The first day, as Mark records it, of Jesus’ ministry ends in triumph. ‘The whole
town came crowding round the door.’ He was instantly famous and the disciples
knew it and bathed in his reflected glory. They wanted more. ‘Everyone is
looking for you’, they said and they expected him to go on building up his
reputation.
He could be ‘The Prophet of Capernaum’. He could build a following. There
could be a little ‘contribution’ for each healing. The money would roll in. No
need for that laborious fishing all night in the dark, in the cold, in the wet. He
could build a stadium, an amphitheatre, like the Romans did. And he could
build a palace nearby. It would be great and we would get our share.
But, no. He said, ‘Let us go elsewhere’. He was not at all happy. They had
completely misunderstood what he was doing. They delighted in the healing but
he had not come just to work wonders, to enjoy status. He wanted to heal them
in their deepest selves. He knew it would cost them a lot. And it would cost him
a lot to show them the way. It would require them to change. That would be
painful. But the result would be deep peace, happiness.
We have just emerged from 40 days of Christmas. The child in the arms of
Simeon in the temple closes the infancy introduction of the Messiah. ‘This child
is for the rise of many’ – if they get the message. If they changed their way of
thinking. But there would be opposition – from vested interests.
Some understood. Slowly, they got the message. ‘Here is something new.’ They
found joy in their new life. And this was what Jesus wanted. He did not want
fame or fuss. He just wanted people to get in touch with the core of their being.
To move from the tyranny of the immediate concerns of family, work,
relationships – important as they are. He wanted them to ‘go elsewhere’, to go
deeper, to begin to sense they are made to share in the divine life.
‘You believe just because I said I saw you under the fig tree? You will see
greater things than that!’ Nathaniel went ‘elsewhere’ with Jesus. He saw
immediately he was the Messiah. He came to grasp he had to go beyond his
Jewish traditions. He had to change. To grow. It was a tough journey, following
Jesus. But he got the point. And the early Christians did too. And the Church
was born. It still struggles with people misunderstanding. It always will – until
the end.
4 February 2024 Sunday 5 B Job 7:1-7 1 Cor 9:16…23 Mk 1:29-39
By Fr David Harold-Barry SJ
English