Thursday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
One of my first introductions to the parish was my presentation of a series on Mark, entitled “Wild & Untamed: Encountering the Jesus of Mark.” It wasn’t the first time I have lived intimately with this Gospel. I led several parish missions on Mark including one at St. Helen back in the 90s. I also had the opportunity to teach a course on Mark at Xavier University.
Mark presents a Jesus far different than the one embraced by most Christians. I have concluded that the image of Jesus in the forefront for most of us is the Johannine Christ, the all-knowing, in charge, all powerful “God striding over the face of the earth.” Yet the Marcan Jesus is the closest to the historical person who walked the back roads of 1st century Galilee and was nailed to a Roman cross. Mark not only writes of a Jesus who is “untamed,” but also brash, radical, in-your-face, blunt, abandoned and tragic.
And his message is neither “controlled” or “proper.” Jesus challenges the status quo. He intentionally breaks sabbath law. “Someone’s going to kill this man,” the crowds would have said when they heard him speak. Jesus is in such a hurry that it has been called the “breathless Gospel.” There's no time for niceties. The Kingdom of God is breaking into the present!
In today’s Gospel the Marcan Christ is moved to pity by a leper. As he did with Peter’s mother-in-law, Jesus breaks taboos by touching him. Many attributes of the Marcan Christ are found here. He likes to unsettle the hyper-religious. He performs the action in a rush (“immediately” – the favorite descriptor by the author). He is stern and warns the former leper to retain what has come to be called “the messianic secret.” But a deeper look reveals even more startling surprises.
Going back to Mark’s version of the temptation in the desert, the word “hurled” is the purer interpretation: “The Spirit hurled Jesus into the desert.” Likewise, today’s account has been sanitized. Unnecessarily he touches the leper to the consternation of those who held fast to the letter of the law. His stern warning to “go to the priests" is expressed in a rare New Testament word which basically translates to “to snort angrily.” The healed man is abruptly sent to the priests to perform the ritual to reintegrate him into the community. Jesus doesn’t just send him to the priests, he “hurls him.” There’s no time to spare.
Like all Christians, I accept and love the versions presented by John (Word Made Flesh), Matthew (rabbi par excellence), and Luke (gentle and forgiving). But Mark fits best when I find my life in tangles, unsettled, distraught. Much like Mark’s original audience was. Then the no-frills Jesus is the one I need, who is immediate to the point of brashness, breaks through any and all barriers, refuses to beat around the bush and (immediately) gets to the heart of it.
—Timothy J. Cronin