Word to the Wise
Thursday, January 27, 2022 - Thursday in the 3rd Week in Ordinary Time
[2 Sam 7:18-19, 24-29 and Mark 4:21-25,392]"Anyone who has ears to hear ought to hear." He also told them, "Take care what you hear. The measure with which you measure will be measured out to you, and still more will be given you. To the one who has, more will be given; from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away."
The Gospel According to Mark seems "bare bones" compared to Matthew and Luke, who borrow from Mark but often place what they borrow in a different context or, perhaps in their original context which Mark omits. One might look at the parable of the "talents" in Matthew 25:29 and Luke 19:26 and find the last line of the quote above. Mark places this early in Jesus' ministry, but Matthew and Luke place it in the context of the parable of the talents toward the end of Jesus' ministry.
Some folks may prefer the "in your face" character of Jesus' preaching in the Gospel According to Mark. "Tell it like it is!" would be their motto. Indeed, for some people only a rude "wake-up and smell the coffee" approach will work. For others, a "kinder, gentler" portrait is more appealing. From Mark to Matthew to Luke, there does seem to be a "gentling" process that reflects time and newer circumstances for the communities to whom these gospel portraits were directed. The last of the gospels to be composed, the Gospel According to John, seems to take Jesus' whole ministry out of the rough and tumble of parables (although there are vivid images of shepherd/flock and vine/vine grower) and places it on a different level of meditation.
The tradition of the Church urges us to place all the Bible in the broader context of God's plan of salvation. The four portraits of Jesus given to us in the gospels are meant to help us create our own portrait in faith. Jesus' question to the disciples in Matthew 15:16 is as true now and it was when it was originally asked: "But YOU, who do YOU say that I am?" AMEN