An
Exegetical Reflection on the Gospel of theThirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time,
Year B, Mark 13:24-32, November 18, 2012
DISCIPLESHIP MEANS THE following of Jesus. In Mark, however, discipleship has a definite
reference—he is not just any Jesus. The
Jesus being followed or referred to is the Son of Man: “Whoever wishes to come
after me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow men… Whoever is
ashamed of me and of my words in this faithless and sinful generation, the Son
of Man will be ashamed of when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy
angels”(Mark 8:34b-38). But who is this
Jesus, the Son of Man?
In Mark’s Gospel, this Son
of Man who we follow in discipleship is, among others, the Jesus who must
suffer, is rejected and killed (Mark 9:31; 10:33), and who came not to be
served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for all (Mark
10:44b). As Son of Man, Jesus corrected
his disciples for their wrong perception of what following him meant. For example, he criticized Peter who, instead
of accepting the prospect of suffering and humiliation, thought of reviving
David’s conquest (Mark 8:33). It is also
for this reason that he silenced the brothers James and John, the sons of
Zebedee, who wished to occupy the prominent and prestigious places in the
kingdom of God (Mark 10:38a).
Jesus’
criticism of his disciples makes it clear that to follow Jesus as Son of Man is
rather costly. For judged in the light
of worldly standard, it brings problems, deprivation, and suffering. A review of the Gospel readings of the
preceding Sundays confirms this. The
rich man refused to follow Jesus. When
challenged to sell his property and give the money to the poor, his face fell
because he was rich. For him, he could
not suffer the loss of his wealth (Mark 10:23).
As can be seen in Jesus’ prohibition of divorce, it also deprives one of
his right to put away his wife for any cause (Mark 10:9). Discipleship also requires the giving up of
ambition to lord it over others; instead, it asks the follower to accept
suffering entailed in the ministry of service (Mark 10:38). Indeed, in one’s effort to call upon Jesus
and follow him, as in the case of Bartimaeus, one could meet opposition and
even attempts to silence him (Mark 10:48).
Does
all this mean that following Jesus as Son of Man has nothing in store for the
disciple except humiliation and defeat?
Not at all. In the end, there is
justification and triumph in discipleship.
Although the disciple may live in a world enveloped by trials,
difficulties and turmoil, he has a very certain consolation that the Son of Man he followed is coming
back to give him eternal life in the age to come, making him share in his power
and glory (see Mark 10:30). This is one point
which this Sunday’s Gospel stresses: “Then they will see the Son of Man coming
in the clouds, with great power and glory, and then he will send out the angels
and gather his elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end
of the sky” (Mark 13:26-27).
This
is to say that when Jesus comes as Son of Man, we who followed him in suffering
and even death will be victorious over the powers of evil and death. Structures of power and domination
represented by the stellar phenomena will be toppled: “The stars and constellations of the heavens
send forth no light. The sun is dark
when it rises, and the light of the moon does not shine. Thus I will punish the world for its evil and
the wicked for their guilt. I will put
and end to the pride of the arrogant, the insolence of tyrants I will humble”
(Isa 13:10-11). “Then the moon will
blush and the sun grow pale. For the
Lord of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, glorious in the sight
of his elders” (Isa 24:23). Or, in the
apocalyptic language of the 1st Reading, those who followed Jesus
“shall shine brightly like the splendor of the firmament”(Dan 12:3).
According to Mark, the
chosen ones will be gathered from the four winds (Mark 13:27). This assembly of the elect who have followed
the Son of Man fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah: “Fear not, for I am with you;
from the east I will bring back your descendants; from the west I will gather
you. I will say to the north: Give them
up! and to the south: Hold not back!
Bring back my sons from afar, and my daughters from the ends of the
earth: everyone who is named as mind, whom I created for my glory, whom I
formed and made” (Isa 43:5-6). This only
means that like the Son of Man, the people of the new covenant are vindicated.
The
point is obvious. Discipleship may be
costly, but in the end, a final victory over the forces of darkness awaits
those of us who followed the Son of Man.
Hence, we have much reason to take up the cause of discipleship.
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