Texts of the Readings
July 2,
2006
Thirteenth
Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)
Dr.
Terrance Callan
Wis 1:13-15, 2:23-24
X
2 Cor 8:7, 9, 13-15 X
Mark 5:21-43
We hate and fear death our own and that
of others and we think about it as little as possible. We were made for
life, not death. In its depths our very being rebels against the prospect
of death.
The reading from the book of Wisdom describes the origin of
death. It says, God did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the
destruction of the living. When God created the universe, death was not
part of that creation. God formed man to be imperishable; the image of his
own nature he made him. Death came into the world by the envy of the
devil.
The writer of the book of Wisdom is thinking of the story told
in Genesis 2-3. According to this story God told the first human being that
to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil would lead to death.
But the serpent tempted the woman to eat the fruit of the tree, and she gave
some to her husband. Because of this God said to the man, you are dust,
and to dust you shall return. If the first human beings had not eaten the
fruit of the tree, they would not have died.
The reading from the gospel according to Mark shows that Jesus
came to save us from death. The reading tells the story of two miracles
worked by Jesus. A synagogue official named Jairus asked Jesus to come and
cure his daughter who was very ill. As Jesus went to do what Jairus asked,
a woman who had been afflicted with a hemorrhage for a dozen years, touched
Jesus cloak hoping to be healed. She was healed and Jesus told her that
her faith had cured her.
Before Jesus arrived at Jairus house, he received word that
Jairus daughter had died. Nevertheless, Jesus proceeded to Jairus house.
There he told the mourners, The child is not dead but asleep. They
ridiculed him, and he put them out of the house. Having entered the room
where the child lay, Jesus took her hand and said, Little girl, I say to
you arise! She got up immediately and began to walk around. Her family
was amazed, and Jesus told them not to let anyone know about the miracle.
Jesus restoration of Jairus daughter to life is a sign that
Jesus will overcome death for all people. It is only a sign because many
other people died during Jesus lifetime that he did not restore to life.
And the daughter of Jairus died again after Jesus restored her to life. But
the miracle indicates that the ultimate accomplishment of Jesus is to
overcome death for all, reversing the consequences of the disobedience of
the first human beings. After he restored the daughter of Jairus to life,
Jesus told them not to tell anyone about it. But we have heard about it and
know that Jesus will overcome death.
Paul alludes to Jesus conquest of death in the reading from his
second letter to the Corinthians. He says of Jesus, though he was rich,
for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become
rich. Jesus made himself poor most of all by dying on the cross, so that
we might become rich, i.e., free from death. Jesus overcame our death by
his own dying. Paul here speaks of this in terms of wealth and poverty
because he is arguing that Jesus generosity to us should make Christians
generous in giving money to those who need it.
©Terrance
Callan
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