The Gospel of Mark, chapter 1:38

When we think of power, we think of fighter jets rather than trusting souls. We think of physical strength and endless resources of money and machinery that bully and force. Today’s scripture passage reminds us that we have it all wrong; that belief in the good news is the power that wins. God’s power is in the good news of the gospel.

Jesus knew about power, where it was and where it wasn’t. Over against the steady steam-rolling of humanity caused by the raw force of Roman arms, Jesus located the source of power in His good news. Jesus looked deeply into the human heart and brought God’s compassionate love to bear.

The evangelist, St. Mark, writes breathtakingly of Jesus’ good news which spread like wildfire throughout occupied and weary Galilee. The “whole town” gathered at the door when Jesus was calmly visiting Peter and his family. Suddenly, all manner of people came with all manner of ills. At the time of Jesus, people interpreted some illnesses as possession by demons, and references to these kinds of cures find their way into the Gospel. The point is clear: Jesus is the bearer of good news; evil is rendered powerless.

In Jesus we learn that God’s power is the reverse of our human expectations. The full force of God’s power is brought into play when we see Jesus in the faces of the lowly and needful ones. So much for a remote and vengeful God; so much for a God reigning down catastrophes on mankind from afar.

In Jesus we see that God wills our happiness and wants our best dreams to come true. Sometimes our dreams seem to go off in fruitless directions like plants out of place, like unruly children, like unchanneled streams. This happens when we tap into the wrong source of power. We are easily distracted and choose diversion rather than the tender, loving care of the Lord. We choose to charge ahead when we would do better standing still or standing face-to-face with our God in the stillness of the night or in the gentle sound of a tiny breeze.

We will do better to attend to the little things; to the grace of the present moment; and to accept the good news that God gave us in Jesus.

May the power of the good news change your life.

Fr. Hugh Duffy