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Friday – Fifth Week – OT1
Readings: Gen 3:1-8; Mk 7:31-37.
1/ Reading I: NAB Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the animals that the LORD God had made. The serpent asked the woman, “Did God really tell you not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?” 2 The woman answered the serpent: “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; 3 it is only about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, ‘You shall not eat it or even touch it, lest you die.'” 4 But the serpent said to the woman: “You certainly will not die! 5 No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods who know what is good and what is bad.” 6 The woman saw that the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. 8 When they heard the sound of the LORD God moving about in the garden at the breezy time of the day, the man and his wife hid themselves from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
2/ Gospel: NAB Mark 7:31 Again he left the district of Tyre and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, into the district of the Decapolis. 32 And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him. 33 He took him off by himself away from the crowd. He put his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; 34 then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, “Ephphatha!” (that is, “Be opened!”) 35 And (immediately) the man’s ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly. 36 He ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it. 37 They were exceedingly astonished, and they said, “He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and (the) mute speak.”
I. THEME: The first fall and sins
Why do people commit sins? The Israelites, through many DSS documents, think that life is a battle between God and the devil, between good and bad, and between the children of light and the children of darkness. God wants people to do good because they are the children of light. In opposition, the devil wants people to do bad so that they shall belong to the children of darkness like him. People are torn between the two sides; they must use their wisdom to decide what they should do or avoid.
To help people to become holy and to protect them from sin and death, God teaches people how to differentiate between good and bad; He also forewarns them the results they must get from disobeying His commands. In opposition, to tempt people to sin, the devil shows people all outside attractions and conceals all inside damages. He knows if people can see all bad results, they shall not do what he tries to draw them. He makes people to hope that what God told them is wrong and the results shall not happen as God forewarned.
Today readings try to show people that sins happen when people misuse their freedom to disobey God’s command. In the first reading, the author of the Book of Genesis reported the first fall of human beings in Adam and Eve. They felt because they believe the devil’s temptation through the image of a snake. They ate the knowing good and evil tree which God forbade them. In the Gospel, although Jesus forbade people not to proclaim miracles which he has done for them; they still announce them everywhere to the extent that Jesus no longer can travel freely.
II. ANALYSIS:
1/ Reading I: The first sin of human beings
1.1/ The devil and the woman: The author compared the devil with a snake because of his shrewd and wickedness. He wrote, “Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the animals that the Lord God had made. The serpent asked the woman, “Did God really tell you not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?”” The devil’s first try is to exaggerate God’s command, with a purpose to let the woman see God’s sternness and His unreasonable command. The woman recognized the truth and corrected the snake about his exaggeration, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; it is only about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, ‘You shall not eat it or even touch it, lest you die.'”
1.2/ The devil clearly know what the woman wants: Next, the serpent tempts the woman about the result of her action. He said to the woman, “You certainly will not die! No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods who know what is good and what is bad.”
We can see the serpent’s shrewdness here. He denied death; but emphasized the result that she can become “like gods who know what is good and what is bad” as the name which God called the tree. He knows people like to be free, independent; they want to depend on nobody in making their decision. If they would know good and evil, they shall not need to listen to God’s teaching and no longer need to depend on God. The woman felt to the devil’s temptation both because of the fruit’s outside attraction and her desire to be a goddess, “The woman saw that the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom. So, she took some of its fruit and ate it; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.”
1.3/ The results of the disobeying God’s command: The author continued, “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. When they heard the sound of the Lord God moving about in the garden at the breezy time of the day, the man and his wife hid themselves from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.” It is exactly like the name of the tree, the man and the woman now know both good and evil, instead of knowing only how-to do-good things as before. They know not only evil things, but also feel shameful because they did an evil thing.
2/ Gospel: Jesus healed a man who was deaf and dumb.
2.1/ The way Jesus healed the man: Mark reported the miracle as follows: “And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech; and they besought him to lay his hand upon him. And taking him aside from the multitude privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue; and looking up to heaven, he sighed, and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.”
One can see there is a difference between this miracle and Jesus’ other miracles. In other miracles, the sick could remain at their position, Jesus needed only to say a few words and the sick was healed. The reason why Jesus took him aside from the multitude was because of his deafness. Jesus didn’t want him to be embarrassed because he didn’t understand Jesus’ command. Other reason for Jesus’ action was Jesus’ action helped the man to understand the cause of his sickness.
2.2/ Jesus’ command and people’s reaction:
(1) Why did Jesus prohibit them to spread the miracle? In Mark’s Gospel, we usually see Jesus prohibited this because he wanted to keep “the secret of the Messiah.” The Jews, as many others, easily accept a powerful Messiah who can work miracles to set free their people and nation from the foreign domination. They couldn’t accept a meek Messiah who was beat up and crucified on the cross, and liberated people from their sins by his sufferings. Jesus worked miracles because he had compassion for the sick. He also wanted them to believe in him through his power of doing miracles. What he didn’t want is people are so used with the image of a powerful Messiah that they don’t pay attention to his teaching and lose their faith when they see him to be crucified on the cross.
(2) People’s reaction: “But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it.And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well; he even makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak.”” Some people might think it is a right way to spread what Jesus did so that others will believe in him. Jesus didn’t want people to believe in him because of miracles, because their faith will quickly fade when they are no longer witnessing miracles. He wanted people’s faith to base on their understanding and love of God; only this kind of faith can help them to overcome all sufferings in their life. Under the foot of the cross, one can understand why Jesus didn’t want people’s faith to base on miracles or to multiply food.
III. APPLICATION IN LIFE:
– God creates everything good and what He commands people to observe are for people’s own good. We need to keep God’s command to protect all good things.
– All evil things and sins are caused by the devil and humankind because they don’t know how to use God’s given freedom to obey what God commands them.
– We shall never win over the devil by our own strength because the devil is much wiser and stronger than us. We need to be guided by God’s words and strengthen by His grace to recognize God’s love and way for us.