Suffer In Service
- Deacon Dan DeLuca
- Sep 24, 2022
- 4 min read
Service: it is at the heart of the Christian Life. Serving our fellow man out of Love of God and neighbor is something we are all called to do. Serving, when it feels good or is convenient is easy to do. However, our Lord calls us to a greater level or service, to embrace our cross, and serve even when it hurts, when if causes us to suffer, to suffer in service. In today’s Gospel, Jesus offers us a reminder of just how central suffering in service is, to the Christian way of life.
Jesus Again Foretells His Death
But while they were all marveling at everything he did, he said to his disciples, “Let these words sink into your ears; for the Son of man is to be delivered into the hands of men.” But they did not understand this saying, and it was concealed from them, that they should not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask him about this saying. Luke 9 : 43B-45
Scriptural Analysis
In this passage we are presented with the second prediction of Jesus’s Passion given to us in Luke’s Gospel. It is important to note when this takes place. Peter, John and James have just witnessed the transfiguration. They have come down from the mountain to an awaiting crowd. In the midst of the crowd was a man with his only son: a son possessed by a demon. The man had asked the disciples to drive out the daemon but they were unable to. Jesus’s response was to chide the disciples quoting from Deuteronomy, “they are a perverse and crooked generation.” (32:5)
An appropriate question to ask is why now. Why, after just revealing his Glory in the Transfiguration, does Jesus choose this time to predict his passion? St. Cyril of Alexandria provides a wonderful answer to that question, “The reason that led Christ to speak this, those who did not know the mystery that our Lord Jesus Christ would endure the cross and death would find therein an occasion of stumbling.” These two events, the Transfiguration and the Passion of Jesus, appear to be at odds with one another. How could this man we just saw in dazzling white alongside Elijah and Moses, now be hanging from a cross? These Passion predictions are what binds these events together. Perhaps as the disciples are in a state of confusion on Good Friday, reliving all of these miracles, somewhere in their mind they recalled these words of Jesus.
This passage opens with the crowd still marveling over what Jesus had done. This marveling is not an act of faith but of wonder over what they just witnessed. As Jesus prepares to predict his passion for the second time, he tells the disciples to pay attention, to “let these words sink into your ears.” A literal translation of the Greek is place these words in your ears. Jesus then tells the disciples that he must, “be delivered into the hands of men.” This language choice is extremely important. It borrows from Isaiah’s Fourth Servant Song about the suffering servant (52:13 – 53:12) Jesus is using this opportunity to tell the disciples he is the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy and that the Suffering Servant identity is central to the Messiah.
The disciples, who had just been chided for being weak in faith now also don’t understand the words of Jesus. The Gospel says it was “concealed from them.” The original Greek word, parakekalummenon, could be more accurately translated as, it was veiled from them. The ignorance of the disciples concerns understanding why the Messiah needed to suffer. Only after the resurrection can they fully understand the true nature of the Messiah. It should be no surprise that, after having just been scolded for being unable to drive out the demon, none of the disciples pressed Jesus for an explanation of what was said. It is also possible that the disciples are starting to get a glimpse of understanding of what may be in store for them: that they too would suffer.
Practical Application
Jesus’s identification with the suffering servant of Isaiah is strong in Luke’s Gospel. He take return to the comparison again in Chapter 22. This shows how central to the identify of Messiah, service is: especially suffering service. It is important for us to understand this: to come to terms with it. We are called to imitate Christ. As St. Peter writes in his first letter, “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.” (2:21) Note what Peter chooses to highlight here, suffering. Suffering for the sake of others is central to the Christian identity: to who Christ calls us to be.
Note that we are not called to seek out suffering for the sake of suffering. Christ did not run around asking to be arrested and crucified. What he did do was lovingly speak the truth, lovingly call those sound to follow him and do the same, and then lovingly accept God’s will for him including suffering. This is sacrificial love: sacrificing for the good of the other out of love.
How well, do we embrace the “suffering servant” identify of Christ? It is easy, when I have a few extra dollars, to give to the poor. However, am I willing to sacrifice, to suffer, so that I can give even more? Will I turn down the thermostat a few more degrees this winter, perhaps be cold at times, so that I can give more to those who can’t afford to even turn their furnace on? Will I swap out some of my usual meals for a simple plate of beans and rice so that I can give more to those who can’t even purchase a bag of rice? Will I stand in defense of the Gospel always, even if it means losing my job? Will I allow myself to be delivered into the hands of men?
Serve until it hurts and do it always all out of love of God and neighbor. When you do, one day, you may also join in the glory in heaven that awaits those who suffer in service of the Gospel.
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