12 January 2027 · Latin Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Syro-Malankara Rite · Syro-Malabar Rite · മലയാളം
“They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” Mark 1:22
In the synagogue of Capernaum Jesus teaches, and the people are astounded: “he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” The scribes quoted earlier teachers; Jesus speaks with his own authority, as the Lawgiver himself. Then a man with an unclean spirit cries out, “I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” Jesus silences him with a word and sets the man free. His word is not only true; it is powerful.
Hebrews quotes Psalm 8: “What are human beings that you are mindful of them?” God made us a little lower than the angels and crowned us with glory. But we do not yet see everything subject to us. “But we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death.” He shared our flesh, and “Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters.” The one who speaks with authority is also our brother.
Theme: “He taught them as one having authority.”
The word that frees, and the brother crowned with glory.
“so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55:11
“They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” Mark 1:22
Apply: Obey one word of Jesus today.
“what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them? Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor.” Psalm 8:4–5
“but we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.” Hebrews 2:9
Apply: Offer one suffering today in union with Jesus.
“I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:” Psalm 22:22
“For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters,” Hebrews 2:11
Apply: Treat a difficult person today as Jesus' brother or sister.
His word has authority over evil.
He is our brother, crowned with glory.
Take-home resolution: Let one teaching of Jesus shape a concrete decision this week.
Dear friends, Jesus enters the synagogue of Capernaum and teaches. The people are astounded, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes (Mark 1:22). The scribes quoted others; Jesus speaks in his own name.
Suddenly a man with an unclean spirit shouts: I know who you are, the Holy One of God. Jesus rebukes the spirit: be silent, and come out of him! And the man is set free. Jesus' word does not only inform; it transforms.
Hebrews looks at Psalm 8: what are human beings that you are mindful of them? God crowned us with glory, yet we see so much broken. But we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death (Hebrews 2:9).
And he is not ashamed to call us brothers and sisters (Hebrews 2:11). The one who commands evil spirits is our brother. Let his word have authority in our lives today, and let us trust him to set us free. Amen.
Children, when Jesus spoke, even evil had to obey! Jesus is very strong, and he is also our brother who loves us.
Lord Jesus, Holy One of God, your word has authority over every evil. Speak with authority in my life, set me free from what binds me, and let me live as your brother or sister, crowned with your glory. Amen.
Yesterday Hebrews placed the Son high above the angels. Today it brings him down, for a little while, lower than they are, and calls that his glory. The psalm asks, “what are human beings that you are mindful of them?”, and Hebrews answers by pointing to Jesus. In Mark the same authority enters a synagogue in Capernaum, and a spirit that knows him is told to be silent. He who is above everything has come to where we are.
Setting.
Having shown the greatness of the Son, Hebrews now meets the hardest question: how can one so great have died? Its answer is Psalm 8. The psalm sings of the human race, little yet crowned, and of all things put under its feet. But, says the author, we do not yet see this. We see Jesus, the one in whom the human vocation has come true. The quotation follows the Greek Old Testament. Psalm 8:5 in Hebrew has “a little lower than God”; the Greek has “angels”.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“but we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.” (2:9)
This is the first time the letter uses the human name “Jesus”, and the author puts it in a strong position. Glory comes through the suffering, not around it. “For everyone” leaves no one out.
“It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings.” (2:10)
“Fitting”: it was right that the God who wishes to bring his children home should send one who walks the whole road with them.
“For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters,” (2:11)
Then v. 12 puts Psalm 22:22 on his lips. Psalm 22 is the psalm of the Cross, and its opening words are the cry of Jesus (Mark 15:34). Here its song of praise in the assembly becomes his too.
How the Church reads it.
“To the benefit of every man, Jesus Christ tasted death”, says the Catechism, citing this verse (CCC 629). Since Christ is the brother of each one, no human suffering is outside his family. Every Mass gathers those whom he calls brothers and sisters, “in the midst of the congregation”, to join him in praising the Father.
Setting.
The Gospel continues directly from yesterday's call of the disciples. Capernaum was a fishing town on the north-west shore of the lake and became the centre of the ministry in Galilee. The synagogue was the place where the local Jewish community gathered for Scripture and prayer, and Jesus, a faithful Jew, goes there on the sabbath. Scribes were the respected teachers of the Law, who taught by carefully handing on what they had received. Mark does not make fun of them. He is pointing to a difference that people noticed. This is the first miracle in Mark, and it is a victory over evil.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” (1:22)
Mark does not say here what he taught. The first thing he wants us to see is who is teaching.
““What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.”” (1:24)
The Holy One and the unclean spirit cannot live in the same place. The first in Mark to call him this is an enemy, who fears him.
“He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” (1:27)
Just before this they call it a new teaching with authority. The people link the teaching and the deed. For Mark they are one thing: Jesus' word is what sets the man at liberty.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism quotes v. 22 to say that Jesus was not content to offer his interpretation alongside others, but taught as one with authority (CCC 581). It teaches too that the coming of God's kingdom means the defeat of Satan's (CCC 550), and that the Church has received from Jesus the power and office of exorcizing (CCC 1673). That power is exercised in the Church's name and under the bishop's authority, and it should be distinguished from illness, which belongs to medical care (CCC 1673).
How can Jesus, who is God, be made “perfect through sufferings”?
He was never morally imperfect: Hebrews says he was without sin (4:15). “Perfect” here means complete, brought to the goal. In his humanity he went through obedience and death, and so he became fully what he came to be: the priest and leader of his brothers and sisters. “Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered” (5:8).