Word to the Wise
Tuesday, January 11, 2022 - Tuesday in the 1st Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Sam 1:9-20 and Mark 1:21-28]Jesus came to Capernaum with his followers, 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...[after exorcising a man] "What is this? A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him." [Mark]
The Gospel According to Mark is the oldest, shortest and bluntest of the four gospels. There is no "infancy narrative" as in Luke and Matthew; no majestic prologue as in John. The curtain rises on John the Baptist with Jesus in the crowd. Jesus is baptized, identified by God's voice, tempted in the desert, begins his ministry of preaching the Kingdom, picks the first apostles and sets up his headquarters in Capernaum - all within the first 20 verses of this gospel! And now, in today's passage, Jesus demonstrates his authority and his power.
Jesus' authority comes from his identity as the "beloved Son." The scribes' authority was derivative. They would always quote a source outside themselves:...."As Rabbi So and So taught...." Jesus did nothing of the kind. He acted on his own authority.
Jesus' power also comes from his identity as the "Beloved Son" and he shows this in quick order with today's exorcism (power over unclean spirits), and then, right after this, healing Simon's mother-in-law, healing a leper and, in healing a paralytic, his power to forgive sins! All of this happens before the middle of the second chapter! The evangelist wastes no time!
Jesus will soon show he has authority over the Law of Moses, which will bring him into conflict with Jewish religious authorities, especially the scribes and Pharisees. We learn within the first few verses of chapter three that they want to put him to death!!
Over all of this will be the inability of even his closest disciples to understand Jesus' full identity until his death and resurrection! He seems to want it to be this way (or at least the evangelist thought so). How all this unfolds lies ahead of us. For the moment, we can ask what power and authority we are willing to accept from Jesus? Stay tuned! AMEN