GOD’S WORD

1st week in ordinary time

Ps 95:6-7c, 8-9, 10-11 / 1st Reading: Heb 3:7-14 / Gospel: Mk 1:40-45

Reflection:

“He became obedient unto death.“(Phil 2:8)

The “Right Order“that Jesus told John to be followed at his baptism in the Jordan also meant the obedience God expected from both John the Baptist and from Jesus, the Servant of Yahweh. “Listen” or “Obey” is a fundamental commandment. Sin essentially is disobedience.

Jesus demands obedience, too. The leper is commanded to go to the priest and offer the sacrifice stipulated in Leviticus 14. The leper presents himself to the priest who certifies that he is clean through the sacrifice of a bird that has its blood sprinkled on the leper. A cedar wood that is likewise dipped in the blood. One can see a foreshadowing of the sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary. To cleanse sinners, Jesus will stretch out his hands on the cross! Thus, it becomes even clearer that Jesus, by his solidarity with humanity embraced the cost of being human, death, and that this death will be by way of the cross!

We who have been cleansed of leprosy (sins) have to present ourselves to the High Priest, Jesus Christ, and offer the true sacrifice that cleanses our sins, the Eucharist! We must obey the “right order“set by the Father!