Gospel:
The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan. He was among wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him.
After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
Gospel Trivia:
The gospel account of the temptation of Jesus is found in Matthew, Mark and Luke. But in Mark's account, there is no mention that Jesus fasted in the desert. Mark did not forget to mention it, nor did he simply assume that since Jesus was in the desert, he must have not eaten anything. He excluded it because Mark wished to convey a different message from the other two evangelists.
Firstly, this account should be regarded as a teaching story instead of a historical story. This story became a source of inspiration for the early Christians because Mark presents Jesus as the "new Adam".
- The desert is generally regarded as Satan's territory. Where the first Adam failed the test, Jesus overcomes Satan in his own territory.
- Jesus "was among wild beasts." This connotes Jesus' friendly co-existence with nature; whereas Adam disrupted the harmonious relationship between humanity and nature.
- There is no fasting by Jesus, instead the angels ministered to him. This is in contrast to Genesis 3:17 where the angels tell Adam: "Curse is the ground because of you. In toil you shall eat its yield all the days of your life."
Finally, note that this episode immediately follows the baptism of Jesus. In the New American Bible translation, it adds the phrase "At once" in the first verse, as in: "At once, the Spirit drove him out into the desert."
The early baptized Christians were to be prepared for their faith to be immediately tested. But they should not fear because Jesus, their Lord, is the new Adam who restores the relationship between God and humanity.
Reference:
- Nil Guillemette, SJ, A Kingdom for All (Manila: St. Paul Publications, 1988), pp. 11-13.
Gospel:
A leper came to Jesus and, kneeling down, begged him and said, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, “I do will it. Be made clean.” The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean.
Then, warning him sternly, Jesus dismissed him at once. He said to him, “See that you tell no one anything, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them.”
The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter. He spread the report everywhere so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly. He remained outside in deserted places, and people kept coming to him from everywhere.
Gospel Trivia:
To fully appreciate the powerful message of this gospel, we need to understand how a leper is regarded during biblical times, and the significance of touching a leper.
Leper:
A leper is considered as a sinner being punished by God. He is considered totally unclean: he cannot enter a house (lest everything inside the house be rendered unclean); he must live alone like an itinerant vagrant; he must wear his clothing torn and his hair disordered and must shout "unclean, unclean" in order to warn others of his presence; he can never enter Jerusalem the holy city; and he cannot participate in any Jewish rituals, except in a special room.
Jews treated four kinds of people like a "dead person": a blind person, a poor man, one who is childless, and a leper. (Note that Jesus mingled with all four.)
Touching a Leper:
One must never touch a leper. And yet, Jesus did and healed him! He even "stretched out his hand," a reference to Psalm 138:7: "Though I walk in the midst of dangers, you guard my life when my enemies rage. You stretch out your hand; your right hand saves me."
This miracle is more than just a miracle. Jesus wanted to dispel the notion that God punishes sinners. On the contrary, by touching the leper, Jesus showed that God extends his love and protection over them. Pope Francis exemplifies precisely this message: God has a preferential love for the leper and those who are last, least and lost.
Reference:
- Nil Guillemette, SJ, A Kingdom for All (Manila: St. Paul Publications, 1988), pp. 24-25.
Gospel:
On leaving the synagogue Jesus entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. Simon’s mother-in law lay sick with a fever. They immediately told him about her. He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up. Then the fever left her, and she waited on them.
When it was evening, after sunset, they brought to Jesus all who were ill or possessed by demons. The whole town was gathered at the door. He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and he drove out many demons, not permitting them to speak because they knew him.
Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed. Simon and those who were with him pursued him and on finding him said, “Everyone is looking for you.” He told them, “Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come.”
So he went into their synagogues, preaching and driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee.
Gospel Trivia:
Jesus performs another healing miracle, this time he heals Simon's mother in law. Word quickly gets around and soon, "the whole town was gathered at the door."
What are miracles? Are these activities that violate the law of nature? Proofs that Jesus is indeed God? Or is it simply a sudden fortunate turn of events, as when the rain stops just as the wedding reception began?
The people in biblical times lived in a different world view compare to our world view. People did not think in terms of natural laws (like gravity) and supernatural or divine laws. For them, what we consider as “natural” and “supernatural” were all intertwined; not separated worlds as we tend to think.
In the worldview of the Old and New Testament, God often intervened in earthly events, and at times interrupted things for the events to take another course. This is not extraordinary to them, as we would think. This was simply the way things are.
For biblical people, the only “natural law” was the faithful love of God for God’s people. They saw God’s love at work in a good rainfall, as well as in a victory in battle, or in healing. They did not look at the universe as a closed system following inflexible laws of physics, but as completely open and responsive to God. To distinguish between natural and supernatural events would have been foreign to their outlook.
Biblical miracles should be understood as:
- saving acts of God which showed God's love for his people, e.g. the Exodus event, a good harvest, and the healing of Simon's mother in law;
- showing God's love especially for the poor and the outcasts (only the centurion's servant and the official's daughter are miracles involving people of position);
- and, definitely, not theatrical sensations to prove Jesus' divinity.
We look at miracles "as remarkable events which believers understand to be signs of God's saving activity and love in the life a nation and people."
But did the miracles really happen? Did Jesus really make the blind see, the lame walk, etc.?
- Yes, biblical scholars agree that these were not just inventions of biblical writers. It is certain that Jesus did perform acts that were considered extraordinary. However, it is difficult to know what actually happened.
- What we can establish is the impression produced by the miracle on the eyewitnesses was remarkable enough for it to affect their faith.
- We accept that Jesus did perform miracles, but do not know how exactly each miracle happened.
There are no purely objective and factual accounts of Jesus' actions, but only accounts interpreted in the light of Jesus who has resurrected. This experience were reflected upon and written down in the gospels, which were written several decades after Jesus' death and resurrection.
Beside the historical fact of the miracle, the more important part is that Jesus healed and helped the people.
There were other miracle workers at that time. It should be noted that the Greek god Aesculapius, for example, is credited as having performed about 80 miracles. However, we are certain of this: "there remains an impressive body of material which attributes to Jesus a number of miracles which have no close parallel in the ancient world and which testifies to the amazement and wonder which Jesus provoked on many occasions."
(By the way, we cannot say that only biblical miracles are authentic, and all else are hoaxes. I do not think we can limit God's activity only to biblical miracles.)
Do miracles still happen?
Of course! There are still "remarkable events which we understand to be signs of God's saving activity and love in the life of a nation and people."
Reference:
Herman Hendricks, The Miracle Stories (Manila: St. Paul's Publications, 1987).
