Daily Gospel Reflection for January 14, 2020

Today's Gospel: Mark 1:21-28 “I know who you are -- the Holy One of God!” It strikes me how the evil spirit in today’s Gospel immediately recognized Jesus as “the Holy One of God.” The spirit feared Jesus had come to destroy it. And it was right to fear. The authority of Jesus is proclaimed in this Gospel. First, He taught with authority, “not as the scribes.” Then, the evil spirit calls Him out in front of everyone as the Messiah. And, when Jesus commands the spirit to leave the man, it obeys His authority and immediately leaves. As I read this Gospel, I have to wonder how much I recognize Jesus’ authority over me. I’m at peace with the idea that I may not live up to the standard of the first disciples and their submission to His authority. But, when I think that an evil spirit might do a better job of recognizing Jesus’ authority than I do, I’m not quite as peaceful. In some ways, I think I’m more comfortable thinking of Jesus as my brother rather than my King. It’s much easier to love a brother than to submit to a King. With a brother, you can still maintain control of your life. But submitting to the authority of a king requires respect, humility, and trust. It’s much harder to trust in the authority of a King when you don’t know Him. But the disciples knew Jesus. The evil spirit recognized Him. If I don’t know Him, I need to get to know Him better to trust Him and submit to His authority.

Ponder:

Do you struggle with submitting yourself to Jesus’ authority over you? In what areas are you holding yourself back from submitting to His divine authority? How can your prayer life help you to release those areas and give them back to Jesus, your King?

Pray:

Lord Jesus, help me to know You so that I can recognize Your authority over me and submit to You. Reveal Yourself to my heart so that I may grow in knowledge and trust of You. Amen.