Homily: 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle B
Friends, last week we heard Jesus’
first words in the Gospel, according to Mark: “This is the time of
fulfillment…” Scripture scholars tell us that with his
coming onto the scene and making this announcement, Jesus was announcing that the
third age in human history had begun.
The first age of human history was the time of creation: lasting from
the first word that God spoke to form light until the first sin of our first
parents, Adam and Eve, and their fall from grace. The second age was the time of promise:
lasting from that moment when God promised to raise up a descendant of Eve who
would crush the head of the evil one and save us from sin and death until Jesus
himself is born and begins his public ministry.
We are still living in this “time of fulfillment”, the third age, in
which God has entered time and space in order to rescue it from destruction. We await the coming of the fourth and final
age: the age of glory, when Christ will return and evil, death, and sorrow will
be banished from the universe forever.
Very interesting, then, that we hear
today the next “scene” from Mark’s Gospel and, right on the heels of Jesus’
proclamation that the “time of fulfillment” had begun, we see him do something
new: “he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.” Here, Jesus is indicating exactly what he announced. By teaching as one with his own authority—not
as one who referenced the authority
of rabbis who had gone before him, like the scribes all did—Jesus steps out of
the box to indicate that indeed something new has begun. The scriptures say that the people were
astonished at his teaching: not necessarily because of what he taught (Mark
does not record for us what he taught that day), but because he spoke as one
having an authority all his own.
The more keen hearers in the synagogue
that day would have hearkened back to the words of Moses, recorded in the book
of Deuteronomy, which we read in our first reading today: that “a prophet like
me will the Lord, your God, raise up for you from your own kin; to him you
shall listen.” To the Jewish people, Moses
is THE prophet, whose authority no one’s, except God’s, is greater. Thus, for him to declare that a prophet like
him will come—that is, one who teaches with authority, like he did—is something
extraordinary indeed. And if we
fast-forward to the end of the book of Deuteronomy, we read there that “since
then [that is, the death of Moses] no prophet has arisen in Israel like Moses,
whom the Lord knew face to face.” Thus,
the response of the people in the synagogue with Jesus that day, “What is this?
A new teaching with authority”, highlights that some of them knew that Jesus
might be the one of whom Moses spoke.
To solidify this authority, Jesus then
drives out the demon (who, astonishingly, presents himself to him). Jesus is teaching with his own authority,
which would have been a scandal to many in the synagogue that day, because,
like I said, the scribes always backed up their teaching with the teaching of
the great master rabbis who went before them.
Jesus proves that he has the authority in himself to teach when, by his own
word, he drives the unclean spirit out from the man.
Even the words of the evil spirit are
telling of Jesus’ authority: that he is not some “new rabbi”, but truly the
prophet of whom Moses spoke. “What have
you to do with us? Have you come to
destroy us?” Notice how the unclean
spirit recognizes the power and authority within Jesus to destroy it. “I know who you are—the Holy One of
God!” “The Holy One of God” is an Old
Testament title given to the great prophets.
Therefore, the spirit is not only acknowledging Jesus’ power and
authority, but he is acknowledging him as the prophet of whom Moses spoke. In quieting the spirit and driving it out of
the man, Jesus confirmed the spirit’s words.
Thus, all in the synagogue were “astonished” and “amazed”.
My friends, if this is the time of
fulfillment and Jesus is the prophet of whom Moses spoke, then we must listen
to him if we want to experience the fruits that this time will produce. Moses relates the consequences that God
himself laid out for those who would not listen to this prophet: “Whoever will
not listen to my words which he speaks in my name, I will make him answer for
it.” When God says “listen” he doesn’t mean
only “hear and consider it”. Rather, he
means “obey”, in the sense of “listening so as to respond”. Thus, the statement might as well read:
“Whoever will not obey my words which
he speaks in my name, I will make him answer for it.” My friends, this is the time of fulfillment
and Jesus is the prophet of whom Moses spoke (and more than a prophet, right?),
and so we must obey the words that he has spoken, which are God the Father’s
words, else we face him on the day of judgment and have to answer for it.
“Okay, Father, I trust you. But the problem is that God doesn’t speak to
me.” Bzzzt. False.
Let me assure you that God’s words are readily available to you, in
three different ways. Number 1: the
Bible. Like we remembered and celebrated
last week, the Bible is God’s Word, inspired and protected by the Holy Spirit,
and it is living and effective for us today.
If we are going to answer for having obeyed God’s words, these are the
first ones to which God is going to point.
Number 2: the teachings of the Church.
It is the Church, guided and guarded by the Holy Spirit, who has
preserved and proclaimed the Word of God throughout the generations and thus
who has authentically presented it to and interpreted it for each passing
generation. My friends, the Bible and
the Catechism are the two primary ways that you will hear God’s words spoken to
you. Obeying, that is, listening with a readiness to respond to
these words is the first step towards realizing the fruit of this “time of
fulfillment”.
The third way that God’s words come to
us, however, is in the silence of our hearts.
Here, God speaks to us directly and personally. To hear God’s words in this way is more
challenging, because we have to tune the ears of our heart to hear his
voice. Nonetheless, it is a work that we
must do; and the only way that we will do it is if we listen for his voice in
silence. When we do, we will begin to
hear it. It will be the voice that
speaks with authority. It will be the
voice that echoes the revelation of the Scriptures and the teachings of the
Church. It will be the voice that urges
you to give yourself for others. You
will know the voice of the enemy: he is the one who sows confusion, discord,
and discouragement. God’s voice brings
clarity, unity, and encouragement. And
it is available to us, right now: we need only ask to hear it. ///
Then, of course, we must obey it. What do we get when we obey Jesus’
voice? Well, nothing less than his power
working in our lives. This means, the
power of this “time of fulfillment” in which the negative forces (that is, the
unclean spirits) that affect us can be driven away. And when they aren’t driven away, we receive
the strength either to overcome them or persevere through them.
Friends, Jesus is the Son of God, the one of whom Moses
spoke, and he has ushered in the “time of fulfillment” in which has come this
“new teaching with authority”. In a
world full of talking heads full of hot air claiming their own authority but
having no power to fulfill anything, let us listen to the Word of God, Jesus
our Lord, so that his kingdom—the kingdom that will be fully realized in the
age of glory—would be made present to us here today.
Given
in Spanish at Saint Paul Parish: Marion, IN – January 30th, 2021
Given
in Spanish at Saint Patrick Parish: Kokomo, IN and Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish:
Carmel, IN – January 31st, 2021
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