left off, focusing on Jesus’ identity and its implications for his followers. Jesus continues to teach his disciples that he is the savior who saves not through warrior power but as the suffering servant of God – one who faces persecution, rejection, suffering, and death before rising in three days.
The Son of Man is to be handed over to men and they will kill him, and three days after his death the Son of Man will rise.
When he hears his disciples arguing about greatness, he clarifies that the greatest among them will be the one who elevates others. Jesus demonstrates what he means by an action – he receives a talya. The Aramaic word “talya” could be translated as child or servant.
If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all. … Whoever receives one talya such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.
In his action of embracing that talya, Jesus embraces all of us. Thus, to become a servant of servants is to become his true follower. His teaching and actions empower us to that end. That, in his name, we may elevate others. He gives us power to elevate, lift, raise, and give life.
In the second reading, James warns about another form of power, power that destroys. It comes not from Jesus but from selfish ambition and our passions. It is using power to assert ourselves.
There is much instruction here for us regarding our daily lives and dispositions. The power God gives us, whether as parents, neighbors, or colleagues, is power to elevate others, lift those who are down. We can do this in our speech, actions, attitudes, and decisions. Each time we do so, we measure up to greatness in the Kingdom of Christ.
The gospel challenges us to mortify our self-assertion, our passions, to become as James puts it:
“Peaceable, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without inconstancy or insincerity.”