Tuesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

“Jesus Casts out Unclean Spirit”
by Gillem van der Gouwen, 1728

 
Readings for Tuesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time [1]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
 
Readings and Commentary: [3]
 
Reading 1: Hebrews 2:5-12
 
It was not to angels that God subjected the world to come,
of which we are speaking.
Instead, someone has testified somewhere:
 
What is man that you are mindful of him,
or the son of man that you care for him?
You made him for a little while lower than the angels;
you crowned him with glory and honor,
subjecting all things under his feet.
 
In “subjecting” all things to him,
he left nothing not “subject to him.”
Yet at present we do not see “all things subject to him,”
but we do see Jesus “crowned with glory and honor”
because he suffered death,
he who “for a little while” was made “lower than the angels,”
that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
 
For it was fitting that he,
for whom and through whom all things exist,
in bringing many children to glory,
should make the leader to their salvation perfect through suffering.
He who consecrates
and those who are being consecrated all have one origin.
Therefore, he is not ashamed to call them “brothers” saying:
 
I will proclaim your name to my brethren,
in the midst of the assembly I will praise you.
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Commentary on Heb 2:5-12
 
This passage from Hebrews contains a very complex and important understanding of the nature of Christ. In the beginning of this selection, we hear it was not the angels that were sent to rule the earth, refuting a false teaching. Then that humbling phrase; “What is man that you are mindful of him, or the son of man that you care for him?” God set mankind to rule the earth, and, for a while, the Father sent his Only Begotten Son to be in that totally human state, lower than the angels. As true man, he suffered death as a sacrifice of atonement for everyone. This classic passage from Hebrews is foundational to our understanding of Christ Jesus, true God and true man.
 
CCC: Heb 2:9 624, 629; Heb 2:10 609; Heb 2:12 2602
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 8:2ab and 5, 6-7, 8-9
 
R. (see 7) You have given your Son rule over the works of your hands.
 
O LORD, our Lord,
how glorious is your name over all the earth!
What is man that you should be mindful of him,
or the son of man that you should care for him?
R. You have given your Son rule over the works of your hands.
 
You have made him little less than the angels,
and crowned him with glory and honor.
You have given him rule over the works of your hands,
putting all things under his feet.
R. You have given your Son rule over the works of your hands.
 
All sheep and oxen,
yes, and the beasts of the field,
The birds of the air, the fishes of the sea,
and whatever swims the paths of the seas.
R. You have given your Son rule over the works of your hands.
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Commentary on Ps 8:2ab and 5, 6-7, 8-9
 
Psalm 8 is another of the songs of thanksgiving.  In this selection we hear the title “son of man” used.  It is, in this instance, referring to all the faithful as opposed to Jesus.  The song reflects on the creation account from Genesis, and how God gave man dominion over the life he had created. The humility expressed in this song has the same sense of questioning humility found in Hebrews 2:5-12. It also marvels at the fact that God made his creation subject to man.
 
(Note: The psalm response, developed by ICEL and used on this date, implies that the Son of God has been given rule over the works of his own hands, contradicting the psalmist’s lyric which clearly intends to refer to the Genesis creation account. Verse 7, from which the response was said to have been taken reads in the NAB: “You have given him rule over the works of your hands.” “Him” refers to humankind in this psalm.)
 
CCC: Ps 8:2 300, 2566; Ps 8:6 2566, 2809
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Gospel: Mark 1:21-28
 
Jesus came to Capernaum with his followers,
and on the sabbath he 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.
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Commentary on Mk 1:21-28
 
Jesus is teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum. “The account of a single day's ministry of Jesus on a sabbath in and outside the synagogue of Capernaum combines teaching and miracles of exorcism and healing. Mention is not made of the content of the teaching but of the effect of astonishment and alarm on the people. Jesus' teaching with authority, making an absolute claim on the hearer, was in the best tradition of the ancient prophets, not of the scribes.” [4] First the Lord astonishes the people with the “authority” of his teaching in the tradition of the prophets, as opposed to the scribes, and then proceeds to demonstrate the effectiveness of his authority by casting out an unclean spirit.
 
He encounters an “unclean spirit,” so called because it does not recognize the authority of God. Jesus commands the spirit to leave and it obeys. God in the person of Christ, after all, has authority over all things. In this way we see once more the assurance that Jesus is true God. The exchange between the Lord and this “unclean spirit” is instructive. The spirit attempts to gain mastery over Jesus by using his full name, “Jesus of Nazareth.” The address used by the one possessed, “I know who you are – the Holy One of God,” is an attempt to ward off the power of Jesus, not a profession. Jesus rebukes the spirit and orders it out. The event stirs fear as well as awe in those present.
 
CCC: Mk 1:21 2173; Mk 1:24 438; Mk 1:25 1673; Mk 1:26 1673
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Reflection:
 
Sacred Scripture calls us to humility and thanksgiving today. 
 
“What is man that you are mindful of him,
or the son of man that you care for him?
You made him for a little while lower than the angels;
you crowned him with glory and honor,
subjecting all things under his feet.” (Hebrews 2:6-8)
 
For those who would demand political correctness, we can substitute “mankind” for “man.” The inclusive language makes the concept all the more powerful.  The question points out the fact that we, even God’s faithful ones, do not earn the salvation that flows through the Son of God.  It is not by some special merit or privilege that Jesus was sent to us.  Rather it was out of profound love, beyond all understanding, that God sent his Only Begotten Son, so that we might come to understand what awaits us if we remain faithful to him.
 
When he came to us, even those who believed that God was the One God, Creator of all, did not understand his nature.  They saw only the “God of Justice” revealed in the Law of Moses.  They understood mere fragments of his relationship to the people he loved.  Scripture shows us how the Lord changed that flawed and incomplete vision.
 
At Capernaum, having astonished the people with his teaching, he found one whose mind was closed to him, having a spirit of malice, unclean, and unbelieving.  He commanded that spirit: “Quiet!  Come out of him!”  When the soul of man is occupied by a spirit of evil, complete rejection, the Lord may make no home there.  He had to force that spirit to leave so the love of God could enter.
 
We consider for a moment the meaning of that miracle.  Jesus, out of love, cast out the unclean spirit.  He transformed the will of one so corrupted by the Evil One that he had become a danger to the gift of life God had given, and a danger to the children of God with whom he had contact.  In that act, the vacuum left by the spirit departing was filled by the Holy Spirit.  A new tenant had taken up residence in the home God had created for that purpose.
 
To those observing, such a radical transformation must have been positively stupefying.  One they had known to be poison to the community was suddenly reunited; his outward character completely changed.  We have seen it in others, have we not?  Those who have undergone a radical and swift conversion suddenly seem to have become another person.  This is what the people at Capernaum saw.
 
For us, it is but one more proof of the depth of love God has for us.  It is also an example of what can happen when the spirit of evil departs, and Christ is allowed to enter the home of the soul where he wants to abide.  Our prayer today is that we can open our own soul to Jesus so the Lord may fully reside within us.  We also pray that our words and actions might encourage others to become open to that same Holy Spirit.
 
Pax

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[1] The picture used today is “Jesus Casts out Unclean Spirit” by Gillem van der Gouwen, 1728.
[2] S.S. Commemoratio
[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[4] NAB footnote on MK 1:21-45.