MARK 1:21-28
AS YOU KNOW THIS IS YEAR
B IN THE LITURGICAL CALENDAR, AND WE ARE READING THE GOSPEL OF MARK.
FOR A LONG TIME THIS GOSPEL WAS THOUGHT TO BE SORT OF A READER'S
DIGEST CONDENSED VERSION OF MATTHEW, AND MATTHEW WAS THE
AUTHORITATIVE GOSPEL. THE CHURCH DREW THE MAJORITY OF ITS READINGS
FROM MATTHEW. THE OTHER THING ABOUT MARK IS THAT FOR A LONG TIME IT
WAS FELT THAT, BASED ON THE GRAMMAR AND SMALL VOCABULARY OF MARK, IT
HAD BEEN WRITTEN BY SOMEONE WHO WASN'T VERY FLUENT IN GREEK.
HOWEVER, IN THE LAST FIFTY YEARS OR SO, BIBLICAL SCHOLARS HAVE
LEARNED A LOT ABOUT MARK. IT IS THE OLDEST GOSPEL, PROBABLY WRITTEN
DURING THE LIFETIME OF SAINT PAUL, AND MATTHEW AND LUKE BOTH BORROW
FROM IT. MARK HAS A VERY COHERENT THEOLOGY, DIFFERENT FROM MATTHEW
AND THE OTHER GOSPEL WRITERS. AND FINALLY, MARK SEEMS TO B
DELIBERATELY USING UNSOPHISTICATED GREEK IN ORDER TO DRAW THOSE WHO
HEAR THE GOSPEL INTO THE STORY – KIND OF LIKE THE WAY HEMINGWAY
TRIED TO MAKE HIS STORIES SO SIMPLE THAT PEOPLE READING THEM WOULD
NOT NOTICE THE WORDS.
TODAY WE SEE A VERY SHORT
GOSPEL IN WHICH THOSE WHO ARE OBSERVING JESUS ARE FIRST OF ALL
ASTONISHED AT HIS TEACHING, AND LATER, AMAZED AT HIS TEACHING –
AFTER HE'S DRIVEN THE EVIL SPIRIT OUT OF THE MAN. MARK USES THE
GREEK WORD “THAMBEO” THIRTY FOUR TIMES IN HIS GOSPEL. DIFFERENT
TRANSLATORS TRANSLATE THAMBEO INTO AMAZED, ASTONISHED, SHAKEN,
DUMBFOUNDED – EVEN FEARFUL. IT SEEMS AS THOUGH THERE ISN'T A WORD
IN ENGLISH THAT IS THE EXACT EQUIVALENT. WHEN WE READ AN ENGLISH
TRANSLATION, WE DON'T PICK UP ON THIS. BUT MARK IS DEFINITELY MAKING
SURE THAT HIS READERS KNOW THAT THE PEOPLE WHO HEAR JESUS ARE AMAZED.
NOW WHEN I WAS GOING TO
SCHOOL I HAD SOME PRETTY GOOD TEACHERS; AND I'VE HEARD SOME PRETTY
GOOD SERMONS AND TALKS DURING MY LIFETIME. BUT I DON'T EVER RECALL
BEING AMAZED OR ASTONISHED WHEN I WAS BEING TAUGHT. SO WHAT'S GOING
ON WITH THESE CROWDS? AFTER ALL, WE READERS UP TO THIS POINT IN THE
GOSPEL HAVE SEEN JESUS WORK MIRACLES, BUT WE HAVEN'T HEARD HIM TEACH,
EXCEPT TO SAY “REPENT AND BELIEVE THE GOSPEL, THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS
AT HAND.” AND MAYBE THAT'S WHERE THE ASTONISHMENT, THE AMAZEMENT
COMES FROM. BECAUSE IF JESUS WERE JUST TEACHING, HIS HEARERS WOULD
PROBABLY NOT BE STIRRED UP MUCH. BUT IF HE WORKS MIRACLES, THEY ARE
PUT INTO A SITUATION WHERE THEY MUST MAKE A CHOICE. THEY CAN BELIEVE
HIM, WHICH MEANS THEY BETTER DO WHAT HE SAYS, WHICH IN TURN MEANS
CHANGING THEIR LIVES; THEY CAN TRY TO IGNORE HIM, WHICH MANY DO. IF
YOU REMEMBER THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER AND THE SEEDS, ONLY A FEW OF
THOSE WHO HEARD THE PARABLE LATER ASKED HIM TO EXPLAIN IT. I ASSUME
THE REST WEREN'T INTERESTED IN HEARING AN EXPLANATION. FINALLY,
THERE WERE PEOPLE, AS WE KNOW, WHO CONCLUDED THAT THOSE MIRACLES OF
JESUS COULDN'T COME FROM GOD, BECAUSE CERTAINLY GOD WOULD NOT BE
TELLING HIS DEVOUT FOLLOWERS TO REPENT. SO THEY DECIDED HIS MIRACLES
CAME FROM THE DEVIL.
IF YOU REALLY BELIEVE
JESUS, THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS AT HAND. AND JESUS SAYS OVER AND OVER
THAT YOU CAN ENTER THE KINGDOM, RIGHT NOW. IT'S NOT IN SOME DISTANT
FUTURE. BUT ENTERING THE KINGDOM REQUIRES CHANGING YOUR LIFE, AND A
CHRISTIAN IS ALWAYS CHANGING HIS OR HER LIFE. WHAT IS THIS KINGDOM?
IT'S NOT A PLACE, IT'S A STATE OF BEING; IT'S AN ALTERNATIVE LIFE
STYLE. JESUS SAID THAT IT'S NOT OF THIS WORLD. AND THOSE WHO
FOLLOWED HIM CONTINUED TO BE AMAZED AT HIS TEACHINGS: THE FIRST SHALL
BE LAST AND THE LAST FIRST; IT IS EASIER FOR A CAMEL TO PASS THROUGH
THE NEEDLE'S EYE THAN FOR A RICH MAN TO ENTER THE KINGDOM; YOU ARE TO
WASH EACH OTHER'S FEET; BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO MOURN, BLESSED ARE THE
PERSECUTED; AND PERHAPS THE HARDEST OF ALL, “THE SON OF MAN MUST BE
TORTURED AND PUT TO DEATH, AND RISE ON THE THIRD DAY”. WHEN WE
READ THE GOSPELS CAREFULLY, AND PUT OURSELVES IN THE PLACE OF THOSE
WHO WERE MOST COMMITTED TO FOLLOWING JESUS, IT'S NO WONDER THAT THEY
WERE CONSTANTLY BEING ASTONISHED AT HIS TEACHING.
IT WASN'T SO LONG AGO
THAT THERE WAS A CATHOLIC CULTURE. WHEN MOST OF US WENT TO OUR OWN
SCHOOLS, WHEN MOST OF US FREQUENTED THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE ON A
WEEKLY OR MONTHLY BASIS; WHEN WE REALLY FASTED DURING LENT AND
ABSTAINED FROM MEAT ON FRIDAY; WHEN WE SHOWED RESPECT FOR THE
EUCHARIST BY KNEELING TO RECEIVE, BY BOWING TO THE TABERNACLE, BY
PARTICIPATING IN EUCHARISTIC PROCESSIONS AND ADORATION – THERE WAS
A SENSE THAT WE WERE LIVING AN ALTERNATIVE LIFE STYLE. I'M NOT
SAYING WE SHOULD GO BACK TO THAT TIME, BUT WE SHOULD ASK, ARE WE SO
AMAZED AND ASTONISHED AT JESUS' TEACHINGS THAT WE ARE REPENTING,
CHANGING THE WAY WE THINK AND ACT, LIVING IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD WHICH
IS AT HAND? OR ARE WE HARD TO DISTINGUISH FROM OUR FRIENDS AND
NEIGHBORS.
THERE WAS A POST ON MY
FACEBOOK FEED THE OTHER DAY. IT SAID SOMETHING LIKE THIS:
WHEN I TALK ABOUT JUSTICE
FOR IMMIGRANTS, THEY CALL ME A DEMOCRAT.
WHEN I PROTEST ABORTION,
THEY CALL ME A REPUBLICAN.
WHEN I PROTEST RACISM AND
RACIAL INEQUALITY, THEY CALL ME A DEMOCRAT.
WHEN I WANT GOVERNMENT TO
LIVE WITHIN ITS MEANS AND SPEND MONEY WISELY, THEY CALL ME A
REPUBLICAN.
WHEN I SUPPORT THE COMMON
GOOD AND SOLIDARITY, THE SAY I'M A DEMOCRAT.
WHEN I BELIEVE IN
STRENGTHENING THE TRADITIONAL FAMILY, THEY SAY I'M A REPUBLICAN.
WHEN I SPEAK OUT AGAINST
THE DEATH PENALTY THEY CALL ME A DEMOCRAT.
WHEN I AM AGAINST USING
PUBLIC MONEY TO FUND CONTRACEPTION, THEY CALL ME A REPUBLICAN,
BUT IN REALITY, I'M JUST A
CATHOLIC WHO BELIEVES WHAT HIS CHURCH TEACHES.
WE SHOULD BE AMAZED AND
ASTONISHED AT WHAT JESUS TEACHES, IN THE GOSPELS AND THROUGH HIS
CHURCH. AND WE SHOULD REALIZE THAT HE IS ASKING US TO REPENT, WHICH
MEANS TAKE UP AN ALTERNATIVE LIFE STYLE. AND HE PROMISES THAT IF WE
DO THAT, WE MIGHT VERY WELL BE PERSECUTED. BUT HE ALSO PROMISES THAT
WE WILL SHARE ETERNAL LIFE WITH HIM. THE FRENCH AUTHOR LEON BLOY,
WHO HAD BERN AGNOSTIC AND WROTE SCATHING ARTICLES DERIDING THE
CHURCH, UNDERWENT A MIRACULOUS CONVERSION LATER IN LIFE. HE WAS TO
HAVE SAID, “THE ONLY TRAGEDY IN LIFE IS NOT TO BECOME A SAINT.”
SO REPENT AND BELIEVE THE GOOD NEWS, AND PREPARE TO BE ASTONISHED AND
AMAZED AS YOU FOLLOW JESUS.
