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1. Dt 18:15-20
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2. 1 Corinthians 7:32-35
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Gospel: Mk
1:21-28
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Teaching with
authority
One of the
existentialist philosophers, Karl Marx once said that the aim of philosophy
should be not just to explain the world but to change it. The same can be said
about the gospel we preach and teach. The people of Capernaum received sacred
instruction in their synagogue every Sabbath. One Sabbath they had a different
preacher, Jesus. What Jesus taught them that day, as well as the way he
presented and demonstrated his message simply amazed them. Why? " They were astounded at his teaching, for he
taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes."( Mark
1:22). Jesus' teaching contrasted sharply with that of the scribes. In one
word, Jesus taught with authority, the scribes did not. What does it mean to
teach with authority? When we compare and contrast the teaching of Jesus with
that of the scribes we notice three distinguishing qualities: The teaching of
Jesus was (a) was from the heart and not just from the head, (b) focuses on the
spirit and not on the letter of the law, and (c) brought about a visible change
for the better.
Jesus taught from the
heart. He taught with absolute conviction in his message because he knew that
his message was in accordance with the mind of God. As he said in the gospel of
John when trying to persuade his unbelieving audience, " Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we
know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony."
(John 3:11). This was possible because of his personal and intimate
relationship with God his Father. The scribes on the other hand got their
knowledge not from their personal communion with God but from their long and laborious
study of the Talmud, a collection of the oral teachings and commentaries on the
Law. As a result most of their teaching was from the head as they tried to
recall the portions of the Talmud that apply to the situation at hand.
A second difference
between the teaching of Jesus and that of the scribes lies in the contents of
the message. Whereas the scribes sought to apply the prescription of the Law to
the letter, Jesus went deeper to find out the spirit, the original intent of
the law. Consequently Jesus was able to discover the positive value that the
law seeks to protect whereas the scribes busied themselves with words and their
minutes applications. Take, for example, the law of Sabbath observance. The
scribes would busy themselves trying to determine precisely when Sabbath begins
and ends, and was work and wasn't. Jesus would rather seek the mind of God who
gave the law to His people as an expression of His fatherly care and love. His conclusion:
the Sabbath is a day we keep away from our work in order to do God's work (
John 5:17). On account of this positive accent of his message, people perceived
the teaching of Jesus as liberating good news in contrast to that of the
scribes which they perceived as heavy burden.
Let us look into the
final difference between the teaching of Jesus and that of the scribes, here
the difference lies to fact that Jesus'
teaching was always intended to bring about
a visible change for the better, not just to make the people feel bad. Whereas
the scribes taught whatever made sense in terms of their understanding of the
Law and Traditions, Jesus taught that which made a difference. Presented with a
man blind from birth the scribes sought to explain why he was blind- whether it
was he who was sinned or his parents. Jesus, on the other hand was only
interested in curing the blindness. For this reason Jesus performed healing and
exorcism along with his teaching to show that he was interested in changing the
human situation not just in explaining it but also in doing it through actions.
Finally, what is our
attitude to the word of God we hear? Do we allow it to challenge us and bring
about a difference in our lives or is it simply to satisfy some intellectual
curiosity? If it is the gospel of Jesus that we hear, then we cannot hear it
week after week and remain the same.
0 Response to "HOMILY FOR THE 4th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR B"
Chapisha Maoni