Word to the Wise
Tuesday, January 14, 2025 - 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......"What is this? A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him." [Mark]
Every parent eventually comes to the moment when a child protests a particular decision and the response has to be: "Because I said so!" In the gospel scripture for today, taken from the Gospel According to Mark (which will be with us for much of Ordinary Time for a while) Jesus is a newcomer and has the audacity to get up in the synagogue and begin to teach without citing any other authority for his teaching! The scribes would always say, "As Rabbi So-and-so always taught..." Jesus basically says, "I say so!" and heals a man with an unclean spirit to show what his authority means. He has the power that gives authority to his teaching! For the moment, the reason WHY he has that power (i.e. his divinity) will remain unknown in the Gospel According to Mark until his death and resurrection.
We who are Jesus' disciples now are somewhat in the position of the scribes! We will cite Jesus' teachings as our authority for our witness and beliefs. But what will give power to our teaching will be the way we live and behave toward others. We will have to "incarnate" (i.e. put skin on) our faith and on Jesus' teachings. Jesus' well-known criticism of the scribes was their hypocrisy in behavior and their manipulation of their power to their own advantage. Certain well-known "evangelists" have come to ruin because they abused their position and power to enrich themselves. A child knows who Mom and Dad are and that they have the authority to impose decisions. Do we know who Jesus is and why we believe in him? Can we (and Mom and Dad) be "models" of Jesus' power? AMEN