WITH AUTHORITY
Mark tells
us, in his very first chapter, the people were astonished at what Jesus said
and did. ‘Here is a teaching that is new and with authority,’ they said. The
word ‘authority’ has a slightly negative taste to it. ‘Authorities’ are
sometimes viewed as people who don’t do what they should do or do what that
shouldn’t do.
Yet it is
beautiful word originally coming from the Latin augere, meaning to grow.
Authorities are people who help – or should help – people to grow. Authorities
in schools are there to provide the environment where children can learn and
develop. They must never be simply controlling. Their task is to enable, to
encourage freedom.
Similarly
in society generally, ‘the authorities’ – national and local – are there mainly
to help people grow, develop and use their freedom. It is not their main job to
control – though they do have some controlling to do. There are red and green
traffic lights but the point is to keep the traffic moving.
The
Pharisees had slipped into control mode. They loved inventing more and more
rules and controls. They found it gave them power over the people and they were
not interested that it also stunted people’s growth. What thrilled the people,
as told in Mark here, is that Jesus swept away this attitude and replaced it
with something quite different; freedom to expand their hearts, to grow.
Countless
people in the gospels, like Mary of Magdala for example, ditched their old life
and found hope and joy in the words and actions of Jesus. They were thrilled
and crowded around him ‘treading on one another’ (Luke 12:1), in their
enthusiasm. The gospel pages are full of ‘crowds’ attracted by him. They could
not get enough of him.
Until …
Until he started speaking about the cost of being a disciple. Then they started
to go away. They wanted roses but they found roses come with thorns. They did
not like that. And this is still the case. Real ‘teaching with authority’
includes embracing the cross ‘daily’. That is when real growth takes place. How
pleasant it is to tell people what they want to hear. But it is often not the
truth. The people of Mark chapter one had to learn the meaning of the cross.
That is the whole point of the dynamic of his gospel. Excitement at first; hard
truth later. The centurion, who saw him die, came to understand this (Mark
15:39).
28 January 2024 Sunday
4B Dt 18:15-20 1 Cor 7:32-35 Mk 1:21-28