This scripture is a confrontation of temples aristocracy where the leadership assumed authority without question. Worldly authority replaces God with what we want; it is idolatry where people are worshiped for what they can offer not what God requires them to be. Worldly authority assumes the throne with all its comfort and forgets how temporal it is.
James and John misunderstood Jesus’ mission and instead thought that He was an earthly king to dish out positions to those who come first. Today positions are given out to people who have no qualifications, relatives and friends causing scandals because people serve to please their bosses and not God.
Jesus in this scripture addresses the disciples desire for power and prestige which is a strong characteristic of worldly authority. People who do not appreciate godly authority but work like the devil whose time is so limited.
They steal so fast, grow rapidly, misuse resources, collapse organizations but also hurry to go to prison because their riches are short lived. They use their authority to punish others, ambitious, rely on coercion and control, maintain dominance, self interest and self protection, they trample justice like the case of Herod and John the Baptist in Mark 6:14-29. They can do whatever it takes
to maintain their position even when it means killing or throwing others to prison. Today abductions, murders, crude punishments and infliction of pain is rampant in the name of maintaining one authority. Ungodly authority
manifests like in the situation of Pilate in Mark 14:53-15:15, where Pilate knew the truth but wished to maintain his authority by offering Jesus to be flogged and killed. Ungodly authority makes one release a thief like Barabbas to steal and kill at the expense of an innocent person. This authority is selective and segregative.
Godly authority however, is reflective of a child, vulnerable and powerless yet firm and true. Jesus shows in this scripture that His authority is not about self defense but glorification; He foregoes the power to control His destiny for the sake of saving all. Jesus’ death is the renunciation of earthly authority and privileges for the sake of listening to the utmost authority. Instead of loading it over, he off loads and makes the burden lighter. Jesus embodies His authority as an identity and an agent of the Father. The word ransom means a protest against unjust systems, He secures release of those captured by sin, it is a transactional payment made to satisfy the penalties and accusations by human sin. Jesus through His life pays for the sin He never committed. Jesus
did not give petty things like positions but drunk a cup of God’s wrath for us to experience forgiveness. Greatness is through service and not position. When you are busy with God’s work you have no time to look for position but the promotion finds you in service. The world seeks after authority and grabs it, Jesus models Christian service built on His character. Selflessness is the path to greatness.
The Very Rev. Canon Dr. Rebecca Nyegenye
PROVOST