4th SUNDAY
IN ORDINARY TIME
1Corinthians
Mark 1:21-28
“With what authority he preaches!
He even orders evil spirits and they obey him!”
Today’s gospel invites us to meditate on one very important point: Christ’s authority. It was because of this authority that Jesus became different from other religious and even secular figures of his time. It was because of this authority given to the apostles that they became effective evangelizers of the world. It is because of this authority entrusted to his church that she stands as credible vanguard and teacher of faith and morals.
1. Human experience teaches us that it is because of authority that any message may be credible. In this same way, experience also teaches us that authority comes from different sources which do not necessarily go together.
One source is by virtue of blood relation. Here, a person has authority over the other because of what or who he is to the other by blood. Such is the case of the authority of parents over their children. Most often, children follow whatever their parents say, not really so much because of what they are saying, but because it is their parents who are saying so. This is most basic. Everybody shares it. It is everyone’s first experience of authority. That is why the authority that binds a parent and a child must be handled with extra care. Psychology teaches s that most of the cases of “authority hang ups” are traceable to an abnormal experience of authority during childhood.
Although we are not bound by blood relation in the ordinary human sense of understanding it, our relationship with Christ is bound by his blood that washed and cleansed us of our sinfulness. Our sonship by adoption is bought by his precious blood on the cross. In fact, it is because of this that we become brothers and sisters of and in Christ, we become God’s adopted children, worthy to call him Father. Thus, the authority he exercises over us is one which is likened to that of a parent over a child. But it is more than that. God’s parenthood surpasses even the most perfect parenthood of man.
2. A second source is by virtue of one’s office. This is very similar to the first. A person has authority because of what or who he is by office. Such is the case of an employer to an employee, or a boss to a secretary. Thus, when the latter gets out of employment, he is no longer required to follow what the former may order or say. (we are not saying here, however, that he also loses his respect as he loses his employment.)
This kind of authority is also shared by policemen, government officials, leaders, teachers, pastors, etc. And for our purpose, we stress that it is this type of authority that a prophet has. A man called and chosen by God as a prophet stands and speaks of God’s, message – and certainly delivers it with authority – not because of any exemplary qualities and qualifications he has, but simply because he is a prophet. By virtue of his office, his authority is God’s authority. Thus, he who hears and accepts the prophet’s word, hears and accepts God’s word.
Christ is a prophet, and the prophet. He takes his authority out of this prophetic office. People regard him a prophet, and they listen to him. Just like any prophet, he speaks with God’s authority. But more than any prophet, such authority is his own authority because he himself is God. Hence, he who accepts him, ipso facto accepts God, and he who rejects him, ipso facto rejects God.
3. A third source is by virtue of the message itself. Meaning, the authority is identified with the message itself. The message is forceful by its content. Thus, regardless of the one who says it, the message poses itself as credible. Such is the word of God. It has a value of its own. It finds its exemplary worth by the message it brings. Thus, even though the scribes and Pharisees might have already lost their credibility because of their ways, Jesus still admonishes the Jews to follow not what they do but they say. It is still the word of God that they preach.
Christ’s authority comes also by virtue of his message. The people in the synagogue used to hear other speakers explain the word of God even long before Christ came and spoke for the first time. But when they hear him speak, they immediately realize that someone great is before them, certainly greater than Solomon, surely greater than John. He has a message to say, and his message is new and penetrating. His is forceful yet gentle; at times hurting yet convincing. By his message, he comes not to destroy the Law, but to fulfill it. Certainly, he has something nobler to offer. And this is just no wonder because he not only speaks of the word, but he himself is the word. He is both the message and the messenger.
4. Jesus’ authority, therefore, comes from
the sum total of all these. But it’s even more! Christ’s authority surpasses
any human standards, and as we see, if there is any greatest reason why Christ is
a person of highest authority, it is because he is the Son of God. All power
and dominion is given to him, and hence he is above all else that has been
created; indeed, all in heaven, on earth and under the earth shall bend their
knees at his name. But not only that. Since he and the
Father are one, he himself is God. Thus, his authority over all creation is supreme.
“He even orders evil spirits and they
obey him.”
Even as he speaks out of his own authority as God, Christ also does wonders in his own authority. This has a double effect in his person. Whereas it is true that the miracles he performs are done by virtue of his authority, it is also equally true that by doing so it enforces the authority which he already has. The driving out of the demon in today’s gospel is just one of these accounts, and we can just see how people react to it. Going further, the gospel narrates even more. He multiplies bread. He cleanses the leper. He cures the sick. He raises the dead back to life. He still the cruel sea. All who witness these things are caught in great awe and wonder who can this man be. Indeed, no one can perform such great wonders unless he is truly a man of God!
“With what authority he preaches! He even
orders evil spirits and they obey him!”