Sunday Gospel Reflection, October 20, 2024: Can you drink the cup that I drink?

Can you drink the cup that I drink?
Do we really understand what our faith calls us to? 

   It must have been so difficult for Jesus to be misunderstood by so many people through his ministry on earth! Even those closest to him do not always understand where he is coming from… or where he is going. When, in Mark’s Gospel, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, come to Jesus and ask to sit one at his right and one at his left, Jesus must have been at the very least frustrated, if not despondent. Can you drink the cup that I drink? he asks them. Can you share my fate? Do you not realize that I have come to suffer, as the Suffering Servant in the Book of Isaiah, of whom it is said, the Lord was pleased to crush him in infirmity? 

   Jesus is that Servant, come to offer redemption on behalf of all people, giving us the opportunity to return to God, restoring our access to the Lord who loves us. His sacrifice, that of the great high priest who has passed through the heavens, as the Letter to the Hebrews says, compels us to hold fast to our confession, to hold firmly to our faith, to live up to what we believe. He, the ever-faithful Suffering Servant, gave his life as an offering for sin; through his suffering, he justified many, that all might seek to see the light in fullness of days, safe from the darkness of sin. Like Jesus’ disciples, we too must pass through death to life in him. 

    Jesus Christ is the source of our hope. Only through Christ can we receive mercy and find grace for timely help, the mercy and grace humankind has sought through all the ages, as Psalm 33 makes clear: Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you. Only when the eyes of the Lord are upon us and our eyes are clearly fixed upon him can we know the fullness of his mercy and the true joy of connection, a connection made possible by the sacrifice of the Servant who gave all, that we might have all, in him. 

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com