Jijo Kandamkulathy, CMF
Claretian Publications, Macau
Mk 1:21-28
4TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR B
The gospel passage today narrates the first miracle of Jesus mentioned in the gospel of Mark. We find a man with an unclean spirit in the synagogue at Capernaum—an abomination in a place of holiness. The presence of evil talks not just about personal morbidity but that of the community as well. The community tolerated to live with evil as long as it did not disturb them. It is a challenge to every Christian community and even personally to identify the evil that we tolerate or even rear within us or in the community. Just like the synagogue or a church, we are all called to be temples of the living God (1 Corinthians 3:16), and accommodating or harboring evil within is not worthy of the temple of God that I am.
When the man in Gerasene faced Jesus (Mark 5:1-20), he said that he was many. When they were expelled, they sought out the most unclean animals, the swine, to live in. Unable to stand the evil, even such unclean animals rushed into the sea and killed themselves. The incident shows the propensity of the human mind to harbor evils that even animals would not tolerate.
In the synagogue, unable to face the very presence of the holiness of Jesus, the evil shouts and disturbs the community. What it recognizes is the authority of Jesus. Sometimes we mistake authority with power. They are subtly different. Authority is the right that one has by virtue of the position one holds. The evil spirit confesses that Jesus, being the Son of God, has a governing authority over them. It speaks out a knowledge not from this world, and in the very first instance of the ministry of Jesus, the authority of the Son of God is established, though the people are only just beginning to recognize who Jesus is. They speak about the authority of Jesus but without knowing exactly where that power comes from. Eventually, Peter, on behalf of all the apostles, would confess that Jesus is the Son of God (Matthew 16:16). This authority was revealed during the baptism (Mark 1:11), and a pagan centurion would also confess at the foot of the cross that Jesus was the Son of God (Matthew 27:54).
The Pharisees debated with Jesus about his authority, which they wanted to prove was from a superior evil power itself (Matthew 12:24). Jesus demolishes their arguments. Jesus casts out the evil that he conquered the first time and keeps conquering every time. It is the right of the winner to demand obedience from the defeated, in this case, the evil.
Jesus casts out the evil from the person, not the person himself. Our tendencies to block good friends because of disagreements, to delete contacts of people we should love and take care are ways that we cast out people who we do not agree with. We need Christian ways of dealing with members of our community, to expel the evil but welcome the person. Saving the person who is in sin while denouncing the evil is possible only with great love.
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