A New Teaching - Mt. 1: 21 – 28 Sunday Gospel Reflection

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time B – 1 February 2015

A New Teaching

Mt. 1: 21 – 28

José Antonio Pagola

The episode is surprising and overwhelming. It all happens in the “synagogue”, the place where the Law is officially taught, exactly the way it is interpreted by authorised teachers. It all happens on a “Sabbath”, the day on which practicing  Jews gather to listen to the commentary of their leaders. It is within this framework that Jesus begins to “teach” for the first time.

There is no mention of the content of what he says. That is not what matters here. It’s the impact his intervention produces. Jesus  provokes surprise and admiration. The people sense something special in him they do not find in their religious teachers. Jesus “does not teach like the scribes, but with authority”.

   The learned teach in the name of the institution. They follow the traditions. They quote time and again illustrious teachers of the past. Their authority derives from their function of official interpreters of the Law. The authority of Jesus is different. It does not come from the institution. It is not based on tradition. It has another source. It is full of the vivifying Spirit of God.

   They are soon going to find out. Quite unexpectedly, a man possessed by a spirit interrupts his teaching with his cries. He cannot stand it. He is terrified: “Have you come to do away with us?” That man felt quite comfortable listening to the teaching of the scribes. Why is he now feeling threatened?

   Jesus does not come to destroy anyone. His authority is precisely to give life to people. His teaching humanizes and frees from slavery. His words draw people to trust in God. His message is the best news that that man living  tormented within himself can hear. When Jesus heals him, the people exclaim: “this teaching with authority is new.”

   Polls indicate that the teachings of the Church are losing authority and credibility. It is not enough to speak in a manner indicating authority to proclaim the good news of God. It is not enough to  transmit tradition  correctly to open hearts to the joy of the faith. What we urgently need is a new teaching.

   We are not “scribes”, but disciples of Jesus. We have to communicate his message, not our traditions. We have to teach by healing life, not by indoctrinating minds. We have to proclaim his Spirit, not our theological teachings.

   It is good to remember that to be Christian is, precisely, to learn to live from someone who is a Teacher of Life, Jesus.

Translated by Rev. Fr. Valentine de Souza S.J.