Christ the Servant

The desire of many modern people is to become a director, president, manager, generally speaking someone important in society. It is about gaining prestige and a good salary. Similar desires sometimes arise in the Church. Having a better position in the community, exercising a more prominent function, having a higher office – these are the expectations of some, both some clergy and some laymen

Today, Jesus, the true Son of God, comes to be baptized in the Jordan. We hear the confirmation of Jesus' identity from a voice from heaven: "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." This testimony is done in the power of the Holy Spirit: "Behold, the heavens were opened for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon him". Let us add that it is not the case that it was only at the moment of His baptism in the Jordan that Jesus was declared to be the Son of God. Nor it is the first time the Holy Spirit came to Jesus. It all began at the moment of the Annunciation: it was then that the Holy Spirit descended on Mary and she conceived by the Holy Spirit. It was at that moment that the eternal Word took on human flesh. From that moment the humiliation of the Son of God began.

Then came the birth of Jesus in poverty and on the sidelines, followed by thirty years of hidden life in the family home in Nazareth. Now at the Jordan begins His open ministry. Jesus enters the scene of public life. It is not an entrance in the limelight of someone who wants to shine or someone who wants to showcase their capabilities and strength. As if to put it in modern language: it is not "the entrance of the star, celebrity".

At the beginning of Jesus' public ministry, the first to experience His humility was John the Baptist. He knew that the One who followed him was stronger than him and was not worthy to untie his sandals. John knew that it would be Jesus who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire (cf. Mt 3:11). And so was John all the more surprised when Jesus desired to be baptized by him; Baptism, which was, after all, a sign of repentance and conversion: "John stopped him, saying: I need baptism from you, and you come to me?" Jesus answered (and these are His first words recorded in the Gospel of Matthew): " Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”

Jesus comes as a servant who wants to fulfill righteousness. What do these words mean? Above all, Jesus wants to do God's will. Justice in Israel meant, above all, obedience to God. And it was God's will that the Son of God should come into the world to save it, to free it from sin. Jesus, in the humble gesture of being baptized by John, identified Himself with sinners. The fulfillment of righteousness also meant the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. Biblical scholars note that in the Gospel according to St. Matthew, the Greek verb "pleroo" ("to fulfill"), appearing in the text as many as sixteen times, in thirteen places occurs in the formula of fulfillment of prophecy or in statements in which the subject is prophecy.

Among the Old Testament prophecies about Jesus, Isaiah's prophecies about the mysterious Servant of Yahweh, the Servant of the Lord, play a special role. Isaiah left four songs about this Servant. We heard the first of these today in the first reading. "Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased " – these words indicate being chosen by God. "Upon whom I have put my spirit" – this phrase indicates the presence of the Spirit of God in the interior of the servant; "he shall bring forth justice to the nations" – At the same time, this humble servant has an important mission to accomplish: to bring God's law to earth. “he shall bring forth justice to the nations, not crying out, not shouting, not making his voice heard in the street. A bruised reed he shall not break, and a smoldering wick he shall not quench, until he establishes justice on the earth" – the Servant of Yahweh will carry out his mission humbly, patiently, taking into account human weakness. "He will unwaveringly bring the Law"—but he will do so consistently and persistently.

"He will not grow dim or be bruised until he establishes justice on the earth; the coastlands will wait for his teaching" – it will be arduous work, without visible effects, often misunderstood, and yet awaited (perhaps, sometimes unconsciously) by people and the world. "I, the LORD, have called you for justice, I have grasped you by the hand; I formed you" – in these words the word again speaks of God's election. "I set you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness." —here is a foreshadowing of the great and powerful possibilities of the servant of the Lord. This is what the Lord Jesus was like. He was the foretold Servant of Yahweh. His every word and every gesture confirms that He has fulfilled righteousness by fulfilling Isaiah's prophecy on Himself.

This is a great sign of Christians. Through the sacrament of Baptism, foreshadowed by John's baptism in the Jordan, Christians enter into a profound relationship with Jesus. The Christian life is to be a faithful fulfillment of justice, that is, a faithful fulfillment of one's life vocation in obedience to God's will. Spouses are to be faithful to their marriage vows, consecrated persons – to religious vows, priests – to priestly promises. The realization of these vocations requires humility, patience, perseverance and understanding, even in the midst of life's many hardships.

The figure of Christ the Servant calls us to meditate on the person of the One who perfectly fulfilled the will of the Father. Christ the Servant is the model for all.

Is it right, then, for a Christian to seek professional advancement, or is he allowed to occupy high positions? The answer is positive, although it requires more information. The path of promotion and career should always be in accordance with the fundamental vocation of life, even subordinated to it. We can never go against this calling: to be spouse, priest, religious person. Personal development is to be the humble multiplication of talents received from God. Occupying high positions in society and in the Church must always be linked to responsibility, either for the community entrusted to them or for the common good entrusted to them. It should be humble service in imitation of Christ the Servant.

Until Tomorrow

fr. george