Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)
For: Sunday, February 1, 2009
4th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Jesus in the Synagogue of Capernaum
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[21] And they went into Capernaum; and immediately on the sabbath He entered
the synagogue and taught. [22] And they were astonished at His teaching, for
He taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. [23] And im-
mediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; [24] and 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." [25] But Jesus rebuked
him saying, "Be silent, and come out of him!" [26] And the unclean spirit, convul-
sing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. [27] And they were
all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, "What is this?
A new teaching! With authority He commands even the unclean spirits, and they
obey Him." [28] And at once His fame spread everywhere throughout all the sur-
rounding region of Galilee.
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Commentary:
21. "Synagogue" means meeting, assembly, community. It was--and is--used
by the Jews to describe the place where they met to hear the Scriptures read,
and to pray. Synagogues seem to have originated in the social gatherings of
the Jews during their exile in Babylon, but this phenomenon did not spread until
much later. In our Lord's time there were synagogues, in Palestine, in every
city and town of any importance; and, outside Palestine, wherever the Jewish
community was large enough. The synagogue consisted mainly of a rectangu-
lar room built in such a way that those attending were facing Jerusalem when
seated. There was a rostrum or pulpit from which Sacred Scripture was read
and explained.
22. Here we can see how Jesus showed His authority to teach. Even when He
took Scripture as His basis--as in the Sermon on the Mount--He was different
from other teachers, for He spoke in His own name: "But I say to you" (Mat-
thew 7:28-29). Our Lord speaks about the mysteries of God, and about human
relationships; He teaches in a simple and authoritative way because He speaks
of what He knows and testifies to what He has seen (John 3:11). The scribes
also taught the people, St. Bede comments, about what is written in Moses
and the prophets; but Jesus preached to them as God and Lord of Moses him-
self (St. Bede, "In Marci Evangelium Expositio"). Moreover, first He does and
then He preaches (Acts 1:1)--not like the scribes who teach and do not do (Mat-
thew 23:1-5).
23-26. The Gospels give us many accounts of miraculous cures, among the most
outstanding of which are those of people possessed by the devil. Victory over the
unclean spirit, as the devil is usually described, is a clear sign that God's salva-
tion has come: by overcoming the Evil One, Jesus shows that He is the Messiah,
the Savior, more powerful than the demons: "Now is the judgment of this world,
now shall the ruler of this world be cast out" (John 12:31). Throughout the Gos-
pel we see many accounts of this continuous and successful struggle of our Lord
against the devil.
As time goes on the devil's opposition to Jesus becomes ever clearer; in the wil-
derness it is hidden and subtle; it is noticeable and violent in the case of pos-
sessed people; and radical and total during the Passion, the devil's "hour and the
power of darkness" (Luke 22:53). And Jesus' victory also becomes ever clearer,
until He triumphs completely by rising from the dead.
The devil is called unclean, St. John Chrysostom says, because of his impiety
and withdrawal from God. In some ways he does recognize Christ's holiness, but
this knowledge is not accompanied by charity. In addition to the historical fact of
this cure, we can also see, in this possessed man, those sinners who must be
converted to God and freed from the slavery to sin and the devil. They may have
to struggle for a long time but victory will come: the Evil One is powerless against
Christ (cf. note on Matthew 12:22-24).
27. The same authority that Jesus showed in His teaching (1:22) is now to be
seen in His actions. His will is His command: He has no need of long prayers or
incantations. Jesus' words and actions already have a divine power which pro-
vokes wonder and fear in those who hear and see Him.
Jesus continues to impress people in this way (Mark 2:12; 5:20-42; 7:37; 15:39;
Luke 19:48; John 7:46). Jesus of Nazareth is the long-awaited Savior. He knows
this Himself and He lets it be known by His actions and by His words; according
to the gospel accounts (Mark 1:38-39; 2:10-11; 4:39) there is complete continui-
ty and consistency between what He says and He does. As Vatican II teaches
("Dei Verbum", 2) Revelation is realized by deeds and words intimately connec-
ted with each other: the words proclaim the deeds and clarify the mystery con-
tained in them; the deeds confirm the teaching. In this way Jesus progressively
reveals the mystery of His Person: first the people sense His exceptional autho-
rity; later on, the Apostles, enlightened by God's grace, recognize the deepest
source of this authority: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matthew
16:16).
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase
The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
"Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ." -- St Jerome
"The Father uttered one Word; that Word is His Son, and He utters Him forever
in everlasting silence: and in silence the soul has to hear it.
-- St John of the Cross
