Homily for the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Based on Mk. 1:21-28 (Gospel), Dt. 18:15-20 (1stRdng.), and
1 Cor. 7:32-35 (2ndRdng.)
From the series “Reflections and Teachings from the Desert”
THE BACHELOR MESSIAH-PROPHET
1.
What is a bachelor?
According
to Encarta Dictionaries (online), a bachelor is an unmarried man; a man who is
not or has never been married.
We
have titled this piece “The Bachelor Messiah-Prophet” because of the doctrine contained
in the second reading that teaches about perpetual continence:
“I
would like to see you free from all worry. An unmarried man can devote himself
to the Lord’s affairs, all he needs worry about is pleasing the Lord; but a
married man has to bother about the world’s affairs and devote himself to pleasing
his wife. He is torn two ways. In the same was an unmarried woman, like a young
girl, can devote herself to the Lord’s affairs, all she needs worry about is
being holy I body and spirit. The married woman, on the other hand, has to
worry about the world’s affairs and devote herself to pleasing her husband. I
say this only to help you, not to put a halter round your necks, but simply to
make sure that everything is as it should be, and that you give your undivided
attention to the Lord” (1 Cor. 7:32-34).
The
Messiah-Prophet in the title refers to Jesus Christ, who is of course a
bachelor and the central figure in today’s gospel. The gospel presents Jesus
Christ as one who teaches the people with authority, unlike the scribes and
Pharisees. According to footnote f of Mt. 7:29, they “always sought support for
their teaching in the ‘tradition’ of the ancients” and therefore their teachings
lacked force and authority. In contrast, Jesus Christ accompanied his teachings
with cures and healings. Hence, the people were astonished at Jesus’ teachings
and regarded him as Messiah-Prophet, although he forbade them not to call him
as such in public.
According
to footnote i of Mk. 1:34, “Jesus forbids the news that he is the Messiah to be
spread by the devils, 1:25,34; 3:12, by those he cured, 1:44; 5:43; 7:36; 8:26,
even by the apostles, 8:30; 9:9. The silence is not to be broken till after his
death, Mt. 10:27+. Since the prevailing idea of the Messiah was nationalistic
and warlike, in sharp contrast with his own ideal, Jesus had to be very
careful, at least on Israelite soil, cf. 5:19, to avoid giving a false and
dangerous impression of his mission, cf. Jn. 6:15; Mt. 13:13+. This policy of
silence (‘the messianic secret’) is not an invention of Mk’s, as some have
claimed, but is in fact Christ’s own, though Mark has given it a special
emphasis. With the exception of Mt. 9:30, Mt. and Lk. record the injunction to
silence only in passages which are parallel with Mk, frequently omitting it
even in these cases.”
2.
What is a Messiah?
Encarta dictionaries define a messiah as “a savior or
liberator; somebody regarded as or claiming to be a savior or liberator of a
country, people, or the world.”
According to Wikipedia (online), a messiah is a “savior
or liberator of a group of people.” Wikipedia elaborates this straight definition
of a messiah by saying that:
“in the Hebrew Bible, a messiah (or mashiach) is a king or High Priest
traditionally anointed with holy anointing oil. The Jewish messiah is a leader
anointed by God, physically descended from the Davidic line, who will rule the
united tribes of Israel and herald the Messianic Age of global peace also known
as the World to Come”.
The translation of the Hebrew word Mašíaḥ as
Χριστός (Khristós) in the Greek Septuagint became the accepted Christian
designation and title of Jesus of Nazareth. Christians believe that prophecies
in the Hebrew Bible (especially Isaiah) refer to a spiritual savior and believe
Jesus to be that Messiah (Christ).”
Etymologically, “Messiah (Hebrew: מָשִׁיחַ, Modern
Mashiaẖ, Tiberian Māšîăḥ; in modern Jewish
texts in English spelled Mashiach;
Aramaic: משיחא, Greek: Μεσσίας, Syriac: ܡܫܺܝܚܳܐ,
Məšîḥā, Arabic: المسيح, al-Masīḥ, Latin:
Messias) literally means "anointed [one]". In Hebrew, the Messiah is
often referred to as מלךהמשיח (Meleḵ ha-Mašīaḥ in
the Tiberian vocalization, pronounced [ˈmeleχhamaˈʃiaħ], literally meaning
"the Anointed King."
The Greek Septuagint version of the Old
Testament renders all thirty-nine instances of the Hebrew word for
"anointed" (Mašíaḥ) as Χριστός (Khristós). The New Testament records
the Greek transliteration Μεσσίας, Messias twice in John (Jn. 1:41; 4:25).
Masīḥ (pronounced [mæˈsiːħ]) is the Arabic
word for messiah. In modern Arabic, it is used as one of the many titles of
Jesus. Masīḥ is used by Arab Christians as well as Muslims, and is written as
Yasūʿ al-Masih (يسوعالمسيح ) by Christian Arabs
or ʿĪsā al-Masīḥ (عيسىالمسيح) by Muslims. The
word Masīḥ literally means "anointed one" and in Islam, ʿĪsā al-Masīḥ
is believed to have been anointed from birth by Allah with the specific task of
being a prophet and a king. The Israelites, to whom Isa was sent, had a
traditional practice of anointing their kings with oil. An Imam Bukhari hadith
describes Jesus as having wet hair that looked as if water was dripping from
it, possibly meaning he was naturally anointed. Muslims believe that this is
just one of the many signs that prove that Jesus is the Messiah.
In Judaism, the literal translation of the
Hebrew word moshiach (messiah) is “anointed,” which refers to a ritual of
consecrating someone or something by putting holy oil upon it (1 Sam. 10:1-2). It is used throughout the
Hebrew Bible in reference to a wide variety of individuals and objects; for
example, a Jewish king (1 Kings 1:39), Jewish priests (Lev. 4:3), and prophets
(Is. 61:1), the Jewish Temple and its utensils (Ex. 40:9-11), unleavened bread
(Num. 6:15) and a non-Jewish king (Cyrus king of Persia - Is. 45:1).
In Jewish eschatology, the term came to
refer to a future Jewish king from the Davidic line,
who will be "anointed" with holy anointing oil, to be king of God's
kingdom, and rule the Jewish people during the Messianic Age. In Judaism, the
Messiah is not considered to be God or a divine Son of God. Belief in the
eventual coming of a future messiah is a fundamental part of Judaism, and is
one of Maimonides' 13 Principles of Faith.
In Christianity, the Greek translation of
Messiah is khristos (χριστος), anglicized as Christ, and Christians commonly
refer to Jesus as either the "Christ" or the "Messiah."
Christians believe the Messianic prophecies were fulfilled in the mission,
death, and resurrection of Jesus, as Savior and Redeemer, and that Jesus will
return to fulfill the rest of Messianic prophecy, as Lord and King.”
Today’s gospel talks about Jesus
as the Messiah. One proof of his being a Messiah, according to the people who
heard him, was that he taught them “with authority.” The gospel accounts it this way:
“They went as far as Capernaum, and soon as
the Sabbath came he went to the synagogue and began to teach. And his disciples
made a deep impression on them because, unlike the scribes, he taught them with
authority. In their synagogue just then there was a man possessed by unclean
spirit, and it shouted. ‘What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you
come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.’” (Mk. 1:21-24)
Verse 22 has a parallel with Mt.
7:28 which says: “Jesus had now finished
what he wanted to say, and his teaching made a deep impression on the people
because he taught them with authority, and not like their own scribes.” The footnote for this verse has already been cited above.
Footnote g of verse 24 states
that:
“ God is the ‘Holy One’ par excellence, and all that belongs to him is
holy, Lv. 17:1+; this is pre-eminently true of Jesus who is God’s Son and his
chosen Messiah, 1:10f, the appointed head of ‘the nation of saints’, Dn. 7:18+,
i.e. of the company of the elect, the Christian community, Ac. 9:13+. Cf. Lk.
1:35; 4:34; Jn. 6:69; Ac. 3:14+; 4:27,30: Rv. 3:7.”
Regarding the title “Jesus of
Nazareth” that the unclean spirit gave him, footnote j of Mt. 2:23 states that:
“Nazoraios: this is the form used by Mt,
Jn. and Ac. (translated Nazarene throughout this version). Nazarenos (‘of
Nazareth’ in this version) is used by Mk. Lk. uses both forms. These two synonyms
were current transcriptions of an Aramaic adjective (nasraya) itself derived
from the name of the town “Nazareth’ (Nasrath). Applied to Jesus, whose origin
it indicated (26:69,71), and later to his followers (Ac. 24:5), the term became
common in the semitic world for the disciples of Jesus; the name ‘Christian’
(Ac. 11:26) prevailed in the Graeco-Roman world. It is not clear which
prophetic oracles Mt. alludes to; possibly to the nazir of Jg. 13:5,7.”
Mt.
2:23 says: “There he settled in a town called Nazareth. In this way the words
spoken through the prophets were to be fulfilled: He will be called a Nazarene.”
3.
What is a prophet?
In Encarta dictionaries (online), a prophet is “somebody who
interpret divine will; somebody who claims to interpret or transmit the
commands of a deity.”
Let us quote what Wikipedia (online) elaborately says about
prophets:
“in religion, a prophet is an individual who is claimed to have been
contacted by the supernatural or the divine, and to speak for them, serving as
an intermediary with humanity, delivering this newfound knowledge from the
supernatural entity to other people. The message that the prophet conveys is
called a prophecy.”
The English word prophet comes from the
Greek word προφήτης (profétés) meaning advocate. In the late 20th century the
appellation of prophet has been used to refer to individuals particularly successful
at analysis in the field of economics, such as in the derogatory prophet of
greed. Alternatively, social commentators who suggest escalating crisis are
often called prophets of doom.
In Hebrew, the word נָבִיא (navi),
"spokesperson", traditionally translates as "prophet".[5]
The second subdivision of the Hebrew Bible, TaNaKh (for "Torah, Nevi'im,
Ketuvim"), is devoted to the Hebrew prophets. The meaning of navi is
perhaps described in Deuteronomy 18:18,[6] where God said, "...and I will
put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall
command him." Thus, the navi was thought to be the "mouth" of
God. The root nun-bet-alef ("navi") is based on the two-letter root
nun-bet which denotes hollowness or openness; to receive transcendental wisdom,
one must make oneself "open". Cf. Rashbam's comment to Genesis 20:7.
In addition to writing and speaking messages
from God, Hebrew prophets often acted out prophetic parables. For example, in
order to contrast the people’s disobedience with the obedience of the
Rechabites, God has Jeremiah invite the Rechabites to drink wine, in
disobedience to their ancestor’s command. The Rechabites refuse, wherefore God
commends them. Other prophetic parables acted out by Jeremiah include burying a
linen belt so that it gets ruined to illustrate how God intends to ruin Judah's
pride. Likewise, Jeremiah buys a clay jar and smashes it in the Valley of Ben
Hinnom in front of elders and priests to illustrate that God will smash the
nation of Judah and the city of Judah beyond repair. God instructs Jeremiah to
make a yoke from wood and leather straps and to put it on his own neck to
demonstrate how God will put the nation under the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar, king
of Babylon. In a similar way, the prophet Isaiah had to walk stripped and
barefoot for three years to illustrate the coming captivity, and the prophet
Ezekiel had to lie on his side for 390 days and eat measured food to illustrate
the coming siege.
The prophetic assignment is not always
portrayed as positive in the Hebrew Bible, and prophets were often the target
of persecution and opposition. God’s personal prediction to Jeremiah,
"Attack you they will, overcome you they can't," was fulfilled many
times in the biblical narrative as Jeremiah warned of destruction of those who
continued to refuse repentance and accept more moderate consequences. In return
for his adherence to God’s discipline and speaking God’s words, Jeremiah was
attacked by his own brothers, beaten and put into the stocks by a priest and
false prophet, imprisoned by the king, threatened with death, thrown into a cistern
by Judah’s officials, and opposed by a false prophet. Likewise, Isaiah was told
by his hearers who rejected his message, "Leave the way! Get off the path!
Let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel!" The life of Moses being
threatened by Pharaoh is another example.
According to I Samuel 9:9, the old name for
navi is ro'eh, רֹאֶה, which literally means
"Seer". That could document an ancient shift, from viewing prophets
as seers for hire to viewing them as moral teachers. Allen (1971) comments that
in the First Temple Era, there were essentially seer-priests, who formed a
guild, divined, performed rituals and sacrifices, and were scribes, and then
there were canonical prophets, who did none of these (and were against
divination) and had instead a message to deliver.[citation needed] The
seer-priests were usually attached to a local shrine or temple, such as Shiloh,
and initiated others as priests in that priesthood: it was a mystical
craft-guild with apprentices and recruitment. Canonical prophets were not
organised this way. The similar term ben-navi ("son of the prophet")
means "member of a seer-priest guild".
In Christianity a prophet (or seer) is one
inspired by God through the Holy Spirit to deliver a message for a specific
purpose. God's calling as a prophet is not to elevate an individual for their
own glory, but for the glory of God and to turn people to him. Some Christian
denominations would limit that and exclude those who receive a personal message
not intended for the body of believers, but in the Bible on a number of
occasions prophets were called to deliver personal messages. The reception of a
message is termed revelation and the delivery of the message is termed prophecy.
James Jordan argues that the office of
prophet involves more than delivering the direct revelations of God. He writes,
"The full meaning of prophet is council member, a member of God's Divine
Council . . . Moses, who is an exemplary prophet of the Old Covenant (Numbers
12:6-8) . . . not only received information from the Counsel and passed its
decisions onto the people . . . he also actively argued before the Council when
he felt it necessary, even 'changing God's mind' on occasion (Exodus 32:7-14,
30-35; Numbers 14:13-19)." In this
way, Christ is executing a prophetic office when he intercedes for Christians
and ordinary Christians are executing a prophetic office when they reason with
God on the behalf of others in prayer, just as Moses interceded and persuaded
God on behalf of Israel as part of his prophetic function.
The term prophet is applied to those who
receive public or private revelation. Public Revelation, in Catholicism, is
part of the Deposit of faith, the revelation of which was completed by Jesus;
whereas Private Revelation does not add to the Deposit. The term "deposit
of faith" refers to the entirety of Jesus Christ's revelation, and is
passed to successive generations in two different forms, sacred scripture (the
Bible) and sacred tradition.
Anyone who claims to speak God's words or
teach in his name and is not a prophet the Bible terms a false prophet. One
test given in the Old Testament in Deuteronomy contains a warning of those who
prophecy events which do not come to pass and said they should be put to death.
Elsewhere a false prophet may be someone who is purposely trying to deceive, is
delusional, under the influence of Satan or is speaking from his own spirit.
Today’s First reading taken from Dt. 18:15-20 talks about the
institution of the office of prophecy by the great Moses.
In part, this reading says: “Yahweh your God will raise up for you a prophet like myself, from among
yourselves, from your own brothers; to him you must listen (v. 15)… I will raise up a prophet like yourself
for them from their own brothers; I will put my words into his mouth and he
shall tell them all I command him… The man who does not listen to my words that
he speaks in my name, shall be held answerable to me for it. But the prophet
who presumes to say in my name a thing I have not commanded him to say, or who
speak in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die” (vv. 18-20).
Footnote c of Dt. 18:18 states that: “Institution of the
prophetic (as 17:14-20 is of the royal) office. It is ascribed by Moses to
Yahweh at the time of the manifestation at Horeb, cd. Ex. 20:19-21 and Dt.
5:23-28. In N.T., St. Peter, Ac. 3:22-26, and St. Stephen, Ac. 7:37, refer to
this text. The Jewish expectation of a Messiah-Prophet, a second Moses, is
based on this passage. St. John’s gospel emphasizes the parallels between Jesus
and Moses, cf. Jn. 1:17+.
Acts 7:27 says: “It was
Moses who told the sons of Israel, “God will raise up a prophet like myself for
you from among your own brothers.” Footnote 1 for this text states that: “A
messianic text already cited, 3:22. One other than Moses-the Messiah-is to play
a similar part, Mt. 16:14+; Jn. 1:21+.”
In John 1:21, this verse could be
found with its footnotes: ‘Well then,’
they asked ‘are you Elijah?t ‘I am not’ he said. ‘Are you the
Prophet?’u He answered ‘No’.
Footnote u of
this verse states that: “From Dt. 18;15,18 (see note) the Jews argued that the
expected Messiah would be another Moses (the prophet par excellence, cf. Nb.
12:7+) who would repeat on a grand scale the prodigies of the Exodus. Cf. Jn.
3:14; 6:14, 30-31, 68; 7:40,52; 13:1+; Ac. 3:22-23; 7:20-44; Heb. 3:1-11. See
also Mt. 16:14+”.
In Mt. 16:14,
this verse says: And they said, ‘Some say
he is John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the
prophets’.c
Footnote c of
this verse states that: “Jesus claimed the title ‘prophet’ for himself only
indirectly and obscurely, Mt. 13:57p; Lk. 13:33, but the public hailed him as
such, Mt. 16:14p; 21:11,46; Mk. 6:15p; Lk. 7:16,39; 24:19; Jn. 4:19; 9:17. The
title had messianic significance because the Jews confidently expected a
revival of the spirit of prophecy (extinct since Malachi) as a sign of the
messianic era. It was to revive either in the person of Elijah, Mt. 17:10-11p;
or in the form of a general outpouring of the Spirit, Ac. 2:17-18,33. Many
(false) prophets did actually arise in Christ’s time. Mt. 24:11p., etc. John
the Baptist was himself a prophet, Mt. 11:9p; 14:5; 21:26p; Lk. 1:76, precisely
because he was the Precursor who had come ‘in the spirit of Elijah’, Mt.
11:10p,14; 17:12p. Nevertheless he denied (Jn. 1:21+) that he was ‘the prophet’
foretold by Moses, Dt. 18:15. This prophet, the early Christians believed, was
Jesus and no other, Ac. 3:22-26; Jn. 6:14; 7:40. From Pentecost onwards,
however, prophecy became a familiar charismatic phenomenon in the early church,
Ac. 11:27+; for this reason the title prophet as applied to Christ soon dropped
out and was replaced by other more suited to his unique function and person.”
So, it is very
clear from the above cited texts and footnotes that indeed Jesus Christ had
been recognized as a Messiah-Prophet by the people of his time. Now, let us see
why he is called a bachelor Messiah-Prophet.
This Sunday’s Second Reading:
The Second
reading taken from 1 Co. 7:32-35 contains the opinion of Apostle Paul regarding
the advantage of practicing perpetual continence for the sake of the kingdom of God.
The second
reading, consisting of four verses, says in whole:
“I would like to see you
free from all worry. An unmarried man can devote himself to the Lord’s affairs,
all he need worry about is pleasing the Lord; but a married man has to bother
about the world’s affairs and devote himself to pleasing his wife. He is torn
two ways. In the same was an unmarried woman, like a young girl, can devote
herself to the Lord’s affairs, all she needs worry about is being holy I body
and spirit. The married woman, on the other hand, has to worry about the
world’s affairs and devote herself to pleasing her husband. I say this only to
help you, not to put a halter round your necks, but simply to make sure that
everything is as it should be, and that you give your undivided attention to
the Lord.”
Of course, Apostle
Paul’s opinion regarding remaining celibate for the members of the Church has
its basis in the direct teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ found in Mt. 19:12 which says: “There are eunuchs born that way from their
mother’s womb, there are eunuchs made so by men and there are eunuchs who have
made themselves that way for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let anyone
accept this who can.”
Footnote e of this
verse states that: “Christ invites to perpetual continence those who would
consecrate themselves entirely to the kingdom of God.”
Of course, there is
one other scriptural citation that could be found in the NT gospels in support
for the reason why one should practice perpetual continence or celibacy. This
one reason could be found in the incidence narrated in Lk. 10:38-42 which tries
to compare the situation between Martha and Mary in relation to serving Jesus.
Christ.
In particular,
verse 40 of this citation states that: “Now
Martha who was distracted with all the serving said, ‘Lord, do you not care
that my sister is leaving me to do the serving all by myself? Please tell her
to help me.’” Jesus Christ’s reply to Martha’s pleading is : “Martha, Martha,
you worry and fret about so many things, and yet few are needed, indeed only
one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part; it is not to be taken (away)
from her”.
This reply of Jesus
Christ clearly spell out the more important work of man, which is to listen to
the word of God, rather than being concerned so much with the material concerns
of life.
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