Today's first reading, Wisdom 2: 12, 17-20, prophesies the death of Jesus. The author of Wisdom reveals the plot of the wicked to put Jesus to death: "Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us; he sets himself against our doings, reproaches us for transgressions of the law and charges us with violations of our training. Let us see whether his words be true; let us find out what will happen to him. For if the just one be the son of God, God will defend him and deliver him from the hand of his foes. With revilement and torture let us put the just one to the test that we may have poof of his gentleness and try his patience. Let us condemn him to a shameful death; for according to his own words, God will take care of him."
Note the statement "he sets himself against our doings", not against us! It's our behaviors with which Jesus is upset. We have violated the principles of our faith, our upbringing! That offends the Lord, our God, who has come to set us free! Knowing that he will be be handed over to evil persons and be condemned to death, Jesus, in today's Gospel, Mark 9: 30-37, shares these facts with the apostles. They do not get it and are too afraid to ask Jesus questions about the facts of His impending death. They resort to fighting among themselves about who is greatest in His Kingdom! How sad but how true it is that, frequently, we don't understand Jesus' teaching that "if anyone who wishes to be first, he [she] shall be last of all and the servant of all."
What am I desiring? For what positions am I striving? Whom am I serving?
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