Who We Are Matters

𝐉𝐀𝐍. 𝟐𝟐, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔: 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐃 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈: 𝟏 𝐒𝐚𝐦 𝟏𝟖:𝟔-𝟗; 𝟏𝟗:𝟏-𝟕

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟓𝟔:𝟐-𝟑, 𝟗-𝟏𝟎𝐚, 𝟏𝟎𝐛-𝟏𝟑 “𝐈𝐧 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐈 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭, 𝐈 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐌𝐊 𝟑:𝟕-𝟏𝟐

𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞: “𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝.” (𝐯.𝟏𝟏) 

         Today’s Gospel passage shows Jesus withdrawing to the lakeside with his disciples (𝐯.𝟕) probably to rest and gather himself from the previous encounter he had at the synagogue with the Pharisees who questioned why he healed the man with a withered hand on a Sabbath.

         I’m sure many of you who have just gone through a spirited discussion or argument as the case may be will have felt spent and exhausted and what you normally do is go to either your favorite watering hole or to the spiritual, you would normally rush to some quiet and peaceful place like the adoration chapel to recharge your energy and reconnect with God.

        You will all agree with me that there is nothing as sweet as winning a discussion or a debate for that matter and there is nothing as miserable as when you lose in an argument. When that happens there are times when dejection comes in and you will probably want to be alone for the meantime and look at your situation in retrospect.

        I still remember the times when I was still active as a media practitioner when I really enjoyed the celebratory moments when the theories and opinions that I included in my news reportage proved correct and how embarrassed I was when my reporting turned out to be either inaccurate or lacking in details and it’s not easy dealing with a botched news coverage.

         But for a Rabbi who has become popular by his preaching with the kind of authority the people have never seen and the many instances of miracles and healing that he did, a multitude followed him (𝐯.𝟖) that he needed to board a boat on the shore lest he be crushed by the onrushing crowd who wanted to have a piece of him (𝐯.𝟗).

         Uneventful this may seem as Jesus did not speak a word or a parable in this passage, what this Gospel for today is telling us is the class of people who were there at the lakeside and there are at least three groups of people who were with Jesus in this passage.

         To be able to fully grasp the sweetness of the message that lie hidden in the Scriptures, a technique that Biblical scholars use is they  dissect the words and phrases of the Gospel passage before them and they apply the process of imagineering by putting themselves right at the heart of the stories in the Scriptures.

         For this Gospel passage of today, there are several groups of people who were present and it would be to our advantage if we will try to see as to which group we belong so we can at least plot where we are now in terms of our spiritual growth and decide which way to go.

         The first group consists of the disciples of Jesus (𝐯.𝟕). As Rabbis who have become a celebrity like Jesus, they normally travel with their large entourage of disciples. We can easily conclude that this was a committed group for many of them, like Andrew and Peter, James and John, have left their families and careers to follow Jesus.

         The second group was composed of the crowd who came from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, regions across the Jordan and those from around Tyre and Sidon (𝐯𝐯.𝟖-𝟗) and as such it would be difficult to identify who among them actually believe in Jesus, who among them were there for the benefit they can get, those who wanted to be healed while others just wanted to see a miracle. Many of them are curiosity seekers.

         Then there was the third group composed of those who have unclean spirits or the demon-possessed who fell upon seeing Jesus crying out “𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝” (𝐯.𝟏𝟏) which meant that the devil himself knows and are aware that Jesus was indeed the Son of God.

         The question now is to which of these three groups of people do we belong. Are we like the curiosity-seekers who go to church regularly or join a community but never committing ourselves to serve? Or are we like the son who said yes to his father but never did what the father told him? Do we hear the Gospel being proclaimed but not listening to it? There is a chance of course that there will be some who will eventually take up the challenge in 𝐋𝐤 𝟗:𝟐𝟑; 𝟏𝟒:𝟐𝟓-𝟐𝟕 and praise God for them.

         Are we like those possessed by unclean spirits who may be going to church regularly and or like in the preceding also join a community or a parish organization but who is like a square peg in a round hole. We know who Jesus is but we doubt his nature as God, or we just don’t believe in him.

         Or we can like those who don’t regard sin as an offense against God. There will, however, come a time when even the hard-hearted will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (𝐏𝐡𝐢 𝟐:𝟏𝟏). But why wait until some tragic event change your spiritual perspective? Why not come before the Lord and commit our lives to him while there is still time?

        Why not be like Andrew, Simon, James and John in 𝐌𝐤 𝟏:𝟏𝟔-𝟐𝟎 and Levi in 𝐌𝐤 𝟐:𝟏𝟒. They may have heard of what Jesus preached and what he did but they have never met him, yet when he passed by them and said “follow me” they all left what they were doing and followed him.

        This Gospel passage today sends out a message for all of us to now make a choice as to what we want to do with our lives. We can be in church or community but remaining in the sidelines because we think highly of ourselves and do not submit to authority because we think that we are better than our pastoral heads. We are happy with the thought that we are saved because we believe, forgetting that believing goes beyond than just what we believe in our minds. To believe is to walk where Jesus walked.

        Would you also want to risk the “𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝” (𝐇𝐞𝐛 𝟏𝟎:𝟐𝟕) by preferring to remain in the world and wallow in sin because “𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐆𝐨𝐝.” (𝐇𝐞𝐛 𝟏𝟎:𝟑𝟏).       

        Why not decide now and secure your insurance towards the salvation of your soul and an eternal life with Jesus in heaven by listening to the Gospel and abandoning everything that you have for his sake.

        Let us not dwell anymore on how long the world has existed but the Scriptures tells us that Christ died some 2,500 years ago and if we range this with the average age of man nowadays which is in the neighborhood of 70 years old we can conclude that life is short. So the question is what are you going to do to make your life meaningful?

        The choice is yours to make but the time to make a choice is now. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 - 𝘑𝘢𝘯. 22, 2026)