The word of God today revolves
around the prophet and the authority embedded in every authentic prophetic
word. When there is a coincidence between a messenger and his message, one
cannot but accept the credibility and the authority in his word and message. In
the case of Jesus, his name corresponds with his message. For the name
Jesus in Hebrew is Joshua which means “God saves”. Therefore,
imbedded in his name are his identity and mission. His words are power-packed
for his authority comes from above. He is the Prophet per excellence!
The first Reading from the
book of Deuteronomy (Deut. 18:15-20), talks about a prophet to be sent
after Moses. First of all, who is a prophet? (One who speaks on behalf of
the other, somebody’s spokesman) So, a prophet of God is one who speaks on
behalf of God or in the name of God. In doing this, he might refer to past or
future events. But he is not merely a futurologist (someone who merely predicts
the future). Furthermore, it is not enough to speak in the name of God, such an
individual must be called by God and backed by His authority too.
This brings
us to the theme of AUTHORITY. A prophet does not preach or speak out of
his own accord, rather he is under the coverage of God’s authority. In this
passage, Moses assured the people of God’s provision of a prophet like him who
will speak the word of which he would be given. He therefore instructed the
people to listen to him as the words he would be speaking belongs to God.
Besides, a prophet is expected to speak only in the name of God and not in his
or in the name of other gods.
We may well presume that the
prophet referred to in the First Reading is Joshua, since he took over from
Moses and God also assured him that as He was with Moses his servant, He shall
also be with him (Joshua 1:5). This may not be a very wrong guess even
though it may not be exact. We may deem it plausible to say that the
prophet referred to in the First reading goes beyond Joshua. In fact,
prefiguratively, it accurately points to our Lord Jesus Christ who came as the
greatest of all the prophets and spoke in the name of God with authority, as
revealed in the Gospel reading. And there we go!
The Gospel passage (Mark
1:21b-28) presents the episode of the authoritative teaching of Jesus.
Jesus as particular to Mark enters the synagogue to teach, and Mark underscores
the power of Jesus’ teaching “like someone with authority”. Just as each one of
us goes to church or a place of worship to pray and to have an encounter,
similarly, Jesus went to the Synagogue and there he taught them. He taught them
with authority, and with the same authority he commanded the evil spirit to be
mute. The authority manifested in his teaching gained him the admiration,
fame and the amazement of those around. Indeed, he did capture the attention of
his listeners.
This passage follows the gospel reading of last Sunday,
therein after the call of the first disciples, Mark narrates that Jesus
embarked on his public ministry in Galilee. In his narrative, the first episode
Mark presents is an exorcism (Mk. 1:23-26). Mark emphasized on Jesus
teaching, but without indicating the content of that teaching. He says that he
taught as one having authority. The Greek word for authority is ‘exousia’,
which also has the connotation of power, especially in the context of miracle.
Indeed, Mark didn’t deny that Jesus displayed both authority and power in his
miracles. The exorcism must have followed as a demonstration of the power
of Jesus’ teaching with authority. His Word is deed!
Another important point
we must acknowledge today is drawn from the healing of the man with unclean
spirit as we read from the Gospel passage. We are told that the unclean
spirits recognized our Lord Jesus Christ and not only called him Jesus of Nazareth
but also the Holy One of God. On our part, as those who hear the prophetic
utterances do we recognize the Lord in his word and messages? Jesus teaches and
preaches without fear of anything or anybody, not even of evil spirits who know
and recognize Him. The evil spirits are afraid of Him, little wonder, the man
with unclean spirit cried out: “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?
Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are- the Hole one of God!” And
immediately Jesus rebuked and commanded him, “Quiet! Come out of him!” The
amazing question of the man with unclean spirit: Have you come to destroy us?
Yes! Jesus has come to destroy all that tends to destroy man! We remember
the episode where the disciples were sailing in the stormy lake of Galilee,
Jesus gave the same command: “Be silent” and immediately the sea was
calm (cf. Mk. 4:35-41).
St. Mark communicates to us that
the God revealed by Jesus is a God who brings life, liberation and healing and
not death. The episode between Jesus and the man with unclean spirit expresses
this fact eloquently. It is interesting the reaction of the man with unclean
spirit towards Jesus: “I know who you are”. The crowd described him as one
teaching with authority, which is seen in his authority over evil. Yet, the
crowd was not able to identify the source of this authority, if not the
possessed man who shouted “I know who you are-the holy one of God”.
However, his listeners noticed that there was something different from the
way, the tone and the style of Jesus’ teaching, compared to that of the
Scribes. Jesus speaks and talks from the heart, and as such his words
reach the heart of his listeners. His is a heart-to-heart communication. For
this, his listeners were able to notice that there is something extraordinary
in his teaching.
In the Gospel of Mark there
are twofold questions that permeate the whole corpus and continue to
linger, and they are: “who is this man? (Mk. 4:41); what is this? (Mk.
1:27)”The first question arises because of his person and his deeds, while the
second as we saw in this Gospel passage is just about his deeds and prodigies.
However, these two amazing questions point to the Marcan Messianic secret.
These questions continue until the moment of his death, when the roman soldier
who witnessed the passion and saw how Jesus died declared: “truly this man was
a son of God”(Mk. 15:39). Likewise, we need to recognize who Jesus is. He is
not an ordinary person, but the Holy one of God, the Son of God.
In the gospel
of Mark we are told that “whenever unclean spirits saw him they would fall down
before him and shout, “You are the Son of God”” (Mk. 3:11). Funny
enough, the messianic secret of Mark was revealed on a number of times by the
evil spirits. Even the evil spirits know and recognize Jesus as the Son of God.
Then, what should be the difference between our knowledge of Him and that of
the evil spirits? In Greek there are two major words that indicate knowledge: ‘gnosis’ and‘epignosis’, while gnosis alludes to
ordinary, head and idealistic knowledge, epignosis has to do with
real, practical and existential knowledge.
Thus, unless our knowledge of
him is existential and transformational, we risk remaining at the same
knowledge level with the unclean spirits. Indeed, it is the real and
self-involved knowledge of Him that will gain us eternal life. For this St.
John evinces “And eternal life is this: to know you, the only true God, and
Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (Jn. 17:3). This knowledge has to
change our life, else we risk being like the unclean spirits that know Jesus by
words of mouth, and not by deeds.
In the second reading (1
Cor.7:32-35) when some of the Corinthians were worried and anxious about
life, St. Paul encouraged them saying: “We must be free from anxiety”. And it
is only when we are immersed in the God-experience that we can be relieved
from anxieties and worries, whether married or not. St. Paul exhorts us to be
conscious of the call from God, so that we can have undivided devotion for
the Lord. He praises purity for the sake of God’s kingdom. He emphasizes that
married people are taken up by their worries of this world. By that, Paul does
not intend to condemn marriage. However, he stresses that celibacy places
someone in a better position to serve God.
Above all else, however, the
fascinating and soul southing good news of this day, is that when the word of
God inhabits in our heart, when God takes the driver-seat in our life, we too
can teach and speak with authority, as an offshoot from an authentic experience
with and in Jesus Christ. Beloved there are some areas of our life that we
need to dispose for the Lord to destroy them, just as the man with unclean
spirit cried out “have you come to destroy us?” It is only when he destroys
those aspects of us inhibited by evil and vices that we can be free and saved.
We cannot but conclude with the words of the Psalmist thus: “O that today you
would listen to his voice! Harden not your hearts” (Ps. 95:7-8).
*Contributed by Rev. Fr Simon Peter Dzungwe from Ibadan Archdiocese.
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