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We see glimpses of both God Imminent and God Transcendent in the biblical texts for the 19th Sunday in Pentecost. The shroud of God-Transcendent comes from within the whirlwind of questions that God flings at Job, while the Hebrews writer focuses on the close identification that Jesus shares with humanity as a sort of high priest. In the gospel lesson, imminence and transcendence share space as the disciples who are intimate with Jesus’ life also discover that they are not on the same page about suffering and servanthood.

JOB 38:1-7 (34-41) - GOD SPEAKS TO JOB

"Where were you . . . ?" "Who defined . . . ?" "Have you ever . . .?" "Can you . . . ?" Questions that could only have come from a sufferer who has reflected on the nature of suffering have been raised through the book of Job yet have gone unanswered. But in a dramatic divine monologue, God turns the table and accosts Job with Creator-inspired questions. Such question defy easy, clever answers. God queries Job concerning knowledge of time and space and of the nature of things. (My translation includes thirty-four questions from the divine perspective that would make most heads swim.) Though the text gives no divine answer/s for suffering, the sheer immensity of creation-questions points to a Creator who is clearly in control and mysterious who watches us.

HEBREWS 5:1-10-JESUS THE HIGH PRIEST

Jesus Christ is considered by many to be the Prophet, Priest, and King par excellence. Such is the kind of discussion that the writer leads his listeners in as we come to Hebrews 5. Here Jesus is portrayed as the great High Priest who, on one hand parallels the general characteristics of the many high priests that had gone before him, but yet one who knows no equal. Like them, Jesus shares humanity and thus a certain kind of mortality; and like other high priests, Jesus is appointed rather than aspires to the office, and as other high priests have done, so Jesus also can identify with the weakness of humanity-we are prone to words, actions, and ambitions that establish our little kingdoms rather than God’s. But as the fulfiller of his High Priestly appointment, he has been honored as the source of eternal salvation.

MARK 10:35-45-AT IT AGAIN: POWER PLAY ON POWER

We’ve been following Jesus and the disciples as they make their way to Jerusalem "on the way." We now come to the third and longest passion prediction (10:32-34). On the heels of this foreboding toward suffering and death we see another development among the disciples. An ongoing discussion among the twelve has been the issues of power, authority, and status in Jesus’ new kingdom. This time the issue comes through two of the twelve who come with a request for a carte blanche freedom to honor their request. Matthew softens their approach by having mom intercede for her Zebedee dears. In either account, Jesus sees the request as inappropriate and tells them so, but in way that again places suffering before them. "Are you able to drink the cup . . . be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" he asks them. Ever confident of their abilities, the two affirm their deep commitment to cup and baptism. So does Jesus. But the impact of the conversation causes a rift among the remaining ten. The learning moment comes as Jesus confronts authority and the corruptive qualities of power. The closing word forms the gospel’s core of Jesus’ self-assessment: "For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many" (v. 45).