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Morning Devotion for the Season of Lent
March 12, 2025
Gregory the Great
Mark 10:42-45
So Jesus called them and said to them, ‘You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.’
Meditation by Jeremy O’Neill
The Gospel of Mark is known for its clarity and brevity, and I think this passage is a great example of that. It serves as a searing indictment of political power while also showing a new way forward for the newfound followers of the Jesus Movement.
The relationship between earthly rulers and those under their leadership is explored frequently in scripture, and both Old and New Testaments give warnings on placing more trust in political leaders than we do in God. In the 8th chapter of 1st Samuel the people choose to have a king to be “like the other nations” as a departure from being led by prophets and considering God to be their ruler. Even when God warns them of the potential baggage that comes with having a king, the people insist that they know best and they deny God in favor of their king.
Similarly, in the Passion Narrative in John, the chief priests exclaim “we have no king but Caesar” as a refutation of Jesus’s authority as he is being crucified. And yet God is still present with us through our consistent denial of God in favor of other authorities. Even looking beyond any trust or idolatry (or lack thereof) of the rulers of our generation, there are still plenty of other things we allow to govern us before we place our trust in God – wealth, self-interests, popularity, and many other factors - take control of our lives and distract us from our higher calling.
This passage from Mark is not just about encouraging rulers to be more benevolent and Christ-like in how they execute their power – although that would certainly be nice in many cases. It is about reordering our understanding of trust and power and reorienting ourselves towards God and towards our communities rather than towards ourselves and towards our rulers.
This is a perfect passage to come up in Lent. Lent invites us into the practice of loosening our attachment to things which distract us from God. It is also a season of examining our own futility and recognizing that we need God more than our pride or hubris want us to believe. In that recognition that “God is in power” we must also recognize that as we proclaim that while God celebrates with all of humanity God also suffers with all of humanity. Just because God is powerful does not mean God is without pain or fear or anger or frustration – all feelings many of us and many people whom we love may be feeling.
Addressing the political reality of this country, journalist Sierra Lyons writes: “God is still on the throne…But Christians may still find themselves disappointed with world systems and governments and the impact policies will have directly on them and their communities. To point out that God is still God can undercut that God is Emmanuel — with us, even in our pain.”
I do not normally address the readership in my meditations, but I shall break from tradition: If you are reading this, I pray that you will feel God’s presence in all that you undertake today. God is with you in your joy, in your comfort, in your celebration, in your sadness, in your anger, in your disappointment, in all of your feelings and in whatever large or small events things you will do today. God is still on the throne, but that doesn’t mean that God doesn’t still have time to be with you.
Prayer
Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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