4th Sun of Year: Year B

DOCTRINE AND FAITH

(Deut 18,15-20; ; 1Cor 7,32-35; Mark 1,21-28: 4th Sun of Year: Year B)

The first question one asks about today’s gospel passage is what does the Evangelist Mark wish to convey by this narrative? One of the remarkable points of the narrative is that the action of Jesus struck the observers as extraordinary. The gospel bears witness to this eloquently as we read: The people were astonished that they started asking each other what it all meant.  “Here is a teaching that is new”, they said “and with authority behind it. Therefore, Mark wishes to use Jesus first miracle at Capernaum to demonstrate that Jesus teaches with authority and to bring to fore the novelty of his teaching. 

One would ask in what consists this teaching authority of Christ? Listening to Jesus teach in the Synagogue, his audience must have noticed that he did not use the method of the Scribes, experts in Law, who supported their teaching by appealing to the interpretations of their learned predecessors. But Jesus appealed to neither present expert nor that of the past. He spoke in his name, appealing to his personal authority as the One sent by God, using such terms as I tell you solemnly; In truth I tell you; and you were told by your forefathers but I do tell you! Jesus’ speaking with authority would also mean that His words were coherent with his actions, he accompanied his words with corresponding way of life which was according to the mind and wish of God, the Father. He also confirmed his words by miracles or signs which demonstrated that God was with him. An example of this is the episode of today’s gospel reading. Jesus worked a miracle of liberation in favour of a man possessed by an unclean spirit, or in the language of those times, by an evil spirit that subjected the possessed to slavery. Jesus ordered the evil spirit to come out of the man and the evil spirit obeyed him. Thus the new teaching: the words of Jesus which expresses the authority of his personality liberates the man from the forces of evil, which kept him in slavery. His words restores both liberty and dignity to the possessed man. 

How can we internalize and actualize the message of the today’s gospel passage? Even today, human beings are kept in custody by the power of evil. This is manifest in various forms of human behavour like selfishness, greed, hatred, discrimination, intolerance, violence, bribery, corruption, exploitation of weak persons, election rigging etc. Satan is ever at work, he does not rest and is ever active in our time, in the society, in the public life, in our private lives and in our families. What will liberate us from the clw21utches of Satan? Firstly: Only the authoritative words of Christ and his divine person can liberate us. There is practically no other message that can liberate us other than the message of the life of Christ and there is no other Prophet other than Christ who can save us. Secondly: We are called as believers to continue Christ’s mission. Strengthened by his word and sustained by his grace, we have to perpetuate his mission of proclaiming the truth, condemning evil and rendering services of liberation and promotion of human dignity. In doing this, we are not to limit ourselves to words alone but like Jesus we have to accompany the words with good deeds and works. May we pray in this Sunday Eucharistic celebration that the good Lord may ever protect us from the clutches of the evil one and that we may participate in the liberating work of Christ through our words and especially, through our works of charity to needy neighbours.

 +John I. Okoye.