I believe the Holy Scriptures are true, that they were inspired by God in a way unique from anything else that is inspired by God. I believe that we as Christians are called to believe what the scriptures tell us and that we are called to pattern our lives according to the scriptures.
That being said, it isn’t always easy to know exactly what the witness of scripture is. First of all, there are all kinds of literature in the Bible: history, biography, poetry, apocalyptic, law, fiction, parable, metaphor, and so on. Once you figure out what kind of literature it is you’re reading in the Bible, it’s not always even then to know for sure that what you think it means is actually what the writer intended to say. I have devoted my life to studying the scriptures, as have countless others. Part of the challenge is in translation, for you often can’t translate exactly from one language to another without changing an important nuance of the original. The saying, “The Bible says it. I believe it. That settles it.,” may sound like a faithful statement, but it tends to generate more heat than light! If it were as easy as that, there wouldn’t be entire books written about a single doctrine in the Bible. Add to that the fact that any commentator on the scriptures has his or her own axe to grind in interpreting a verse in a particular way. And add to that the tradition of the Church in interpreting some parts of the Bible as being more significant than others in the way the Church orders its life. For instance, why don’t we have a foot washing ceremony every week rather than mass? It’s not an easy thing sometimes to interpret the Bible.
I’m saying this not to perplex and confuse you, but to suggest that the Word of God is not easily discerned by us human beings, and that we need always to approach the reading and study of scripture in humility. I’m also saying that because it’s all right to question what one reads in the Bible in light of our God given reason. Finally, we are not alone in interpreting the scriptures. The Holy Spirit guides the Church in the true interpretation of the scriptures, as our catechism states.
That leads me to today’s Gospel. I have always been perplexed at how dense the disciples were about Jesus’ predictions that he would suffer, die, and on the third day be raised. He tells them this not once, but three times, and they just don’t get it. Some modern commentators explain the problem away by saying the Gospel writers made these teachings up after the fact, basically putting words in Jesus’ mouth. I believe that Jesus knew why the Father sent him and that he wanted to prepare them for what would eventually occur, so that they could understand that his death was the plan. I believe Jesus said those words and that the Gospel writers intended to give an accurate account. I guess you might say my attitude, in this instance, and against what I said earlier, is “The Bible says it. I believe it. And that settles it!”
But that leaves us still with the problem, “Why don’t they understand?” The only answer I can come up with is that that end for the Messiah was so out of sync with their belief, based on generations of teaching about what the Messiah would be, that they just couldn’t adjust their perceptions. They had a particular mindset that the Messiah would be an earthly ruler, and they viewed everything Jesus said through that lens. John Milton, in Paradise Lost, said, “The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven.” Their minds blinded them to the reality Jesus was conveying, so that they could only grasp its reality once it had been fulfilled.
In this second prediction Jesus gave while they were walking to Capernaum, their response to his prediction was a lack of understanding first of all, and secondly, Jesus’ reference to his purpose in coming led them to discuss who among them was the greatest. They were following Jesus because they thought they would all be given special places of authority in Jesus’ new, earthly kingdom.
Once they reached Capernaum, Jesus asked the disciples what they had been discussing on the way. His question was met with dead silence. They knew their discussion had been inappropriate, so Jesus used this opportunity to teach them what it really meant to follow him. “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”
Like the disciples, it is part of our fallen nature to think that greatness consists in being served, in grasping all that we can get, rather than in giving al that we can give; in living life for our own pleasure, rather than in dying to self and giving ourselves for others. Yet Jesus tells us, as he told his disciples, that true greatness, true happiness, is only to be found in service to God and to our fellow human beings. This is certainly the meaning of all of the crosses in our churches, our homes, our processions, and even on our own bodies.
As hard as it is to take on this attitude of service, we realize the truth in it. We know that the truly great leader is one who serves, whether we’re talking about the head of the ushers or the President of the United States. We gladly give our allegiance to someone in authority if that person is a person who listens to the needs and wants of those in his or her charge. On the other hand, the person who is very gifted, with all of the charm in the world, but who is self-serving, has a difficult time gaining the cooperation of those he or she is supposed to serve.
I pray for this kind of greatness in my own life. I see this kind of greatness in your lives. Jesus wants Redeemer to be a great parish, a parish that serves, a parish that dies to itself. Many look at us from outside and see Redeemer as a great parish, and it is precisely because we are a parish that serves our community and many places beyond our community. I thank you for that, for while there is a lot of room for interpretation of the scriptures, the clear message of our Lord in the scriptures is this kind of greatness. The Bible says it. I believe it. The Church believes it.