Today's Old Testament Lesson is from the Book of Deuteronomy, beginning at the 18th Chapter, and the 15th Verse:
"The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brethren--him you shall heed-- 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.'
And the LORD said to me, 'They have rightly said all that they have spoken. 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. And whoever will not give heed to my words which he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. 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.'
Today's Epistle is from the 1st Letter of Paul to the Corinthians, beginning at the 7th Chapter, and the 32nd Verse:
I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to please the Lord; but the married man is anxious about worldly affairs, how to please his wife, and 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. I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.
+ A Reading from the Gospel of Mark, Beginning at the 1st Chapter, and the 21st Verse:
And they went into Capernaum; and immediately on the sabbath
he entered the synagogue and taught. And they were astonished at his teaching,
for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. And
immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; 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." But Jesus rebuked
him, saying, "Be silent, and come out of him!" And the unclean
spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. 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." And at once his fame spread
everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.
Today's Readings start with Moses' prophecy that another prophet would come after him, and culminate with Jesus being recognized as a prophet and a miracle worker. In between, St. Paul reassures the Christians in Corinth to put aside the cares, anxieties, and grasping of the world, and concentrate on the Lord and prayer.
The 18th Chapter of Deuteronomy is mainly about distinguishing the religious practices of the Jews from the peoples around them -- astrology, sorcery, magic, and spiritualism are all forbidden. The Lord tells Israel that He has driven them out of countries where these things are done, and that they are not to take them up again.
The Lord had appeared to the Israelites assembled at Mt. Horeb, and had scared them silly -- they prayed that He not do that again, but send them a prophet, to speak the Word, instead of manifesting Himself in His scary glory. The Lord, being a wise and indulgent Father, says: "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."
And, indeed, the subsequent history of Israel is mostly about prophets -- those who speak the Word of the Lord, who teach Israel the Will of God, and who admonish. Nowadays, the word "Prophet" is taken to mean someone who tells the future -- a fortune-teller, in the words of Deuteronomy.
If we look at the Old Testament, however, the Biblical Prophets seldom talk about the future per se -- they mostly talk about the present, and how it deviates from the Will of God, and tell a little bit of what will happen if Israel does not straighten up and fly right. Isaiah does some long-range predicting -- but does not say WHEN his predictions will come true, but the rest mostly talk about gritty near-term sinfulness.
The Lord, in today's Old Testament reading, speaks to this -- He says that: "I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him." He also warns about false prophets.
Interestingly, a few verses after today's reading ends, there is a definition of true and false prophets: "And if you say in your heart, 'How may we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?' -- When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously, you need not be afraid of him."
Or pay attention to him -- something to remember when the louder and more evangelical sorts come shouting about this & that. Jesus also says "By their fruits, ye shall know them", and St. James, in his Epistle, says: "Faith without good works is dead"
One of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit is "Discernment of Spirits", and one of the best ways to discern is to look with careful, rational eyes at what a "prophet" actually does and accomplishes in the world. If all he does is shout, it is "as a tinkling cymbal" as St. Paul says -- where are the hungry that these shouters have fed, where are the destitute they have clothed?
In today's Gospel, Our Lord both preaches: "...immediately on the sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught. And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes." -- and does: "Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be silent, and come out of him!" And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him."
Throughout His public ministry, Jesus does the same -- a parable, then a miracle; preaching, then doing. He is the "prophet like me" that Moses talks about, who was raised up from among the Jews, and who brings the Word (and the Grace) of the Father to all nations.
Today's Gospel speaks of the New Covenant that we have in Jesus: "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." And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.
So, too, it spread soon throughout Judea, and in after years, through the whole of the Roman world. It is still spreading, not least by the efforts of individual Christians -- thee & me -- to places and times that the Apostles of 2000 years ago never dreamed.
We, however, are the Apostles -- those sent -- to today's world, and as St. Paul tells us in today's Epistle, we need to let go of the things and preoccupations of this world, and concentrate on Our Savior and the work he calls us to. This is simultaneously Witness -- work in the world -- and Prayer -- work on ourselves -- and Worship -- enjoying and praising the Glory of God, and seeking to enter His presence.
Let us therefore go through the Door of Faith pointed out to us by Moses, St. Paul, and Our Lord, and work toward bringing the whole world as a gift of praise to God our Father . . .
In the Name of
The Father +
And of the Son
And of the Holy Spirit
Amen.