This is the 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time and our Sunday gospel reading today comes from Mark 1:21-28. This gospel reading happens at the beginning of the Galilean ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. This incident happens right after our Lord Jesus recruits his first apostles. So in a way, it is the first time that the Jews saw our Lord in action.
"Jesus went into the town of Capernaum and Jesus taught in the synagogue and on the Sabbath Day. The people were astonished at the way he taught, for he spoke as one having authority and not like the teachers of the law. It happened that a man with an evil spirit was in their synagogue, and he shouted, "What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are; you are the Holy One of God."
Then Jesus faced him and said with authority, "Be silent, and come out of this man!" The evil spirit shook the man violently and with a loud shriek, came out of him. All the people were astonished and they wondered, "What is this? He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him!" And Jesus' fame spread throughout all the country of Galilee."
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As we said, this was the start of the Galilean ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ right after John the Baptist was arrested by Herod. So the first town in Galilee that he visited was Capernaum, which at that time was a very small fishing village by Lake Galilee, but with a synagogue very close to the house of Simon Peter. When we went to the Holy Land, Capernaum was one of the most important parts of our tour as the house of Simon Peter was still preserved. Although it's in ruins, they constructed a chapel over it.
So our Lord Jesus Christ began teaching the Jews in the synagogue and they were all astonished as "he spoke as one having authority and not like the teachers of the law." There is no doubt that devout Jews always go to their local synagogues so that the teachers of the law would interpret what is written in the Torah or their sacred scrolls.
Then came this man from Nazareth, who was not a Rabbi, yet he taught as one with authority, even far more than what they heard from the scribes, which is why they were all astonished! Then suddenly a man possessed by an evil spirit shouted inside the synagogue, "What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are; you are the Holy One of God."
Now most of the Jews in Capernaum did not yet know who Jesus of Nazareth was. So how come that possessed man knew who Jesus was? Remember the reputation of our Lord had not yet been established as he was just beginning his Galilean ministry. So our Lord faced the possessed man and said, "Be silent, and come out of this man!" Then the man went into convulsion that shook him violently as the evil spirit left his body.
Imagine yourself as one of the Jews witnessing what just happened. You too would be astonished. If the same scenario would happen in your parish on Sunday mass and the priest would also say, "Be silent"…we too would be just as astonished. The usual teachers of the law or the Scribes may have taught them about the Torah, but they did so not with the same authority as our Lord Jesus Christ. Naturally, Jesus can teach the Law of Moses because he was the one who gave it to Moses!
When they saw the evil spirit leave the man possessed by an evil spirit, they mumbled and talked with each other saying, "What is this? He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him!" And Jesus' fame spread throughout all the country of Galilee." No I would say that what happened in todays gospel was just a minor miracle. In another scene, our Lord Jesus Christ cured the fever of the mother-in-law of Simon Peter… again another minor miracle, but it gave our Lord a reputation as a healer.
In another story, which was actually yesterday's gospel reading on Mark 4: 35-41, it read, "On that day, as evening drew on, Jesus said to his disciples, "Let us cross to the other side. Leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat just as he was. And other boats were with him. A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up.? Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. They woke him and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" He woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Quiet! Be still!" The wind ceased and there was great calm. Then he asked them, "Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?" They were filled with great awe and said to one another, "Who then is this whom even wind and obey?"
This is how the reputation of our Lord Jesus started in the towns surrounding Lake Galilee. In the next months we shall be reading about the numerous miracles that our Lord Jesus did not because he wanted to impress the Jews, but because like the miracle of the loaves and fish, Jesus felt pity and compassion for his flock. This is why we must also learn the Lord's love and mercy toward our fellowman.