Loading...We want to see Jesus. I am assuming you all are here because you want to see Jesus. With that assumption in mind, it is always fitting that we turn to the Gospels.
For in the Gospels, we meet Jesus – we meet four different accounts of Jesus, his life and ministry and teachings, his death and resurrection and ascension. If you want to see Jesus, then look to the Gospels.
This morning we have heard from St. Mark about the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. Jesus goes to the synagogue and teaches, St. Mark tells us that. He even tells us how amazed the people were by Jesus’ teaching and that he taught with authority and that caused the people to remember the day and to remark on it.
But we are not told what Jesus taught. We are left with the impression that Jesus taught in a way unlike any one before him, but no one bothered to write it down or to even leave us an outline from that morning’s teaching in the Capernaum synagogue. It was memorable, but not enough remembered that we are able to read it for ourselves.
What St. Mark primarily leaves us is the reaction of the people to Jesus’ teaching and an incident involving a man in the synagogue with an unclean spirit who confronts Jesus. In this early story, the voices from the crowd and the man with the unclean spirit all have much larger speaking parts than Jesus.
If we were to paint pictures of this Gospel lesson, I could imagine several depictions where Jesus’ presence is more implied than actually shown. Jesus might have his back to us while we are shown instead the astounded faces of the synagogue faithful who have never heard a teacher like this before. Jesus might only be hands gesturing as he teaches or a voice from offstage that orders the unclean spirit to be silent and leave the man.
Now aren’t the Gospels about Jesus? We did not get all dressed up this morning to hear the thoughts of a disruptive man with an unclean spirit. We do not typically seek ethical guidance in our lives by asking, “What would the man with the unclean spirit do?” We do not gather for personal prayer holding an icon of the wild-eyed man who always was a real nuisance at synagogue. Brothers and sisters, we want to see Jesus.
Yet, St. Mark has given us an appropriate description of the Christian story both then and now and at every time in between. At the very beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, Jesus teaches with authority, the people are deeply moved by his teaching, but the main thing they remember is some possessed man made a scene and now Jesus’ fame will spread because of it or in spite of it.
“So, what was Jesus’ main point today at synagogue?” “You know, I don’t remember, but it was really good. But you should have seen him heal Earl. About time somebody healed Earl – never liked sitting next to him at synagogue. He always fidgeted too much.”
Do you want to see Jesus? Have you come here to meet him? Well, look around, because these others have come, too.
And we are not all easy people to be with. Some of us might be the type of person that encourages others to become hermits and solitaries. Some of us know how to make a scene and we have made a few in our time.
And from the beginning, from that first day at the Capernaum synagogue, the way of Jesus has been associated with difficult people, with people who wrestle with demons, who do not fit in, who do not know when to keep quiet while the Teacher with authority is present.
“Excuse me sir, you with the unclean spirit. We are writing a Gospel lesson here. See, Jesus is about to teach with authority and you are in the way. This is a really important early scene in the Gospel of St. Mark. Do you think you could have a seat until we are done?”
This lesson leaves us with the impression that it was not only the words of Jesus that astounded the people, but the presence, the way in which Jesus was present in the synagogue that also took their breathe away. Maybe it was his voice, the simple sound of his voice that made them realize that this Teacher was a new thing.
And the man with the unclean spirit could recognize it, too. The chaos inside of him was confronted by the healing words on Jesus’ lips.
And we might have preferred that the man keep silent and let Jesus finish his teaching. “Can’t you hush? Don’t you see that Jesus is speaking?” This is exactly why he couldn’t hush, because it was Jesus speaking and speaking with an authority that came from someplace else unlike any other place they knew. They were not simply encountering good words, but the Word incarnate, too.
No matter how private or personal our journey is towards Jesus, at some point, we end up in a crowd. In that crowd, there are always folks that we do not know and might not care to know. In that crowd, we encounter the whole people of God and we discover that sometimes the whole people of God can include some real characters.
And once word about Jesus’ healing of the man with an unclean spirit gets out, guess what is bound to happen?
“Maybe your cousin should go see Jesus.” “Jesus, I have this friend who we can’t take anywhere, because she is always making a scene and telling everyone she is a prophetess, only she isn’t a prophetess. Jesus, could you talk to her for us?” “Jesus, could our son be your disciple? See, he is a little awkward and we thought it might be good if he spent some time with you. Now are meals included for disciples, Jesus?” At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee and into the uttermost parts of East Tennessee.
Jesus came that Sabbath day with the intention of teaching in the synagogue. Maybe he had even prepared his remarks ahead of time and practiced them in front of his mother.
But no one bothered to write down your words, Jesus. They remember the man you healed, the one with the unclean spirit. That is what they recall about the day in the synagogue. And your fame is spreading now.
With each passing day, more and more people would flock to Jesus and more than a few were those difficult people, the ones with illness or chaotic spirits, the ones who did not fit in anywhere, who saw the way of Jesus as their last, best chance to belong.
Do you want to see Jesus? Well, look around and see him in the faces of his followers.
And who is this Jesus? Jesus is the Teacher, who teaches with authority, but who is also willing to be found by the troubled ones, to allow the unattachables to attach themselves to him. The story of the Good News is always a story willing to be disturbed.
And then something surprising takes place when Jesus is found by those who do not fit. Jesus heals them and shows them a place that is made for them. They end up fitting in the way of Jesus. Chaos does not have the last word in their lives. We are called then to find a way to live together as a new kind of community.
Throughout the Gospels, the teachings and ministry of Jesus are constantly being interrupted by people in need, people who are unknown and unnamed and at a loss to turn anywhere else. And so they turn to Jesus. And he welcomes them. And word gets out. And more come, seeking a place.
The Rule of St. Benedict is an ancient Christian text on life in a monastic community. I first read it several years ago with a desire to go deeper in the life of prayer, believing that I would find some hidden treasure in the way of Jesus.
Instead, I found a document concerned about the mundane things of how one orders a community when people from different walks of life choose to live together in an intentional way. How are chores divided up in the kitchen? Who sleeps where? How do we welcome strangers and how long can they stay?
On the surface, such questions might not sound like the big questions that we think are to be the concern of a sacred life together. And, yet, it is our failure to ask good questions about such matters that tear apart homes and churches and encourage too many of us to seek to see Jesus without having to actually know any of his followers.
When we seek to see Jesus, we shall always meet others along the way. Some of these fellow pilgrims will feed our souls, while others are bound to try our spirits.
But a body is made up of many parts. And we are Christ’s Body in the world. When people search for Jesus, they will find us. In finding us, what will they find? My prayer is that we will be prepared for them to see Jesus.
