Word to the Wise
Tuesday, January 10, 2023 - Tuesday in the 1st Week in Ordinary Time
[Heb 2:5-12 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.......[Mark]
I think most of us are familiar with footnotes in a text, where an "authority" is cited for a particular item in the text. The text itself might say, "As So and So has said in such and such a place...etc." It is commonplace in academic worlds and in our common parlance: "How do you know that? Who told you that?" Well, that's how the scribes taught in Jesus' day. They knew the scriptures (the Torah and other written and oral traditions) and could pronounce, "As Rabbi Ben Soandso taught....." The authority of the scribes was "derivative." They were only as good as their authorities until they showed enough wisdom and attained enough reputation to be considered an "authority" themselves. Jesus did not teach or act that way. He acted on his own authority. (It is a much more elevated form than hearing Mom or Dad say, "Because I say so...." but the idea is there.) The scribes and Pharisees, due to the model of "authority" they worked from, once accused Jesus of acting on the authority of "Beelzebub, the prince of Devils!" [Matt. 9:34] Jesus did nothing of the sort. His authority was not derivative, to say the least.
What "authority" do we ascribe to Jesus and his teachings in our lives? In his own day, Jesus complained, "Why do you call me "Lord, Lord!' and not do what I command you?" [Lk 6:46] The gap between faith in Jesus and acting according to it is one we struggle with all our lives, but if we consider Jesus as the ultimate "authority," then he and his teachings confront us every day. Jesus accused the scribes and Pharisees of manipulating authority to their own benefit. [cf. Matt. 23]. Do we try to make Jesus' teachings "convenient?" These can be uncomfortable questions to ask ourselves, but if we are serious about Jesus' authority, we have to ask them. AMEN