First Reading
4th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle B–2009 Deuteronomy 18:15-20
Moses spoke to all the people, saying: “A prophet like me will the Lord, your God, raise up for you from among your own kin; to him you shall listen. This is exactly what you requested of the Lord, your God, at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let us not again hear the voice of the Lord, our God, nor see this great fire any more, lest we die.’ And the Lord said to me, ‘This was well said. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their kin, and will put my words into his mouth; he shall tell them all that I command him.’” Whoever will not listen to my words which he speaks in my name, I myself will make him answer for it. But if a prophet presumes to speak in my name an oracle that I have not commanded him to speak, or speaks in the name of other gods, he shall die.”
Second Reading
1 Corinthians 7:32-35
Brothers and sisters: I should like you to be free of anxieties. An unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord. But a married man is anxious about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and he is divided. An unmarried woman or a virgin is anxious about the things of the Lord, so that she may be holy in both body and spirit. A married woman, on the other hand, is anxious about the things of the world, how she may please her husband. I am telling you this for your own benefit, not to impose a restraint upon you, but for the sake of propriety and adherence to the Lord without distraction.
Gospel Cycle Cycle B
Mark 1:21-28
Then they came to Capernaum, and on the sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and taught. The people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit; he cried out, “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!” Jesus rebuked him and said, “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? A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.” His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee.
Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all that the prophets spoke about. Jesus Christ is God’s own Word, come to us in a way that was visible. The followers of Jesus ate with Him, spoke with Him, disagreed with Him, touched Him and knew that He was truly human—yet they also sensed that there was more. In our Christian tradition, it is said that we can only understand Jesus if we understand the Old Testament, the Jewish Scriptures.
Every Sunday, except in Easter Time, we begin with a reading from the Old Testament. These readings are there to help us understand more profoundly Jesus Christ. If we do not understand what the Old Testament is saying, we will not be able to understand who Jesus Christ is and how He speaks the Word of the Father.
Today’s first reading, from the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses speaks about God raising up a prophet. God raised up many prophets and prophetesses to lead His people. These people had some divine experience, felt called by God and were able to lead God’s people in various ways. Always there are prophets and prophetesses. Only Jesus is the fulfillment of all prophecy, even today. If prophecy does not point us to the Lord, then it is false.
In Mark’s Gospel this morning, we begin to hear how the people initially related to Jesus. They were not really sure about Him at first. He was giving a new teaching, for sure, and it seemed to have authority. At first it seems that most of those who heard Him agreed with Him and His teaching. This becomes less so the longer he lives and preaches.
Even today it is a strong decision for anyone to say: I believe in Jesus! I believe that He is the Messiah. I believe that He is Son of God. I believe that He was sent by the Father and is God with the Father and the Holy Spirit and yet only one God. These are not easy statements to make and even more difficult to believe. When we do believe them, then everything that happens in life must be seen in the light of our belief. This is surely the intention of today’s readings: to place Jesus before us and to ask us to believe Him.
The First Letter to the Corinthians takes a slightly different theme today, that of remaining unmarried for the Lord. We should all know that Paul was convinced that this was better even while he accepted marriage and the vocation of most. Not marrying, but giving one’s time to the Lord only makes sense if one is completely convinced that Jesus is God. Some non-Christian cultures do have a tradition of chaste celibacy. It is quite often combined with a belief in reincarnation so that chaste celibacy comes only after many other lifetimes of experience. For us who follow Jesus Christ, who believe that there is only one life, the choice of chaste celibacy only makes sense if we accept Jesus as Lord and know that life is ultimately about loving and serving others.
May the Holy Spirit guide us today so that we can know our Lord Jesus more completely, so we can understand Him more profoundly through all that the Old Testament tells us and so that we can dedicate our lives to Him always.