Monday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time
I was notorious in college for asking questions, often pushing the limits of the age-old axiom, “There is no such thing as a stupid question.” Most of my engineering professors knew this unique fact about me and so did all of my friends, as they were more than willing to give me a hard time about it during class. But, to my defense, I wanted to get the answers right. I wanted to know what was true. And I knew that I learned best by asking questions because it allowed me to receive an explanation for the things I considered to be unexplainable on my own. However, there was nothing more awkward than when the roles were reversed and a teacher called upon the class to answer a question that no one was willing to answer. Even if the question appeared to be straightforward or obvious, often there existed a common uncertainty among the students that perhaps there was something that we were not considering. Often the phrase, “I knew that!” resonated throughout the classroom after the teacher finally resolved to answer the question himself. The honest truth was that we probably did know the answer, but refrained from responding because we either overcomplicated the question or had forgotten the answer that we once knew.
In today’s Gospel reading from Luke, Jesus goes into the synagogue and teaches on the Sabbath where he encounters a man with a withered hand. As a disciple of Jesus, I also consider myself to be a student of Jesus. Therefore, standing face to face with Christ, would I take the same approach I did with many of my college professors, casting my pride to the wind, and ask Jesus questions regarding the mysteries of life and how to live as a Catholic? Or perhaps Jesus would turn the tables and call me before the crowd and ask me a question- the fear of every student. This is the experience of the man with the withered hand in today’s Gospel as he is called to come and stand before the crowd. Jesus asks, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?" Not only is this question posed to the man with the withered hand, but also to the entire crowd that Jesus was speaking to, including the scribes and the Pharisees, and to us. What would our answer be? How would we respond?
Jesus begins His question with the words, “I ask you.” Beginning in this way, we are reminded that Jesus, the Son of Man, is the very source of the question. He is not just another teacher or even a prophet, but God Himself. Interestingly, no one responds to the question and the answer is only revealed in Jesus’ act of healing the man’s hand. Answering the question in this way, the question becomes more than simply an intellectual exercise, but an experience of God Himself. Jesus, the Son of Man, is shown to have supreme authority over the law. As such, Jesus proves Himself to not only be the source of the question, but the final answer as well.
For a variety of reasons, even if we know the answers, sometimes we act as if we do not. The same is true in our lives as disciples. We may know that Jesus is the answer, but live as if this answer was not sufficient. Or, perhaps we merely forget the truth of Jesus that we once knew. In today’s first reading, St. Paul is writing to the church in Corinth that is struggling to live out their identity as disciples and has allowed malice and wickedness to infiltrate the early Christian community. Saint Paul appeals to the Corinthians by reverting back to the simple truth of the Gospel, stating, “For our Paschal Lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed.” As Christians, this was not new knowledge for church in Corinth and perhaps they would have responded by exclaiming, “I knew that!” as if they were sitting in a classroom. But as disciples, it’s not enough to know it; we have to live it! And sometimes, we have to be reminded of it.
Throughout the Gospels, Jesus is known to ask difficult questions which challenge His disciples to live differently. Who do you say that I am? (Matt 16:15) Do you believe in the Son of Man? (John 9:35) Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? (John 21:15) Jesus Christ proves Himself to be the answer to all of life’s questions. Why? Jesus. How? Jesus. Who? Jesus. Today, let us respond to Christ with confidence and love and remind ourselves of the sincerity and truth to which we have been called. Amen.
-Ryan J. Mahle