Yahweh your God will raise up for you, from among your brothers, a prophet like me, whom you shall listen to. And Yahweh said to me:
“The request they have made is good. I will raise up for them, from among their brothers, a prophet like you, I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him…
Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
DEUTERONOMY 18:15-20
(Moses speaks to the people of Israel)
Yahweh your God will raise up for you, from among you, from your brothers, a prophet like me, whom you shall listen to. And Yahweh said to me:
“The request they have made is good. I will raise up for them, from among their brothers, a prophet like you, I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.
If anyone does not listen to my words, which that prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account for it.
But if a prophet presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.”
This text is taken from the central part of Deuteronomy, chapters 12 to 27, which is a collection of laws, inspired by the most ancient ones of the people of Israel.
Chapter 18 legislates on priests and prophets. Sorcerers, astrologers, and diviners are rejected, and it is promised that there will be prophets in Israel, that is, people in whose mouth are the words of the Lord for his people.
These figures are presented as intermediaries. Israel fears to see God (this is represented in the terror before the fire of Sinai), and therefore there are intermediary people between God and the people.
To strengthen their authority, a curse is pronounced, very much in the terrible tone characteristic of these ancient writings. And the same is done regarding the false prophet, the one who arrogates to himself the condition of prophet without being one.
The presence of this text on this Sunday is justified by the intention of Mark in presenting Jesus: Jesus is a Prophet, a messenger of God, in his lips is the word of God, in his deeds the power of God is noticed.
It is a presentation aimed at convincing the Jewish audience of who Jesus is: the Prophet we were waiting for. But how different! The threats have disappeared, replaced by healing, the liberation from all evil.
1 CORINTHIANS 7:32-35
I would like you to be free from concerns. The unmarried man is concerned about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. The married man is concerned about the things of the world, how to please his wife; therefore, he is divided.
The unmarried woman, the same as the virgin, is concerned about the things of the Lord, about being holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is concerned about the things of the world, how to please her husband.
I say this for your own good, not to lay a snare for you, but to promote what is worthy and to encourage you to be as constant as possible in your devotion to the Lord, without distraction.
Paul’s text is included within the idea, current in the early days of the Christian community, that the coming of the Lord was so near that it would happen in the lifetime of some of those present.
The idea that “the last times” are not “the imminent end” but “the definitive stage, the New Covenant” has not yet developed. In the context of this mentality, daily life does not make sense, but the preparation for the imminent end.
But it is not true, even if it appears in a letter of Paul. It is precisely daily life, marriage, work… that builds the Kingdom.
Even Paul says so in the letter to the Thessalonians (2 Thess 2:1-3 and 3; 11-12):
Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way.
We hear that some among you are idle, not busy at work, but busybodies. Such people we command and urge in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat.
Ultimately, I think it is wrong to read these texts during the Eucharist; they only serve to sow confusion and undermine Paul’s authority. This gives us the opportunity to realize the carelessness with which the expression “word of God” is applied to any fragment of Scripture. Undoubtedly, there is much of God’s word in Scripture, but we must distinguish the wheat from the chaff.
José Enrique Galarreta, S.J.