“Quiet! Come out of him!”  The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him.  All were amazed and asked one another, “What is this? 

Mark 1: 25-27

Who’s the best teacher you’ve had?   What made them so good?

Jesus enters a synagogue in Capernaum (A Synagogue is a place of assembly used by
Jewish communities primarily for public worship and instruction). His teaching is astonishing; he teaches as one having ‘authority’ and not as the scribes (the scribes are often thought of as ones who speak in plain platitudes). But what is it about this new teaching?  What kind of ‘new authority’/power does it possess unlike the ‘teachers of the time’?  What makes him so good?

Firstly, Jesus is prophetic—he speaks as a prophet does. A prophet (as the first reading indicates) is one who speaks a word that is not his own. Jesus proclaims/speaks God’s word (divine word). Jesus is sent by the Father and everything he accomplishes is to give glory to the Father and further the kingdom of God. His message and mission is not a ‘self-mission’. There is a deep transparency and integrity about what Jesus does.  It is ‘not about him’.

Secondly, Jesus’ message is ‘concerned’. It reveals God’s concern for the world and its transformation, but it is also a message that is filled with human sympathy and compassion. It is a message ‘for others’. Jesus is an ‘involved’ communicator. He speaks as one who walks the same road as the listener; as one who has the same experiences; as one who will not abandon the listener but will lead them to a ‘transformed life’. In the words of Pope Francis: ‘He finds people where they are’, in that way his message is always relevant and contemporary.

It helps also that Jesus’ message is backed up with divine power and miracles. These (like the one we listen to today in the gospel) showcase or give credence to him as a divine teacher and the son of God.

“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!”

What then might be our challenge or the point for our reflection?

Do we give this Divine Teacher our undivided attention?  What anxieties must we free ourselves of, to listen to him more? How giving undivided attention can be hard and require great discipline!

By our Baptism we are ‘prophets’ which means ‘be concerned’. Does the word of God that we listen to every Sunday and at the Eucharist, merely ‘stay’ with us or die with us or does it go silent with us? What makes us afraid of speaking the Word of Truth in today’s world? How can we make it a Word ‘for others’? A Word that prompts us to live a life of Christian witness!

“Quiet! Come out of him!”  The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him. All were amazed and asked one another, “What is this?”  (Mark 1, 25-27)

A model for us is Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Find time to read about her life.

— Father Anthony