Homily Fourth Sunday Year B The Power of Jesus
Homily Fourth Sunday Year B
Reading I: During the early part of their sojourn in
the desert, the Israelites were afraid of God. They saw his signs and wonders
and they were overwhelmed and fearful. They asked that Moses act as a mediator
between them and God. God promised that after Moses he would not speak to the
people directly any longer but through a prophet, like Moses.
What is a prophet? He is one who is a spokesperson for
God, saying the message of God, not in his own name, but in the name of God.
There were many prophets over the centuries following,
some authentic and some false. As time went on, the people were expecting The
prophet. Recall the question asked of John the Baptist by the religious
leaders. “Are you the Christ, Elijah, or The prophet?” Recall the response of the apostles to Jesus’
question, “Who do people say I am?” “John
the Baptizer, Elijah, The prophet.”
What was the sign of the prophet? Like Moses, a
prophet was in intimate relationship with God; he spoke the words of God to the
people; he may work signs and wonders; he was a mediator between God and his
people. He was one chosen and called by God; one from among the people; one who
must be listened to.
At the same time, Moses indicated that there would be
false prophets as well. What is a false prophet? He is one who presumes to
speak in God’s name a word not commanded or from God; or he may speak in the
name of other gods.
Prophecy is a gift of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus was
baptized, he experienced a fresh anointing of the gifts of the Spirit. One of
these was prophesy. He was The prophet
that God promised to send. When he preached and taught, he spoke prophetically
many times. His message was from God. As he verified: “I say only what the
Father tells me to say; I do the works of my Father.”
Gospel: Last Sunday the Gospel of Mark told us that
Jesus began his public ministry by proclaiming prophetically the kingdom of God
was at hand. Then he invited his first disciples to follow him.
Today the focus of his ministry is on his role as
teacher and his power over unclean spirits. He is different. He teaches with
authority, not in name of another rabbi, who formed him. No, he teaches in the
name of God, who sent him.
Secondly, in his humanity because of the anointing
power of the Holy Spirit, he has power over evil spirits. In fact, he has come
to break the power of Satan over humanity, to crush its head.
Jesus has already been confronted by Satan in the
temptations in the desert. Now, Jesus confronts Satan. The evil one recognizes
that Jesus is the Holy One of God and is compelled to acknowledge this, not in
faith, but in fact.
What does this passage teach us? The strongholds that
Satan still has over us can only be broken by Jesus. Jesus desires to break
them, but only when we ask him to. The evil one cannot hide from Jesus but must
manifest itself and come under the authority of Jesus. We are not to fear the
evil one. Rather, we need to turn in trust under the protection of Jesus.
Reading 2: One of the tactics of the evil one is to cause
us to become overly anxious and fearful about situations. Paul reminds us that
we should be free of anxieties. But if we are to be anxious about anything, be
anxious about pleasing the Lord. In
another words, Paul is saying put first things first.
We spend a lot of time pleasing others. How much
effort do we exert in pleasing the Lord and being pleasing to the Lord? What is our priority? God or others? The
reason we are to love others is because of our love of God. The reason we do
good to others should be because we want to be pleasing and faithful to the
Lord.
Whether married or single we are called to be anxious
about the things of the Lord, how we may please the Lord. If we do, we will
adhere to the Lord without distractions.
The Lordship of Jesus Christ as a conscious reality in
one’s life is the ultimate reason for Paul’s ministry. He summed his teaching
about this with this statement: “Whatever you do whether in word or action, do
it in the name of Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
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