4th Sunday of Ordinary Time: A New Teaching with Authority

Dt 18: 15-20

1 Cor 7: 32-35

Mk 1: 21 - 28

The Word for Sunday: http://usccb.org/bible/readings/020115.cfm

When someone claims to have a certain position of authority we naturally want to know, who gave them this power? What training have they had, what school did they attend, what other positions have they held that led them to this new role of responsibility? We see a diploma hung on a wall or hear of awards bestowed and lucrative offers from companies that advance people to various higher positions which provide a certain authority upon them.

Our Gospel this Sunday speaks of two things: authority and power. According to the Gospel of Mark which we hear from this year, Jesus begins his public ministry after calling his first disciples as we heard last week from fishermen to fish for people.

He begins to teach to those assembled for worship on the Sabbath day in the synagogue in Capernaum by the Sea of Galilee. Right off, we sense that his teaching is somehow different from what the crowd is accustomed to hear from other rabbis, who could only claim the authority of those they read: “As the prophet Isaiah states . . .”

Those who hear Jesus are stunned and puzzled by his words and most likely his tone of voice. Mark tells us “the people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.” He read the scriptures and explained them in a way that made them apply to himself (Lk 4: 20-24).

The amazement of the crowd, then, seems based on not only a certain confidence in Jesus’ voice and certain claims he made but they were also aware of his background. They knew where he came from – an obscure tiny village that many assumed would never produce a citizen of great learning or significance. They knew that his social status was that of a common tradesman, as that of his presumed father, Joseph. All that considered, who does he think he is and from where does he claim this sudden position of power? How can he make the claims he does?

In the midst of what must have been a lively discussion of Jesus’ imposing claims, suddenly a man shrieks out: “What have you to do with us Jesus of Nazareth?”

Now apparently such incidences were not all that unusual in Jesus’ time. There were likely a number of folks, mentally disturbed, who would yell many things out loud in public places for no apparent reason. Our knowledge of mental illness today in its variety of forms was unheard of in ancient times so such folks were sadly assumed to be possessed by evil demons. The existence of both good and evil spirits was very common in ancient times and certainly something we need to revisit in our own. Angels and demons are very active in our own day and age.

Yet, there was something unique about this man’s disturbance. His shout was not just spoken haphazardly; it was directly aimed at Jesus himself. It seemed directed at Jesus for a purpose and Our Lord responds with an even greater authority which seems to support the origin of the authority the crowd noticed he taught with.

Without fear or cowardice Jesus directly commands the spirit in the disturbed man: “Quiet! Come out of him!” His voice must have been strong, direct, and firm. And so the unclean spirit, who identified the truth of Jesus authority that the crowd was about to experience, comes out of the man.

If the crowd was not astonished before this moment they certainly are now: “What is this? A new teaching with authority. He commands . . . they obey him.”

It is interesting to hear it was the demon in the man who revealed Jesus’ identity: “I know who you are - the Holy One of God.” Jesus claim for his authoritative teaching and its exercise in the miracle events is of divine origin. He has a power greater than ordinary human beings and certainly greater than any of their familiar rabbis. The most authority those more common teachers could claim was to quote the authority of the prophets themselves, from whom they read. But Jesus claim is of his own power and position as God.

We may stop there. We may feel this authority of Jesus was essential to establish within his own time and place. He needed to do so in order to carry out his mission and its purpose for our eternal salvation. Yet, unlike many appointed or elected leaders who are in power one day and out the next, Jesus’ authority has been passed on – to his Church and to us.

There is no doubt this experience in the synagogue at Capernaum along the Sea opened the door to many who would discover and benefit from Jesus presence in their midst. After all, Mark ends his passage with the words: “His fame spread everywhere . . .”

Yet, as the first reading from the ancient book of Deuteronomy tell us God had intended to send a prophet like Moses, only greater, among his people and “you shall listen to him and . .. I will put my words in his mouth.” This prophet we see in Jesus who in the line of prophets became the very voice of God himself rather than speak only on behalf of God.

Where that leaves us is to know that Jesus’ authority moved forward from his time to ours. That all connected with the spread of the Gospel, and who kept its message authentic, can be heard with confidence. In the Church we hear that voice. Not because it is led by fallible human beings in need of our own personal conversion but because that Gospel message of Christ continues and we can follow with confidence because it is from Jesus own authoritative voice.

So God’s Word can be followed. His sacraments can be received in the confidence of knowing that they are born of his authority where he washes us clean of sin, forgives and reconciles us to God, feeds us with his own body and blood, unites us in marriage and calls us to ordained service and anoints us with healing in sickness.

The power of the Church should be no more or no less than the power and authority that Christ has entrusted to his Body, the Church. To reach out with compassion and mercy, to include rather than exclude, to challenge and teach the truth is both done with the authority of Christ and it extends to his Church which is his Body and face in the world.

Of this we can be sure and confidently follow the Way he has shown us.

You gave us the same Word made flesh as Mediator,

and he has spoken your words to us

and called us to follow him.

He is the way that leads us to you,

the truth that sets us free,

the life that fills us with gladness.

(From the Preface of Eucharistic Prayer III in Masses

Insight Scoop

Prophets and Demons: On Jesus and Exorcisms

Detail from "Curing a Possessed Woman" (c. 1390-1415) by Limbourg brothers [WikiArt.org]

A Scriptural Reflection on the Readings for February 1, 2015 | Carl E. Olson

Readings:

Dt 18:15-20
Ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 7-9
1 Cor 7:32-35
Mk 1:21-28

We Americans have a rather complicated, even fascinating, relationship with prophets and demons.

Many people, of course, scoff at the idea that someone might have the ability to foresee the future; if asked, they will most likely reject the possibility of prophetic powers as superstitious and unscientific. And yet certain types of prophets make regular appearances in our culture. For example, a tremendous amount of trust is often placed in the forecastings of experts in the fields of economics, demographics, and the climate.

We are told of impending economic recessions and recoveries and warned of impending doom due to either population explosion or global warning. It was only a few decades ago that some experts—secular prophets, I would call them—claimed that the rapid growth of population would decimate the earth by the year 2000.

Beliefs about the existence of Satan and demons are especially revealing. A 1991 study by Evangelical pollster George Barna found that 60% of those polled, regardless of their religious beliefs, thought Satan was just a “symbol of evil”, while just 35% believed he is “a living being.” Amazingly, seven out of ten Catholics polled said they thought Satan was only symbolic in nature.

These numbers were repeated in a 2002 poll, which found that 75% of Catholics rejected the Church’s clearly stated belief that Satan and demons are real, not just symbolic. Meanwhile, a 1993 poll by Time magazine found that while less than 50% of respondents believed in the existence of “angels or devils,” almost 70% believed in the existence of angels.

Today’s readings show us, by way of an Old Testament prophecy and an exorcism performed by Jesus, that there are actual prophets and real demons. There are important, implicit connections to be made between the two. Moses gave a prophecy about a coming prophet—really, The Prophet—who would speak with the authority of God. This true prophet is contrasted to false prophets, those who speak “in the name of other gods.” As G. K. Chesterton noted in The Everlasting Man, his study of the Incarnation, “In the ancient world the demons often wandered abroad like dragons. They could be positively and publicly enthroned as gods.” In other words, the Israelites understood that false prophets were under the power or influence of living, evil forces who were in opposition to the one, true God.

The very first false prophet was the serpent in the Garden, who spoke—that is, prophecied—against God. “Behind the disobedient choice of our first parents,” remarks the Catechism, “lurks a seductive voice, opposed to God, which makes them fall into death out of envy. Scripture and the Church's Tradition see in this being a fallen angel, called ‘Satan’ or the ‘devil” (par 391). The devil, the false prophet, is intent on the destruction of man and rebellion against God. The two, in fact, go hand in hand, for every rebellion against God leads to the destruction of man. Jesus came to break the power of this diabolical and destructive kingdom. “Indeed,” the Apostle John wrote, “the Son of God was revealed to destroy the works of the devil” (1 Jn. 3:8).

St. Mark’s account emphasizes both the authority of Jesus and the urgency of his work. The unclean spirit, face to face with the Prophet of God, could only acknowledge the truth: “I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” In their torment, the demons recognized who Jesus is. Yet they refused to believe; their choice had been made long before, outside of time, when they “radically and irrevocably rejected God and his reign” (CCC 392).

It is sometimes argued that the demons cast out by Jesus were not really living, evil beings, but symptoms of illness. Yet St. Mark clearly distinguishes between those who “were sick with various diseases” and those possessed by demons (Mk 1:34). Demonic oppression is just as real as physical illness. Thankfully, the Prophet, the Holy One of God, came to save us from both real evil and false gods.

(This "Opening the Word" column originally appeared in the February 1, 2009, issue of Our Sunday Visitor newspaper.)

Regnum Christi

Jesus and the Evil One: A Major Mismatch

U. S. A. | SPIRITUAL LIFE | SPIRITUALITY

February 1, 2015. Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Mark 1:21-28

Then they came to Capernaum, and on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught. The people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit; he cried out, "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are -- the Holy One of God!" Jesus rebuked him and said, "Quiet! Come out of him!" The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him. All were amazed and asked one another, "What is this? A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him." His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee.

Introductory Prayer: Oh, Holy One of God, what do you have to do with us? We know that you have the words of eternal life and can command the evil one to depart. You have power over all evil and can conquer all sin. You are ready to do this because of your unconditional love for us, and I am ready to listen humbly to your word and respond, so that I may be healed and have life forever with you.

Petition: Jesus, help me to trust in your power to heal me of my sin.

1. His Way of Teaching: Jesus teaches with authority –– of course he does, because he is the Son of God! He is the one who has the words of eternal life. He has been at the Father’s side from all eternity. He has come to teach us the way to the Kingdom of Heaven. So many voices in our world today can confuse us and make us doubt our faith. Can we not just listen with hearts of faith to the simple message that Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life?

2. Jesus Is in Charge: Jesus commands the evil one, and he submits. The evil one fears Christ’s power. The evil one is silenced and chased out by a mere word from Christ. So often we worry and fear that sin and evil have a grip on us that we cannot break. We worry we cannot live up to what the Lord expects of us. Yet, his word makes that evil one flee immediately. He can do the same in our lives if we put our total trust in him.

3. The Evil I Cannot Overcome: What is the major evil or sin that I have not been able to expel? What is the primary fault or defect in my life? All my effort to improve has been blocked by this insidious power, greater than my virtue. I need to turn to Christ and put my trust in his word of life. I need to ask him to free me from that power which consumes me and holds me back from loving and giving myself to him and to others.

Conversation with Christ: Speak that word of life, Lord. Free me from the power of the evil one. Do not let him run my life or keep me from your love. Give me your grace and I will be satisfied.

Resolution: I will be bold and trust in the Lord’s power to help me overcome my faults and the power of the devil’s influence on my life.

Listening to the Prophet Like Moses

Dr. Mark Giszczak

shutterstock_112535120

February 1, 2015
Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
First Reading: Deut 18:15-20
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/020115.cfm

You can tell someone isn’t listening when they roll their eyes, look away, or worse, plug their ears. We often hear talk of “listening skills” and personal empathy, our responsibility to be open to what other people have to say, but too frequently we find ourselves avoiding listening to what we really need to hear. Change is hard and heeding the voice of change is the first step down the hard road. But can you imagine if you heard God speak to you in an audible voice and you turned him down, asking him to stop talking? That’s exactly what his people did long ago.

Moses Gives a Speech

Our Sunday’s first reading comes from Deuteronomy, which takes the form of a long speech by Moses at the border of the Promised Land. “Deutero” means “second,” and “nomos” means law, so Deuteronomy is the “second law.” That is, it reiterates and sometimes expands on laws previously given to the people in Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers. It is the conclusion of the Torah, the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible. In the heart of Moses’ big speech, he offers them a mysterious prophecy. Now normally we think of Moses as a law-giver, but properly speaking, he is a prophet, a person who speaks on God’s behalf. He predicts that God will send a “prophet like me” sometime in the future.

Refusing to Listen

The only reason that the ancient Israelites need a prophet at all is because they refused to listen to God when he spoke to them. If you recall the dramatic giving of the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai in the midst of smoke, thunder, lightening, and trumpet blasts, you might sympathize with the terrified Israelites. After hearing God speak in such an awe-inspiring way, they turn to Moses and ask him to speak on God’s behalf. They say “let not God speak to us, lest we die” (Exod 20:19 RSV). The Israelites refuse to listen to God directly because of their fear, but at least they are willing to listen to his messenger.

A Prophet Prophesies a Prophet

While listening to Moses’ final speech, their prophet prophesies another prophet. Our reading begins with his prediction: “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brethren” (Deut 18:15 RSV). Moses is a unique prophet in Israel’s history, since through him God offers to speak to his people, lead them out of slavery, give them a law, and give them an official way to worship him (with a priesthood and tabernacle). Moses is the turning point of the Old Testament, when God’s people move from being a nomadic family clan to being a real nation, united under law. Moses is in some sense a nation builder, the person around whom the people assemble, the mediator of God’s covenant with his people. For Moses to prophesy a new “prophet like me,” a “new Moses,” is a mind-bending thought. How could God reconstitute his people around a new prophet? How could anyone fill Moses’ shoes?

A New Moses

And yet when Jesus appears in the Galilean back-country, he looks surprisingly like Moses. He gathers twelve men around himself (like the twelve tribes). He spends 40 days fasting and praying in the wilderness, like Moses’ 40 years in Midian. He inaugurates his ministry at the Jordan River, the entry point to the Promised Land. He seems to be launching a New Exodus, not from the physical slavery of Egypt in Moses’ era, but from the “spiritual Egypt” of slavery to sin. Not only that, but he goes up on a mountain (Matt 5:1) to deliver the Sermon on the Mount, a new law, the first of Jesus’ five discourses in Matthew’s Gospel, like Moses’ five books. And of course, Jesus is “the mediator of a new covenant” (Heb 12:24), not ratified with animal sacrifices, but with the supreme sacrifice of himself, the spotless Lamb of God. The parallels go on and on.

New Testament Perspectives

When John the Baptist is found baptizing people, some ask him “Are you the Prophet?” (John 1:21), referring back to our passage in Deut 18:15. He says that he is not, but their question reveals that the Prophet is someone people are looking for. In fact, when Philip tells his brother about Jesus, he says “we have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote,” (Joh 1:45 RSV), meaning that Jesus is the Prophet like Moses. Again, in Acts, St. Peter preaches to the crowds that Jesus is this Prophet and he quotes Deuteronomy 18 as backup (Acts 3:22-23). St. Stephen too, when giving his final defense before the Sanhedrin cites Deuteronomy 18 and argues that Jesus is the one who fulfills the prophecy (Acts 7:37): Jesus is the one whom God has appointed as the New Moses.

Listening to the New Moses

Ah, but the real difficulty lies not identifying the New Moses, but in listening to what he has to say. In our media-saturated culture, we so often listen to music or radio or podcasts, watch television or movies, read articles online or take in a new book via Kindle. Perhaps we hope to be helped, entertained, relieved, or informed by all these things, but what if we have opportunity to listen to the Creator of the universe himself, the One who made us and knows how to save us? That’s where we find ourselves dealing with ourselves. How do we have time to listen to the New Moses when we have so many other things to listen to? We might find ourselves in the shoes of the ancient Israelites asking Moses to stop God from talking out of fear. Yet it is not the bombastic special effects of Mt. Sinai that are truly frightening, but the call of God which offers everything and yet demands everything. The voice of the Savior who says, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Matt 16:24 RSV). When that call reaches us deep inside, we could turn away and look for something pleasant to listen to or we can allow it to hit home, and embark on that New Exodus path, laden with a cross, which turns out to be the lightest yoke of all.

Scripture Speaks: Live This Victory

Gayle Somers

shutterstock_21129610

Right after Jesus’ baptism, He tangled with the devil. In St. Mark’s account of His first teaching mission, an unclean spirit confronts Him. Why this assault from the forces of darkness?

Gospel (Read Mk 1:21-28)

After Jesus assembled His disciples, He began His itinerant life of preaching the Kingdom of God. Today, we read about His visit to the synagogue in Capernaum. The impact of His teaching was immediate: “The people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.” The people recognized that there was something unique in the way Jesus spoke about the Scriptures (which is what happened in synagogues). Surely the townspeople, at this early point, could not have much of an understanding of who Jesus was. However, there was one man in the crowd who did—“a man with an unclean spirit.” We might wonder why this man was in the synagogue at all. Was he a regular participant in this pious Sabbath observance, even though he was demon possessed? That seems unlikely. Had word gotten out that Jesus would be present? Even if the townspeople didn’t know much about Jesus, the unclean spirit clearly did: “What have You to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” How did the unclean spirit get this information? We have to assume Satan, who had already had a personal encounter with Jesus in the wilderness, spread the news throughout his minions—the other fallen angels whom we call “demons.” Many times throughout the Gospels, the demons know and fear Jesus. They are never permitted to speak about Him, just as we see here: “Quiet! Come out of him!” Why did this man, in the grip of a demon, make his way to the synagogue where Jesus was teaching? Why did he disrupt what must have been an exquisite experience of hearing Jesus speak?

When we see this early and persistent contact between Jesus and the fallen angels, we are reminded of God’s promises in the Garden of Eden. When His enemy, the serpent, tempted Adam and Eve to the disobedience that shattered the joy and harmony of all Creation, God pronounced a judgment on him immediately. “The woman” and “her seed” would someday do battle against him and defeat him (see Gen 3:15). When Jesus shows up in a synagogue in Capernaum and casts out an unclean spirit, we know that the battle has begun. Our enemy must be defeated if we are ever to live free of the fear of him. In Capernaum, Jesus showed Himself to be both an authoritative teacher and a man powerful enough to command obedience from demons. No wonder “His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee.” Israel—indeed, the whole world—had waited a long time for this One.

Possible response: Lord Jesus, help me live this day in the victory You won over my Enemy.

First Reading (Read Dt 18:15-20)

In this reading we learn that not only was Israel waiting for a Warrior to do battle with God’s enemy, she was also waiting for another prophet like Moses, and that is saying a lot! Moses was the leader God appointed to deliver His people out of bondage to an enemy who enslaved them. He spoke for God, performed miracles, fed the people supernatural food and drink, gave them God’s Law, and guided them to the brink of the Promised Land. Near the end of his life, Moses spoke these words to the people of Israel: “A prophet like me will the LORD, your God, raise up for you from among your kin; to him you shall listen.” This was a treasured promise throughout all the centuries of their history, right up to the appearance of Jesus. Moses had been the definitive voice of authority when the tribes of Abraham’s descendants formed a nation at Mt. Sinai. In fact, the people there preferred Moses’ voice to God’s. When God came down on the mountain to meet with His people, speaking to them with thunder, lightening, and earthquakes, they were terrified and said to Moses, “Let us not again hear the voice of the LORD, our God…lest we die.” God then promised to send another prophet like Moses to them, putting His words in the prophet’s mouth. Surely they would listen to a man speaking God’s own words! This helps us understand why Jesus so often made a point of saying that He spoke only what the Father wanted Him to say: “For I have given them [the apostles] the words which You gave Me, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from You” (Jn 17:8). Jesus wanted His kinsmen to know that God’s promised prophet had arrived. Mary, too, knew that her Son fulfilled this much-loved promise of a new Moses. At the wedding at Cana, she told the servants, “Do whatever He tells you,” just as Moses had once said about the prophet-to-come, “to him you shall listen.”

The people in Capernaum heard in Jesus that wonderful authority that had once belonged only to Moses. What they likely didn’t know was that a New Exodus was about to begin as well.

Possible response: Heavenly Father, thank You for sending us Your Son to speak to us in words we can understand and a voice that does not terrify us.

Psalm (Read Ps 95:1-2, 6-9)

The psalm highlights for us the fact that hearing God’s voice should be met with two responses: joy and obedience. To know that God speaks to His people in Jesus, the Scriptures, the sacraments, the liturgies andmagisterium of the Church—this should produce the joy of thanksgiving: “Let us joyfully sing psalms to Him.” However, men have always had the freedom to disregard God’s voice. The psalmist (like Moses) warns against this: “If today you hear His voice, harden not your hearts.” How long God has been speaking His love to His Creation, which began with His words, “Let there be light!” Now, He speaks to us in His Son, a Voice kept alive through the charism of the Church. How foolish we would be to cringe in fear from His words (like the unclean spirit did), or, worse, be indifferent to it. Instead, “let us bow down and worship…for He is our God, and we are the people He shepherds.”

Possible response: The psalm is, itself, a response to our other readings. Read it again prayerfully to make it your own.

Second Reading (Read 1 Cor 7:32-35)

If we wonder what these verses have to do with our other readings, we must remember their context. They come from a portion of St. Paul’s epistle in which he is answering questions about marriage from the Corinthian church. St. Paul anticipated a difficult time for Christian converts as the Greco-Roman world was evangelized. He was writing primarily to suggest that those not yet married would be better able to have undistracted devotion to the Lord if they remained unmarried. He speaks realistically about husbands and wives, by the very nature of marriage, having more “anxieties” than the unmarried. See that he gives this as prudential advice, “not to impose a restraint upon you … but for the sake of … adherence to the Lord without distraction.”

What lies at the heart of St. Paul’s instruction here? It is his conviction that Jesus, the One about whom Moses said, “to Him you shall listen,” the One about whom the psalmist said, “If today you hear His voice, harden not your hearts,” and the One about whom the people in Capernaum said, “What is this? A new teaching with authority”—this Jesus deserves our undivided attention. St. Paul is making a practical application of a Gospel truth. He is explaining how to best live something God said on another mountain, at the Transfiguration: “This is My Beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him” (Mt 17:5).

Possible response: Lord Jesus, distractions clutter my every day. Grant me Your grace to listen to You instead of them.

One Bread, One Body

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All Issues > Volume 31, Issue 2

<< Sunday, February 1, 2015 >>

4th Sunday Ordinary Time

Deuteronomy 18:15-20
1 Corinthians 7:32-35
View Readings

Psalm 95:1-2, 6-9
Mark 1:21-28
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"I have no desire to place restrictions on you, but I do want to promote what is good, what will help you to devote yourselves entirely to the Lord." —1 Corinthians 7:35

We must accept certain restrictions if we wish to totally commit our lives to the Lord. Gospel poverty, celibacy, a large family, a faithful marriage, a demanding ministry — all restrict us significantly. However, any decision or commitment restricts us. Any successful athlete, business person, or celebrity has placed severe restrictions on themselves. How much more willing should we be to restrict ourselves out of love for the Lord!

Consider what Jesus did for us. When He became a man, He emptied Himself and took the form of a slave (Phil 2:7). There is no greater restriction than to be nailed to a cross. Jesus was the most restricted person who has ever lived, but also the most free. He broke all restrictions of space and time by rising from the dead and ascending to heaven. We too can be restricted and resurrected as He was.

Prayer: Jesus, give me the freedom to be committed and self-sacrificing.

Promise: "The unclean spirit convulsed the man violently and with a loud shriek came out of him." —Mk 1:26

Praise: Praise Jesus, Who gave up all freedom, both natural and supernatural, so that we may be free.

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