On the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B, the Scripture readings for Mass (Deuteronomy 18:15-20; Psalm 95:1-2, 6-7, 7-9; 1 Corinthians 7:32-35; Mark 1:21-28) are about listening to the Word of God and to the one who speaks this with authority.
Though God calls us to listen to His Word, how many of
us really listen to it with undivided attention, in order to let is sink in us?
Ezekiel said that the Word of God a scroll was as sweet
as honey (Ezekiel 3:3). In fact, the Word of God is sweeter than honey (Psalm
119:103)! But only to those whose heart is inclined to God.
Today, only about 25% of baptized Catholics regularly
attend Mass to listen to the Word of God and to receive the Holy Eucharist. The
rest, the 75%? Who knows. Maybe many of them are “Christer”, Catholics who
attend Mass only for Christmas and Easter. Even among the 25% who regularly
attend Mass, how many of them really listen to the Word of God spoken to them
at Mass?
Unfortunately, a sizable portion of the Catholics who attend
Mass regularly do not seem to listen to the Word of God with a devoted
attention, as they usually do not recall what the readings at Mass are about.
And we no longer listen to each other attentively these days, as we are more
preoccupied with our own self-concerns. We have become “too busy” for one
another.
Too preoccupied to give full attention to listen to
God and to one another?
Then, how can we observe the greatest commandment,
which is to love God with our whole heart, and with our whole being, and with our
whole strength (Deuteronomy 6:5) and its twin commandment, which is to love our
neighbors as ourselves (Leviticus 19:18), as Jesus has proclaimed (Matthew
22:36-40)?
In the First Reading (Deuteronomy 18:15-20), we see Moses
speaking Yahweh’s will to raise a prophet like him out of the Israelites to put
His words into his mouth so that they would listen to Him through him (v.15, v.
18). This recalls what God spoke to Moses upon giving the Decalogue (vv. 16-18;
Exodus 20:1-19).
After receiving the Decalogue, the Israelites did not
listen to God when Moses spoke His word, resulting in God’s anger at them for
making pagan idol, golden calf (Exodus 32:1-35; cf. Nehemiah 9:16-21). But,
this was not the only time that they did not listen to God. As God Himself recalls,
they did not listen to him as many as ten times (Numbers 14:22; cf. Exodus
14:11–12; 15:24; 16:3, 20, 27-29; 17:2-3; 32:7-10; Numbers 11:1-2; 11:4; 14:1-4)!
Did the Israelites start listening to God afterward? No.
Their failure to listen to God through Moses resulted in His anger again as
they were about to cross the Jourdan River to enter the promised land, because
they were seduced by Moabite prostitutes (Numbers 25:1-15). This failure of the
Israelites to listen, toward the end of their 40 years of Exodus, prompted
Moses to put the Law, again. Thus, bringing the Book of Deuteronomy. In other
words, the Book of Deuteronomy, from which the First Reading (Deuteronomy
18:15-20) is taken, was written because the Israelites did not listen to God
when Moses spoke His Word on His behalf so many times.
So Yahweh spoke to Moses:
I will raise up for them a prophet like
you from among their kindred, and will put my words into the mouth of the
prophet; the prophet shall tell them all that I command. Anyone who will not
listen to my words which the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will hold
accountable for it. But if a prophet presumes to speak a word in my name that I
have not commanded, or speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die
(Deuteronomy 18:18-20).
In fact, the prophet like Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15,
18) is the Christ. Jesus, the incarnated Christ, made reference to this,
identifying himself as the one mentioned by Moses, when he was responding to
those who accused him for violating the sabbath commandment by healing a
paralyzed man at the Bethesda pool (John 5:46). In this regard, the incarnated
Christ, Jesus, is the New Moses, who has come to fulfill the Law and prophecy
(Matthew 5:17).
God spoke to Moses about the “New Moses”, with the
hope that the Israelites would listen to Him as the “New Moses”, namely, Jesus,
the Son of God, speaks His Word, after Moses.
In the above words to the Israelites through Moses,
Yahweh also expressed His will to strike down a false prophet. And Jesus, the
prophet like Moses, warned against a false prophet (i.e. Matthew 7:15-20).
In the Gospel Reading (Mark 1:21-28), the incarnated
Christ, Jesus, the “New Moses”, teaches in the synagogue of Capernaum, Galilee,
and also heals a demonically possessed man by commanding the evil spirit to
come out. Having heard Jesus’ teaching and witnessing his power over the devil,
the people are left astonished and in awe, wondering what kind of authority
that Jesus has.
The people in the synagogue recognize Jesus as an
extremely amazing teacher and astonishing exorcist. Definitely, Jesus is not
another great rabbi or healer.
Jesus, who comes to the synagogue in Capernaum and
teaches, is, indeed, the prophet, whom God spoke to Moses (Deuteronomy 18:18),
whom everyone is to listen to, because everything he says is not his own but
Yahweh’s (Deuteronomy 18:19; cf. John 8:38; 12:49). The authority of Jesus not
only makes him an astonishing rabbi but also a stunning exorcist, as his
authority is over evil spirits.
The demon fears Jesus because he knows that Jesus, the
Son of Mary, is the Christ, who has been prophesized by God to destroy Satan
when he was expelled from the Garden of Eden, together with Adam and Eve
(Genesis 3:15). It means that the demon is so aware of Christ’s presence out of
his fear, knowing that Jesus, who is the Christ, is given the authority not
only to command him but also to destroy him (i.e. Matthew 8:29).
We must listen to Jesus, who is the incarnated Christ,
the Son of God, because he speaks of and acts on not his own will but the
Father’s (John 6:38) with authority, because it means to listen to Yahweh, the
Father. We have to make sure that we are not fooled by the demon and listen to
a false prophet, who will corrupt us and turn us away from God.
Nobody else but the Son, is authorized by the Father
to speak on His behalf, as He speaks, unless you are appointed by Him to serve
as His prophet. But if you speak as if God or Jesus does, without authority,
without a divine appointment, this may bring God’s anger on you. But demon
often tempts you to do so, as he is quite clever and seductive about falling us
to become a false prophet.
What does it mean that Jesus teaches with authority?
It does not mean that Jesus teaches as a rabbi, who
can present his academic credential. Those rabbis are proud of their own
trainings, and they often quote their famous masters’ works, as if they were
authorized to use their words. On the
other hand, Jesus teaches as every word out of his mouth is that of the Father,
and as he himself is the Word. Therefore, it means that Jesus teaches as no
other teacher can.
Remember, Jesus’ Baptism (i.e. Matthew 3:13-15) ! It
was to inaugurate his public ministry. And the authority of Jesus was confirmed
with the descent of the Holy Spirit upon him (Matthew 3:16) and the voice of
the Father from heaven:
This is my beloved Son, with whom I am
well pleased (Matthew 3:17).
And the Father reaffirmed this upon Jesus’
transfiguration:
This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well
pleased; listen to him (Matthew 17:5).
When the Father reaffirmed the authority of His Son, Jesus, the “New Moses”, He explicitly reminded us to listen to him.
Do we have the privilege to listen to Jesus, who is
with authority, as the people who were fortunate to have him in their
synagogue, today?
Yes.
Jesus continues to teach, speaks the Word, today, and
everyday, through the Scripture, and through the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus calls
“another Parakletos”, who teaches everything we need to know (John 14:26),
as he himself is the Parakletos (1 John 2:1).
In the Second Reading (1 Corinthians 7:32-35), Paul
calls us to give our whole attention to Jesus, as we listen to him and to
follow his way, because we are to listen to him (Deuteronomy 18:15, 19) and
because he is with authority (Mark 1:22, 27). It means we need to free
ourselves from worldly concerns and egoistic preoccupation, because these
factors will compromise our attention to Jesus and his teaching, which is of
the Father. And Paul reminds us that listening to Jesus and his teaching with our
undivided attention is for our proprietary benefits. One example of such
benefits of listening to Jesus with full attention is to prevent us from making
our hearts hardened, as reflected in the refrain of the Responsorial Psalm:
If today you hear his voice, harden not
your hearts (Psalm 95:8).
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