TO BE OR NOT TO BE LIKE THE MESSIAH.

TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME. YEAR B.
September 13, 2009.
(First Reading: Isaiah 50:4-9) (Second Reading: James 2:14-18)
(Gospel Reading: Mark 8:27-35)


TO BE OR NOT TO BE
LIKE THE MESSIAH

Behold a fateful decision: To be or not to be like the Messiah.

1. Not To Be Like the Messiah.
Not to be like the Messiah means to be successful according to worldly standards, to obtain power, riches, wealth, superiority at the expense of other human beings.

The world in which the Lord Jesus lived (like our present world) was dominated by powerful people, abusive authorities, aggressive rulers, it was riddle by violence among human beings.

Those who are messiahs according to worldly standards will inevitably fail to see and denounce the injustice and oppression that comes from the world's status quo, from the sinfulness of the world.

The worldly "messiahs" do lead seemingly successful lives, they enjoy their own "prosperity", their own "justice", their own "wealth"; even though they are directly or indirectly responsible for the injustices inflicted upon other human beings.

The worldly messiahs boast in displaying the opulent side of their life, but hide the injustice and destruction caused upon others. Because disclosure will bring discredit to the worldly messiahs.

Those who want to save their lives by becoming worldly messiahs will end up loosing it, for they destroy life instead of building it. The gospel reminds us of that when it says, "whoever would save his life, will lose it" (Mark 8:35).

2. To be like the Messiah(1).
It means to place oneself in a position of radical departure from the powers, authorities, and dominions of the world, from the worldly "messiahs". Jesus demonstrates with his life that he comes to redeem mankind from the injustices and oppression of a sinful world. Jesus does so not only by placing himself among those who suffer injustice and oppression, but, more importantly, by becoming one of them.

Anyone who decides to become a messiah in the line of Jesus, must take upon himself the suffering of being rejected, of being misunderstood, of being falsely accused, of being the victim of a conspiracy, even of being put to death.

Like Jesus, anyone who follows his messiahship will expose the destructive power of evil, the sinfulness of the world. And finally, he will rise, with Jesus; he will demonstrate that he is more powerful than the worldly messiahs, more powerful than death.

Humankind must decide: To be or not to be!
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Note:
(1) To be against injustice, war, destruction, oppression and all the maladies of the world does not take away the divine Messiahship of Jesus. It is precisely because he is against those maladies of human society that he is the Messiah. The notion that Jesus, the Messiah, is not involved in peace and justice in the world, is totally wrong.
It is a funddamental tenant of the Christian faith that Jesus is not a messiah in the line of the "messiahs of the world", because if he had been one of them, he would have opted for the use of war, destruction and all the methods of the world in order to liberate Israel.
To fight against injustice, war and all the maladies of human society, Jesús used the methods of God, for that reason he is the true Messiah.