Humility and Paschal Mystery of Jesus - Wednesday of the Second Week of Lent

In Matthew’s Gospel, from chapter 19 on, Jesus and his disciples were in Judea, moved from Galilee, and they were going to Jerusalem. Matthew describes Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem in 21:1-11, which we read for the Palm Sunday (Passion Sunday) procession to start Mass. With this context in mind, we can see that the Gospel Reading of Wednesday of the Second Week of Lent (Matthew 20:17-28) depicts Jesus’ activity as he was nearing Jerusalem – as his passion into death on the Cross would take place in less than a month. And it makes sense to read this Gospel narrative on Wednesday of the Second Week of Lent because we will enter Holy Week in less than a month.

The Gospel Reading (Matthew 20:17-28) has mainly two parts: Jesus’ third prediction of his suffering, death, and resurrection (vv. 17-19), and Jesus’ teaching of humility and servantship in response to the mother of James and John asking Jesus a special favor for her sons (vv. 20-28).

The first sentence of the Gospel Reading says, “As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem” (Matthew 20:17), signaling that Jesus, accompanied by his disciples, was coming nearer to Jerusalem to fulfill the will of the Father on him (Matthew 26:39//Mark 14:36//Luke 22:42; cf. John 6:38).

Thus said our Lord Jesus:

Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day (Matthew 20:18-19).

This is Jesus’ third foretelling of his passion, death, and resurrection, to his disciples, indicating that he was to fulfill what had been prophesized in Isaiah 53:1-12. Though Matthew did not describe how the disciples reacted to this, Luke wrote:

But they understood nothing of this; the word remained hidden from them and they failed to comprehend what he said (Luke 18:34).

Note that this is the third time that Jesus foretold of his suffering, death, and resurrection to his disciples. But, the disciples still had no idea about what Jesus meant by this. And Jesus was about to go through all of these in less than a month up in Jerusalem.

Jesus first foretold of his suffering, death, and resurrection in Jerusalem (Matthew 16:21) was six days before his Transfiguration (in Luke, about eight days – Luke 9:28)(Matthew 17:1). Jesus let Pete, James, and John, witness his Transfiguration in the hope that they would come to understand why he just predicted his suffering, death, and resurrection, emphasizing the resurrection, which is prefigured in the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-8), because mainly Peter did not understand and therefore protested the prospect of his death in Jerusalem (Matthew 16:22).

Peter was the one, whom Jesus gave the keys to the Kingdom of heaven, giving him a special authority (Matthew 16:18-20), as the vicar of Christ, to be installed as the first Pope upon the birth of his Church on Pentecost. Thus, Jesus really wanted Peter to understand the significance of his suffering, death, and resurrection. For him to also bring James and John, together with Peter, was that Jesus already knew that James was to be the first to give a witness with blood to Christ and his truth, namely, to be the first Apostle to be martyred for the sake of Christ, his truth, and his Church (Acts 12:2 ). As for his brother, John, Jesus knew that he was to live until the revelation of the Kingdom (Matthew 16:28), and, Jesus revealed the Kingdom to John so that he could write it in the Book of Revelation (Apocalypse).

While Jesus and his disciples were still in Galilee, Jesus foretold of his suffering, death, and resurrection for the second time (Matthew 17:22-23a). In terms of the disciples’ reaction, Matthew describes that they were overwhelmed with grief (Matthew 17:23b), Mark depicts that they did not understand and were afraid to ask Jesus a question on that matter (Mark 9:32).  And Luke writes that the disciples did not understand because what Jesus meant by foretelling of his suffering, death, and resurrection was “hidden” from them, indicating that they were not yet ready to grasp it (Luke 9:51). As they were still in Galilee, the disciples’ faculty to understand the Paschal Mystery of Jesus, his Christological nature, was still premature to understand. The fact that they could not comprehend the meaning of Jesus’ empty tomb in the morning of his resurrection (Luke 24:9-11; John 20:3-9)  and even when the risen Jesus was standing in front of them (Luke 24:13-31;36-45; John  20:11-17, 24-29 ) reminds how difficult it was for them to come to terms with Jesus’ Paschal Mystery, which is comprised of his part of his Christological nature (e.g. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 654, 1067).

So, at the empty tomb, two angels in dazzling garments (Luke 24:4) told the women (Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James; the others who accompanied Jesus and the Apostles, from Galilee (Luke 24:10), who also prepare the corpse of Jesus for burial according to the Law (Luke 23:55-56):

He is not here, but he has been raised. Remember what he said to you while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners and be crucified, and rise on the third day (Luke 24:6-7).

Note that the dazzling garments worn by the two angels at the empty tomb (Luke 24:4) evoke Jesus’ clothes turned dazzling white at his transfiguration (Mark 9:3//Luke 9:29). Thus, the transfiguration of Jesus (Matthew 17:1–8//Mark 9:2–8//Luke 9:28–36) points to the resurrection.

And, risen Jesus said to two disciples, who did not recognize him, on their way to Emmaus:

Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into his glory?   Luke 24:25-26

Furthermore, risen Jesus said to the disciples in the upper room, after eating fish to prove that he was not a ghost:

These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled.

Thus it is written that the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high (Luke 24:44, 46-49).

Now, think how many times that Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection, were mentioned from the day of Peter’s Christological identification of Jesus in  Caesarea Philipp, before starting his final journey to Jerusalem (e.g. Matthew L16:13-23), until the evening of the day of the resurrection in Jerusalem (Luke 24:28-49).

At least, the disciples come to comprehend the meaning of Jesus’ foretelling of his suffering, death, and resurrection, before his ascension – though they were not able to do so before his suffering, death, and resurrection.

Now, as for the mother of James and John asking Jesus to elevate her sons’ status above the rest of the disciples by putting one son at his right and the other at his left in his Kingdom (Matthew 20:20-21), think why she was so bold to do such a thing to Jesus for her sons.

Note that the mother of James and John said, “in your Kingdom”(v. 21).

This indicates that not only she but her sons, as well as, the rest of the disciples, thought of Jesus’ messianic/Christological identity, which Peter proclaimed with the divine help (Matthew 16:16-18), as in political kingship strong enough to defeat Caesar, to liberate the Israelites from the Roman rule. Their line of thought of Christ as the divinely anointed political king was, perhaps, based on their interpretation of prophecies on the messiah as the everlasting Davidic king (e.g. 2 Samuel 7:5-17; cf. Isaiah 2:2-5; 9:1-7;11:1-16; cf. Psalm 2:1-11; cf. Zechariah 9:9-10). Knowing that her sons were disciples of this political messiah king, the mother of James and John, wanted Jesus to give higher positions in his political cabinet when his Kingdom was established.

In fact, the thought of Jesus as a political king was dangerous. It was used against Jesus by the Sanhedrin to press charges against him as a threat to Caesar and the Roman Empire in order to have Pilate the Roman governor execute him (Luke 23:1–49). So, Pilate inscribed on Jesus’ Cross: Iēsus Nazarēnus, Rēx Iūdaeōrum, which means, Jesus the Nazorean, the King of the Jews (John 19:19).

And the two disciples, who did not recognize risen Jesus on their way to Emmaus until he broke the bread also thought of him as a political messiah:

The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over to a sentence of death and crucified him. But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel; and besides all this, it is now the third day since this took place (Luke 24:19b-21).

Those who had thought of Jesus as a political messiah king were certainly disappointed about him, as in the case of these two disciples. In this regard, the mother of James and John would have been disappointed for asking him a favor for her sons – because Jesus’ Christological identity was not a political messianic king. His redemptive work, which is accomplished through his Paschal Mystery (i.e. Catechism of the Catholic Church 654), was not to redeem Israel from the Roman rule, but redeem the faithful of all nations to his Kingdom from the sinful world, corrupted by the Original Sin and its consequences.

The power and authority of Jesus in his messianic, Christological nature, is not geopolitical as to strike Caesar. Rather, it is to establish his Kingdom, into which he redeems the faithful. And his Kingdom is not a worldly political one, as Pilate had wondered and as many had thought. So, Jesus explained to Pilate during his trial:

My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here (John 18:36).

Though his Kingdom does not belong to this world but heavenly in its nature, Jesus is the King. But, he is not an arrogant ruler, like many earthly kings. He is not a hypocritical leader, like the scribes and the Pharisees and many rulers, whom God called “princes of Sodom” (Isaiah 1:10).

In fact, Jesus is the humble messiah King and prophet, as he rode on a donkey to enter Jerusalem in fulfilling Zechariah 9:9 (Matthew 21:1-11). He did not come to Jerusalem with a chariot. As a matter of fact, he is a humble servant leader, who calls his disciples and all faithful people to be humble to enter his Kingdom.

This is why Jesus spoke about humility (Matthew 20:26-27), after challenging James and John to be able to drink the cup of passion that he was to drink (Matthew 20:22).

A motive to sit right and left to Jesus’ kingly throne reflects a sinful desire for earthly power and status. To have distinguished honor in his discipleship requires martyrdom. This is why Jesus said to James and John, who said that they could drink from Jesus’ cup of suffering out of their ignorance (Matthew 20:22):

My cup you will indeed drink, but to sit at my right and at my left, this is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father (Matthew 20:23).

In this, Jesus foretold James’ martyrdom, saying that he, too, would drink the cup of suffering, following Jesus. However, he made it clear that it is not Jesus to prepare the cup of suffering and to decide who is to drink. It is the Father to decide.

In the meantime, the rest of the disciples grew indignant at James and John, because, they were jealous of the prospect of these two to be elevated, as their mother asked Jesus (Matthew 20:24). This indicates that they also thought of Jesus as the political messiah king. And this is typical human thinking in need of divine wisdom in Jesus’ words of teaching through the Holy Spirit.

Sensing that the bottom line of the problem of the situation was the disciples’ lack of humility due to their earthly and worldly thinking, inability to think like him, Jesus taught that they were not to practice the kind of leadership, which the spiritually ignorant rulers of the gentile world practice (Matthew 20:25-26a).

So Jesus said to the disciples:

Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave (Matthew 20:26b-27).

What the disciples needed to understand what it means to be his disciple was humility. This is why he spoke of this virtue later again in Jerusalem:

The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted (Matthew 23:11-12).

This is a part of the Gospel Reading of Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent (Matthew 23:1-12). Thus, reading and reflecting on humility two days in a row tells how important it is to be humble. It is because a lack of humility leads to various sins, including arrogance, greed, hypocrisy, as reflected in the seven woes against the Pharisees and the scribes by Jesus (Matthew 23:13-36).

Then, Jesus spoke of himself:

Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28).

Just as his disciples are to be humble, though he is the King, Jesus himself is also a humble servant to give his life to redeem from the bonds of sins into his Kingdom. And it is important to understand that his Paschal Mystery: his suffering, death, and resurrection, which he foretold his disciples three times, is grounded in his humility. Because of his humility, Jesus can serve the Father’s will to redeem us – even he was to go through suffering and death.

For this, being humble and loyal to the Father, Jesus did not resist to evil forces against him – so that all the messianic prophecies are fulfilled, while the Law is also fulfilled (i.e. Matthew 5:17).

Because of this, Jesus did not complain about going through his suffering and death for the consummation of the Paschal Mystery – though his suffering was like Jeremiah’s persecution, which is reflected in the First Reading (Jeremiah 18:18-20), the righteous being attacked by the evil. To endure suffering in facing persecution, we humbly ask for God’s providence, as David did, reflected in the Responsorial Psalm (31:5-6, 14, 15-16).

Let us make and keep ourselves humble as our Lenten journey continues on to "Jerusalem", where we witness passion, death, resurrection, and ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ, so that we can better understand the Christological nature of his Paschal Mystery. We learn from the Gospel Reading (Matthew 20:17-28) that humility is an essential aspect of Jesus’ Christological nature and that he calls us to be humble servants as he is.