Word to the Wise
Thursday, January 24, 2013 - Thursday in the 2nd Week in Ordinary Time
[Heb 7:25—8:6 and Mark 3:7-12]A large number of people followed from Galilee and from Judea. Hearing what he was doing, a large number of people came to him also from Jerusalem, from Idumea, from beyond the Jordan, and from the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon. He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him.
[ ST. FRANCIS DE SALES, bishop and doctor of the church.]
The demographic information in this passage shows people coming from all over what we would call "the holy land!" Jesus' fame as a healer did not take very long to spread! The necessity of a "getaway boat," is both amusing and alarming! Clearly he was meeting a desperate need! However, the purpose of his healing ministry is bigger than the actual curing. He is trying to show that he is the one who has been sent by God. The crowds are not necessarily interested in that, but the "demons" clearly see it. Jesus, however, is not yet ready to make such a direct announcement. It would give his opponents ammunition to destroy him. We already know that they are plotting against him. So, he silences the demons and continues his healing ministry. In the Gospel of Mark, the full revelation comes with his death and resurrection!
Jesus shows that he has the power to do what he says. He is not relying on an external power as other physicians of the time might have. The demonstration of this power attracts attention, but sometimes it is attention only to the power and not to the person, which is to miss the point! Faith can be shallow at times. We can have a "what have you done for me lately" attitude. We in our culture can easily concentrate on what Jesus DOES rather than who he IS! This reverses the proper way of understanding him. The crowds love him. The scribes and Pharisees hate him. The "demons" know him and fear him. What do we think? AMEN