Homily for the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

The Unique Treasures Of Christianity 

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, Brooklyn Center, MN

Sunday, January 31, 2021

After His emergence at the public scene, Jesus travels to the city of Capernaum in Galilee, the city where He launches His ministry. On the Sabbath, He enters the synagogue, assumes the role of a rabbi and teaches with authority “and not as the scribes.” What makes His teaching radically different from that of the scribes? He speaks not like a regular Jewish scholar but as God. And to make this holy day assembly even more acute, more dramatic, more magnificent, Jesus heals a man possessed with an evil spirit. By the power and authority of the spoken word (rhema), Jesus demonstrates what is possible with God and what is inevitable without God. For the Jews, the Sabbath (Shabbat) is a day of rest on the seventh day of the week— Saturday. On this day, they remember the biblical story of the creation of the heaven and the earth in six days, and also look forward to a future Messianic Age. In Capernaum synagogue, Jesus of Nazareth does three things: first, He demonstrates that He is the Kingdom in Person, secondly, He teaches the fundamentals of God’s Kingdom, that is, what the Kingdom of God looks like, and thirdly, He asserts that all longing for a futuristic Messiah should now come to an end, for the Messiah is right in their midst. 

But, there is something else I will like us to pay a close attention to. Today’s Gospel (Mark1:21-28) says “In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit…” and sensing the power of Jesus, the evil spirit in him speaks up and says, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are— the Holy One of God!” Interesting! “I know who you are— the Holy One of God!” In recent years, there has been a tendency to reduce Jesus to the level of a great teacher or a great prophet or guru. Some see Him merely as a nice and gentle figure. They claim they understand His moral teaching, that He is like many other great figures, that He repeats what other religious figures had said, and after that they simply forget about Him. But Jesus was during His lifetime and after the resurrection a deeply unnerving figure. He was a subversive and disruptive figure. If Jesus were just a nice guy, an interesting figure who echoes what other great religious figures had said, how come a demonic spirit, a supernatural being that comes from Satan and operates at the spiritual level able to recognize his identity and submit to his authority? If Jesus is not Lord, if Jesus is not the very incarnation of Yahweh, a descendant of Lucifer the prince of darkness will not fret before him. 

Notice what Jesus said after the evil spirit tried to reveal his identity: “Quiet! Come out of him!” Now, before you can expel such a spirit, you have to appeal to a higher power, a higher spiritual power that exists at a more powerful spiritual level. As for Jesus, He doesn’t have to appeal to such a power, for He is that power. All power belongs to Jesus and comes from Him. At the commissioning of the eleven Disciples after His resurrection, Jesus says “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matt. 28:18). The one who has all the power in heaven and on earth is no doubt greater than Moses, greater than Muhammad, greater than Buddha, greater than Confucius or any other great figure. He is God. Because he is God that is why he compels a choice in a way that no other founder does. To his credit, Muhammad never claimed to be God. He only said he was a messenger, that he received a message from God. Moses to his infinite credit never claimed to be divine. He said he received the law from God and wants to give it to the people. The Buddha, to his credit never claimed to be divine. He only said he found a way and wants to show it to people. As for Jesus, he does not say he found a way, he says, “I am the Way.” He does not say he found the truth, he says, “I am the Truth.” He does not say there is a new mode of life that he discovered, he says, “I am the Life.” These claims are the unique treasures of Christianity. They compel a choice. Jesus himself says that either you are with me or you are against me. So, if Jesus is what he says he is, then we must give our whole life to him. He is God. He is the Highest Good. It is either you gather with Him or you scatter; either you are with Him or you are against Him. The Gospel is the good news about this Jesus; and it compels on those who hear it a decision and choice.