FOURTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR B
First Reading (Deut 18: 15-20) Moses foretells the coming of a prophet who will preach the word of God to the people.
Second Reading (1 Cor 7: 32-35) Paul urges everyone to give special and undivided attention to the Lord especially those among us who are celibate.
Gospel (Mk 1: 21-28) The prophecy of Moses is fulfilled in Jesus.
Homily
When someone speaks from the bottom of his or her heart, it is easy to see it and notice how passionate and truthful the person is. That person will have the confidence to continue speaking even when the allocated time given to him/her are lapsed. That’s what we call “speaking with authority”. Jesus spoke and taught with authority and people could see it in Him. That’s why His words could and can change people’s lives if we act on them.
Most of our African ‘freedom and independence fighters’ had the charisma and a profound rhetoric to persuade people, even their oppressors, when they stood in public to deliver a message. they did so because they were convinced of what they stood for. they experienced oppression and understood the meaning of their fight. Very often people speak from without as spectators or as acquainted with facts they collect from the third party or read on the media. It is no use to speak from without because it is less convincing. Jesus spoke from within or from experience. He had facts of what He spoke about and He lived it.
In Today’s Gospel, we read that the teaching of Jesus made a deep impression on the people because, unlike the teaching of the scribes, Jesus taught people with authority. The question we can ask ourselves is: why did Jesus make such an impact on His listeners? The answer is: it is because he spoke always from within. He knew pretty well what he had to speak, it came from his heart and he had experienced it. That is what it means speaking with authority. On the other hand, scribes and Pharisees had only influence on the people but did not have authority on them. They had influence because they held positions of power. In their speech, they liked quoting their masters and other great thinkers of their time. Whatever word came from their mouth was not fully or 100% theirs.
Here comes the notion of authority and influence. We must distinguish between these two concepts which one Jesus had and the scribes. Jesus had both authority and influence. Scribes on the other hand only had influence and power and control over the people. That’s why Jesus could easily capture his audience without struggle or intimidation because he had authority that came from his word.
Some of our political leaders have no authority and influence over the people because they do not live their word. They do not respect written word (constitution) of their countries. Whatever they speak do not come from their hearts. These kind of leaders only have power and control over the people but not authority and influence.
Every child of God, every Christian should have this kind of authority and influence Jesus had. The authority to speak from our heart, the authority to speak the truth with transparent integrity. The teaching of the scribes failed to nourish the people because it came not from them. The teaching of Jesus nourished the people because it came from him and had authority to capture the heart and mind, body and soul of the people. When the evangelist Mark says that “Jesus’ teaching made a deep impression on the people”, it means, Jesus himself was the sermon. He lived his word. Therefore there is nourishment for our lives in the word of Jesus. But it is not enough to listen to them. We have to do them – act on them.
