A new teaching with authority: truth with conviction

Homily for 4^th Sunday of Ordinary Time Year B 2015

Deuteronomy 18:15-20; 1 Corinthians 7:32-35; Mark 1:21-28

Introduction

“A new teaching with authority;” that’s how the crowds describe the teaching of Jesus.

For us, though, teaching with authority, might remind us of experiences we had in school that we would rather forget.

·        Perhaps for you, the ladies, teaching with authority reminds you of Sr. Mary Michael, who made you un-hem your short skirt!

·        Perhaps for you, the guys, teaching with authority reminds you of Coach Smith, who made you do 50 push-ups when you were late for practice.

·        Perhaps for all of us, teaching with authority reminds us of our mothers.  Mom tried to convince you to do something, but despite her best arguments, you still kept asking: “Why?  Why should I do this?” Finally your mother had to deploy the only argument left in her bag: “Because I am the Mom and I say so.”

Scripture and Theology

For Jesus, however, the people actually like the fact that he was teaching with authority.  In fact because he taught with authority we heard that “His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee.”  And so, why was his teaching with authority, so different from ours?

Before we answer that question, let us understand the context in which Jesus was teaching.  He was teaching at the synagogue.  Like any faithful Jew, Jesus went to the synagogue every Sabbath.  The synagogue service consisted of readings from the Bible and preaching.  And anybody from the community could be chosen to read and to preach.  And so on this occasion, perhaps because he was already getting famous as a teacher, Jesus was picked to do the reading and preaching.  And when he taught, the people were pleasantly surprised that he taught with authority.

Two unique qualities give the teaching of Jesus authority.

The first quality has to do with style.  When Jesus teaches, he is the source of his own teaching.  Last Sunday for example, we heard him say: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” 

The scribes on the other hand taught by quoting past rabbis and authors known for their wisdom.  They would say things like: “As Rabbi Shammai taught . . . or as the Prophet Isaiah prophesied.” You could say that the scribes taught by name-dropping.  They taught the way students write essays.  If you are writing an essay about American history, for example, you might want to back up your arguments with quotes from George Washington, Abraham Lincoln or Martin Luther King.

But Jesus does not rely on any other authority. He is his own authority.  Even when he drives out the demon in today’s passage he simply says: “Quiet! Come out of him!”  He does not drive the demon out by invoking the authority of another person, like today’s priests and ministers would do, saying something like: “in the name of Jesus I command you to leave this man.”

The second reason Jesus teaches with authority is because what he teaches has substance.  He teaches the truth, and there is a freshness about the truth that he is teaching.  We heard God promise Moses in the first reading: “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their kin, and will put my words into his mouth; he shall tell them all that I command him.”  Jesus is that new prophet, who tells it as it is, who fulfils the promises God made in the Old Testament.  In fact in Matthew chapter 5 Jesus sees his teaching as fulfilling the Old Testament: “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’  But I say to you . . . .”  Jesus is teaching some new things, some really solid stuff; and that is why he can be said to teach with authority.

Typical of Mark’s gospel, it is not the disciples, it is not the Jewish religious leaders, but it is the ordinary people who come off with any credit in this passage.  They see something different and special not just in the style of Jesus’ teaching, but especially in the substance of what he says.

Christian Life

All of us baptized Christians and especially we who are also confirmed, have been given a mandate to teach the gospel to others.  We must also teach with authority, as Jesus teaches.  Jesus has shown us that teaching with authority does not mean using one’s power to force things down people’s throats or making them do what we want.  Rather, teaching with authority means passing on the whole truth of the gospel with conviction, so that people are moved to listen and act on it.

How do we teach with authority?  Of course we cannot like Jesus go around saying, “You have that it was said, but I say this.”  People will think we are pompous.  Nor can we claim to be the source of what we teach.  That is called plagiarism.  But there is a way our teaching can have its own authority, even as we have to quote from Jesus and from what other teachers, must smarter and perhaps much holier than us have taught.  We must appropriate the gospel message and make it a part of us; only then will have authenticity and authority.  There is a saying in Africa that religion should not be like the shirt or cloth we put on and take off; it should be like our very skin, which is with us wherever we are.  When what we teach is second nature to us, stems from personal conviction, we teach with authority.

I once heard an old bishop being interviewed about what is wrong with the youth of today.  The interviewer asked: “Your eminence, why do you think that today’s young people are so rebellious and don’t come to Church.”  Of course he was expecting the bishop to say, like we adults often say, “we miss the good old days, when things were different.”

But the wise bishop said, “There is nothing really different with today’s young generation.  From Adam’s time, young people have always been rebellious.  As they grow bigger in body and sharper in mind in their teenage years, they need to establish their own identity and so tend to disobey their parents.  The difference today is not the children, it is us the adults.  Because we are uncertain about the truth and about how to teach it, we have failed to guide and teach our children, as past generations of adults have done to their misguided youth.”

There is wisdom in the bishop’s comments.  More than ever before, today we need adult Christians who will guide the young, by teaching truth in love.

In my own life, the teachers who I still remember and respect are not those who let me off easy all the time.  I remember those who taught me the truth by their word and by their example, and if truth be told, by their disciplinary actions.  Whether it was religion class or science class, they set high standards and held us to them.  Whether it was football or drama, they showed us that practice makes perfect.  Whether it was the debate club or the Legion of Mary club, they taught us to put our hearts in what we did.

Conclusion

May we ask God to give us the grace to teach with authority!  May our teaching have such conviction and truth that it will convict people and move them to action on its merit, without the need for further arguments.  And may we never have to turn to the argument of last resort: “Because I am the mom.”  For our authority as mom, as dad, as teacher, will be so obvious as not to need saying.