Gospel Reading Mark 3:7-12

Gospel Reading Mark 3:7-12
The Mercy of Jesus

7Jesus withdrew toward the sea with his disciples. A large number of people [followed] from Galilee and from Judea. 8Hearing what he was doing, a large number of people came to him also from Jerusalem, from Idumea, from beyond the Jordan, and from the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon. 9He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him. 10He had cured many and, as a result, those who had diseases were pressing upon him to touch him. 11And whenever unclean spirits saw him they would fall down before him and shout, “You are the Son of God.” 12He warned them sternly not to make him known.
Unclean Spirits.. Fall Down Before Him

In Sacred Scriptures, there is a close connection between the holy and the clean. Holiness is first applied to God as someone who is “wholly other,” and expresses the idea of separation, majesty, incomprehensibility. By analogy, a person or a thing is holy or “clean” since it is set apart for the service of the deity and is removed from common use. Later, the idea of cleanness/holiness is broadened to include ethical or moral purity.


Angels are spirits who act as messengers of God. Created as higher than human beings and closer to God, they are considered holy. But there are also “unclean spirits”; these are demons or spiritual powers which are opposed to God. While angels are “ministering spirits sent to serve, for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation” (Heb 2:14), the “unclean spirits” put people under their power, rendering them unclean, and causing them insanity and harm.


Here the unclean spirits address Jesus as the Son of God, not as a confession, but as an attempt to render him harmless. There was a popular belief that knowledge of the precise name or quality of a person confers mastery over him. The demons try to control Jesus and strip him of his power, but their cries of recognition are futile. Jesus is truly the Son of God, the Bearer of the Holy Spirit, and between the Holy Spirit and the unclean spirits there is a categorical antithesis that the demons must recognize. With Jesus’ divine authority, the unclean spirits are silenced. He is the “Stronger One” who ties the “strong man” (the devil) and despoils him.

 

Pagbasa ng Ebanghelyo Marcos 3:7-12
Ang Awa ni Hesus

7 Si Jesus ay umalis patungo sa dagat kasama ang kanyang mga alagad. Ang isang malaking bilang ng mga tao ay [sumusunod] mula sa Galilea at mula sa Judea. 8 Nang marinig niya ang kaniyang ginagawa, lumapit din sa kaniya ang napakaraming tao mula sa Jerusalem, mula sa Idumea, mula sa ibayo ng Jordan, at mula sa kalapit na bahagi ng Tiro at Sidon. 9 Sinabi niya sa kanyang mga alagad na maghanda ng isang bangka para sa kanya dahil sa dami ng tao, upang hindi nila siya madurog. 10 Marami na siyang pinagaling at, dahil dito, sinisikap siya ng mga may sakit upang hipuin siya. 11 At sa tuwing nakikita siya ng mga karumaldumal na espiritu ay magpapatirapa sila sa harap niya at sumisigaw, Ikaw ang Anak ng Dios. 12 Mahigpit niyang binalaan sila na huwag siyang ipakilala.
Mga Maruruming Espiritu.. Magpatirapa sa Kanya

Sa Banal na Kasulatan, may malapit na koneksyon sa pagitan ng banal at malinis. Ang kabanalan ay unang inilapat sa Diyos bilang isang tao na "ganap na iba," at nagpapahayag ng ideya ng paghihiwalay, kamahalan, hindi maunawaan. Sa pagkakatulad, ang isang tao o isang bagay ay banal o “malinis” dahil ito ay itinalaga para sa paglilingkod sa diyos at inalis sa karaniwang paggamit. Nang maglaon, ang ideya ng kalinisan/kabanalan ay pinalawak upang isama ang etikal o moral na kadalisayan.


Ang mga anghel ay mga espiritu na kumikilos bilang mga mensahero ng Diyos. Nilikha bilang mas mataas kaysa sa mga tao at mas malapit sa Diyos, sila ay itinuturing na banal. Ngunit mayroon ding “mga maruruming espiritu”; ito ay mga demonyo o espirituwal na kapangyarihan na salungat sa Diyos. Bagaman ang mga anghel ay “mga espiritung naglilingkod na isinugo upang maglingkod, alang-alang sa mga magmamana ng kaligtasan” ( Heb 2:14 ), inilalagay ng “maruruming espiritu” ang mga tao sa ilalim ng kanilang kapangyarihan, anupat nagiging marumi sila, at nagdudulot sa kanila ng pagkabaliw at pinsala.