Fourth Sunday after Epiphany; 28 January 2024; Epiphany 4B (RCL); Deuteronomy 18:15-20; Psalm 111; 1 Corinthians 8:1-13; Mark 1:21-28.
Burton Mack points out that Jesus’ first public act in Mark’s Gospel is the exorcism of a demon from a man in the synagogue. This sets up the struggle between Jesus and the synagogue at the very outset of the Gospel, and shows Jesus as a man of power, more effective than the power of the synagogue. This might have been good for propaganda in the ancient world, but tragic ever since.
Continue reading “Idols and demons”