Tuesday of Week 3 of Ordinary Time – Gospel
Commentary on Mark 3:31-35
We know that many of Jesus’ family already thought he was mad, and he had become an embarrassment to them. Now they come to the house where Jesus is teaching and, standing outside, send in a message asking for him. Do they want to talk with him or to remove him from what he is doing?
The message is sent in:
Your mother and your brothers are outside asking for you.
To which Jesus replies:
Who are my mother and my brothers?
And pointing to those sitting at his feet listening to his teaching, he says:
Here are my mother and my brothers!
And he clarifies that further by adding:
Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.
We should note that Jesus’ family is described twice as being on the ‘outside’. They are ‘outsiders’. By implication, those sitting in a circle with Jesus are on the ‘inside’—they are the ‘insiders’.
What Jesus is clearly saying is that being on the ‘inside’ is not just a question of location, but of relationship. That relationship is not by blood, but by identification with the Way of Jesus. To be a Christian is to enter into a new family, with stronger ties than those of blood, and where everyone is seen as a brother or a sister. The ‘insider’ is defined simply as anyone “who does the will of God”. So, it can include those who are not Christian at all.
A disturbing question that might arise from this passage is the status of Jesus’ mother, Mary. Was she also on the ‘outside’? The answer is an unequivocal no! We know from Luke’s Gospel that, when invited by the angel to be the mother of Jesus, Mary gave an unconditional ‘Yes’.
Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word. (Luke 1:38)
This was her total surrender to the will of God, and it was something that she never withdrew through all the difficulties she experienced and, most of all, when the “sword of sorrow” pierced her heart as she saw her own Son’s heart pierced on the Cross. She was with him to the very end, and finally would share his joy in the Resurrection.
On one occasion, when Mary was praised as blessed and privileged for having a Son like Jesus, Jesus replied:
Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it! (Luke 11:27-28)
Mary is on the ‘inside’, not because she was the mother of Jesus, but because of her totally identifying with his mission and being with him to the very end. May we be able to say the same.
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Tuesday of Week 3 of Ordinary Time – First Reading
Commentary on 2 Samuel 6:12-15,17-19
Today’s reading describes a very joyful occasion as David has the Ark of the Covenant brought into Jerusalem. This was in fact a second attempt. The Ark had been in the house of Abinadab in Baala of Judah. From there, the Ark was mounted on a cart to be brought to the city. It was guided by Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, who walked beside it, while David and the people played instruments and sang songs. At one point, when the oxen seemed to be causing the cart to lose its balance, Uzzah reached out and touched the Ark to steady it. Immediately he was struck down for his sacrilegious act which caused great distress to David. He was even afraid now to bring it into Jerusalem. Reverence for God can so easily degenerate into superstition. For us Christians, that is also so true.
For three months the Ark remained in the house of Obed-edom, and this brought him many blessings from the Lord. It is at this point that our reading begins today.
Having seen how God had blessed the house of Obed-edom and that God’s anger had been appeased, David decided to bring the Ark up to Jerusalem with great fanfare and jubilation.
However, after the bearers of the Ark had only advanced six paces, David offered a sacrifice of an ox and a fatling. Thus, he showed his great reverence for the presence of God which the Ark symbolised.
We are told in the First Book of Chronicles, when speaking to the Levites, David says:
Because you did not carry it the first time [when the Ark was brought from Abinadab’s house], the Lord our God burst out against us because we did not give it proper care. So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the Ark of the Lord, the God of Israel. And the Levites carried the Ark of God on their shoulders with the poles, as Moses had commanded according to the word of the Lord.
(1 Chron 15:13-15)
A little later we are told:
And because God helped the Levites who were carrying the Ark of the covenant of the Lord, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams. (1 Chron 15:26)
As the Ark was brought up, David, in his great joy, danced before it “with abandon”, wearing just a linen loincloth. He had just offered sacrifice and was about to give a blessing. The garment he was wearing was a close-fitting, sleeveless pullover, normally of hip length and was different from the special ephod (a type of apron) worn by the high priest.
In a verse omitted from today’s reading we are told that David’s wife, Michal, who was the daughter of Saul, was quite disgusted to see her royal husband making a show of himself, “leaping and dancing” before the Lord. His behaviour was quite unworthy of the dignity of a king.
After it had arrived in the city, the Ark was placed, for the time being, in a special tent prepared for it. David, as king, offered holocausts and peace offerings and then blessed the people in the name of God. Food was then distributed to all—for each one a loaf of bread, a cut of roast meat and a raisin cake. At the end all returned to their homes.
The Ark represented the presence of God among his people. It was, to some extent, seen as a “real” presence and, in that sense, could be seen as a forerunner of our church tabernacles.
On the one hand, let us use every opportunity to spend some time before the special presence of Jesus in our church tabernacles (the word really means ‘tent’). At the same time, let us deepen our awareness of God’s very real presence in every single person, thing and event of our lives, a presence of which the Eucharist is the sacrament and sign.
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