Gospel reflection for Feb. 4, 2024, Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Mark’s Gospel opens with a rapid series of events, so that the reader gets a quick glimpse into who Jesus is and how his ministry will unfold.
Jesus enters the synagogue in Capernaum and the people are astounded at his teaching. He taught with “authority” as did Moses, and very unlike the teaching of the scribes and rabbis of their times.
Jesus also performs an exorcism at the synagogue, showing his power over Satan and the in-breaking of the Kingdom of God into the world.
Then, as he heals the mother-in-law of Simon, his notoriety as a worker of miracles spreads, so that the crowds bring to him all those who are sick and possessed, so that he might touch them and heal them.
There is a very natural order to these events as we see the people being drawn more and more to Jesus. His Word attracts them; they are struck by his teaching both in style and in content.
The two important branches of Jesus’ ministry — teaching and miracles — always complement one another and serve to highlight each other. The ministry of Jesus finds expression in both the teaching and his mighty deeds. A word always accompanies the action, and the action finds its meaning in the word.
The same is true for us in the exercise of our faith. We celebrate the Sacraments first with a reflection on the Word. It is not enough to merely do what Jesus did as we must first hear what Jesus says. Similarly, to merely hear Jesus and to not then do what he does is incomplete and bears no fruit.
It is not his words or his mighty deeds that are at the end the highlight or focus of his life or his ministry. As we read Mark’s Gospel the necessity of the Death of Jesus on the Cross as the completion of his work and the essential act of salvation becomes more and more apparent.
While one must read almost half-way through this Gospel before the Passion and Death of Jesus begins to surface; it is not because Mark wants to downplay the reality of the Cross, but because Jesus first tests both the disciples and the crowds to see just how strongly they stood with him and how willing they were to commit themselves totally to his mission. The time comes when Jesus sets his sights on Jerusalem and begins the journey to the Cross. While Mark, like the others, has a particular moment when what we call Holy Week begins — the triumphal entry into the city — the real journey to the Cross as Mark sees it, happens when Jesus emerges from the desert after his Baptism by John.
What we see here is twofold. First Jesus is gradually rolling out the Gospel — word, action, passion — and testing the disciples and the crowds along every step of the journey. We also see the gradual growth in faith and commitment by the disciples and of the crowds as to the three-fold mission of Jesus.
The people of Capernaum came to Jesus at night, not because they were afraid, but because they were still in the darkness. They had heard great things and they saw what they thought were even greater things, however they were not ready to come to the third and most important realization — the necessity of the Cross in the fulfillment of the Gospel.
So much of this is still true for Christians today. Some will want to focus only on the Words of Jesus, others will want to focus solely on the actions of Jesus and some will while doing either still reject the power and necessity of the Cross of Jesus. Some prefer Jesus as a social prophet or political revolutionary.
May we who are blessed to have the opportunity to encounter Jesus in word and sacrament focused on the cross continue to nourish that balance in our lives.
Father Garry Koch is pastor of St. Benedict Parish, Holmdel.