4th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B (나해 연중 제4주일)
1st Reading: Deuteronomy 18:15-20
Prophets (Continuation)
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(Moses spoke to all the people, saying:) [15] ”The LORD your God will raise
up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brethren--him you shall
heed--[16] just as you desired of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the
assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my
God, or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ [17] And the LORD said to me,
‘They have rightly said all that they have spoken. [18] I will raise up for them a
prophet like you from among their brethren; and I will put my words in his mouth,
and he shall speak to them all that I command him. [19] And whoever will not
give heed to my words which he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it
of him. [20] But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name which
I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods,
that same prophet shall die.’"
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Commentary:
18:9-22. This is a key text as regards the institution of the prophethood in Israel,
and even for the notion of Messiah. Together with the king and the priest, the pro-
phet is one of the great institutions of Israel; the prophet has a very important
religious position and special moral authority. In the Deuteronomic tradition (cf.
34:10-12) Moses is seen not only as the one who delivered Israel from bondage
in Egypt, not only as a lawgiver, but also as the first prophet and the outstanding
model for all future prophets.
The fundamental role of the prophet is to speak in the name of the Lord and pro-
claim the meaning and scope of past, present and future events: the Israelites
would never have any need, therefore, of wizards, magi or necromancers (people
who call up the spirits of the dead), who were closely linked to idolatry and su-
perstition. However, the fact was that they often fell into this temptation--even
the horrendous sacrificial burning of children (cf. 2 Kings 21:6), repeatedly con-
demned in the Old Testament (cf., e.g., Jer 7:31; Ezek 16:20-21).
Tradition has shown the messianic meaning of vv. 15 and 18. In the New Testa-
ment St Paul identifies the “prophet” who will be raised up as being Jesus Christ
(cf. Acts 3:22-23 which actually quotes Deuteronomy 18:18; cf. also Jn 1:21, 45;
6:14; 7:40).
Foremost among the evidence of Jewish tradition in Jesus’ time, giving strongly
messianic interpretation to this passage, is that from the Qumran manuscripts
(cf. 1 QS 9) which add to this passage that of Deuteronomy 5:28-29 and the re-
ferences to the Star of Jacob (Num 24:17; and the scepter of Israel ((Gen 49:10);
and they link 18:9-22 to 33:8-11 through the reference to the priest-Messiah.
The possible collective meaning of what Moses announces here (the fact that it
can be interpreted as referring to the many prophets that God will arise up over
time) is perfectly compatible with its achieving its fullest expression in Jesus
Christ, the greatest of all the prophets (cf. Heb 1:4).
2nd Reading: 1 Corinthians 7:32-35
The Excellence of Virginity
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[32] I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about
the affairs of the Lord, how to please the Lord; [33] but the married man is an-
xious about worldly affairs, how to please his wife, [34] his interests are divided.
And the unmarried woman or girl is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how
to be holy in body and spirit; but the married woman is anxious about worldly
affairs, how to please her husband. [35] I say this for your own benefit, not to
lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your un-
divided devotion to the Lord.
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Commentary:
35. There is clearly no question of trying to deceive anyone by encouraging him
to dedicate himself to a way of life in which he cannot persevere. All St Paul is
doing is pointing out that the unmarried person is more available to the service
of the Lord.
Gospel Reading: Mark 1:21-28
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.
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