Thursday in the Second Week of Ordinary Time, January 18, 2024

Mark 3, 7-12

Jesus withdrew toward the sea with his disciples. A large number of people followed from Galilee and from Judea. Hearing what he was doing, a large number of people came to him also from Jerusalem, from Idumea, from beyond the Jordan, and from the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon. He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him. He had cured many and, as a result, those who had diseases were pressing upon him to touch him. And whenever unclean spirits saw him they would fall down before him and shout, “You are the Son of God.” He warned them sternly not to make him known.

“Jesus withdrew toward the sea with his disciples.”  Following the Lord’s declarations and proofs that he, the Son of Man, is divine, and the origins of the unremitting and most bitter enmity of the Pharisees, St. Mark gives us a general summary of the Lord’s activities.  He “withdrew” or departed for the shore of the Sea of Galilee outside of the town of Capernaum.  No hint shows itself that he retreated from the town.  Rather, he looks to accommodate the increasing crowds who come to hear him and to be healed by him.  He goes “with his disciples”.  The Evangelists tend to use “disciple” and “apostle” interchangeably but they really do have two distinct meanings.  A “disciple” is a student.  While Jesus has called certain men to follow him, others follow of their own accord, but are not bound to him in any way.  St. Luke will describe how Jesus sends seventy-two disciples on a mission (cf. Luke 10, 1) but these are never mentioned again.  And “apostle” is “one who is sent”, as in “Go, therefore, teach ye all nations: baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28, 19).  The Apostles are disciples who have graduated and become assistants bearing the authority of the Lord.

“A large number of people followed from Galilee and from Judea.”  These were Jews from the land of Israel.  “A large number of people came to him also from Jerusalem, from Idumea, from beyond the Jordan, and from the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon.”  Idumea, then a Roman province, had existed for hundreds of years as the independent Kingdom of Edom.  The people from “beyond the Jordan” were descended from the ancient Ammonites.  Tyre and Sidon had led the proud land of Phoenicia with its mighty fleets and flourishing culture.  These were all Gentile places.  News of the works of Jesus Christ has gone far afield and these people were drawn to him as well.  Interestingly, Mark speaks of people coming from Galilee and Judea, but then lists Jerusalem with the Gentile cities and lands.  Perhaps, with St. Matthew, he saw Jerusalem as the primary source of persecution against Jesus and the early Church.

“He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him.”  Peter and Andrew may have brought their boat from Capernaum.  Mark shows how the Lord does not tell the crowd to back away or not to touch him, but that he has a plan so that he can preach to the people even if they crowd him into the sea.  “He had cured many and, as a result, those who had diseases were pressing upon him to touch him.”  This tells us something of the time involved.  His preaching on the sea shore must have gone on for several weeks, with more people coming every day.  

“Whenever unclean spirits saw him they would fall down before him.”  The Greek word translated here as “unclean” has the sense of “foul”, “vile”, and “defiled”.  They “saw” Jesus.  The Greek word here is distinct from the word that means “to see” in the sense of perceiving and understanding.  The unclean spirits could look at him and recognize him from the reports of their fellow demons but they did not know who he was.  They call him “Son of God” in the generic sense, a term for any righteous man.  The Lord, however, would accept no testimony whatsoever from these wicked spirits and so “he warned them sternly not to make him known.”  We notice here that the Lord does not take away their ability to speak or force them to be silent.  He does not interfere with their free will.  He will act in the same way with Judas at the Last Supper.  Jesus will warn him a number of times, but allows him to do as he has planned.

How precious the gift of free will is!  Its possession allows us to love and to seek true happiness.  Without it we would be automatons, little better than machines.  With it, and through its proper use, we become the heirs of heaven through the redemption wrought by Jesus the Lord.