Please read the Scripture passage before the homily.
Part of the thrust of Mark’s Gospel is to answer the question about who has power. Another part is that Jesus somehow relives and undergoes in himself the entire history of the Israelite people.
For example, in today’s episode, Jesus leaves the Pharisees in the desert, lost with no signpost, like the people in the time of Moses.
The Pharisees in Mark’s Gospel are not the Pharisees of Jesus’ lifetime. They are cast into the role of adversary to help us grasp the nature of Jesus and his power. The disciples are cast as people of little understanding, perhaps like the people of Mark’s time or the people of our time.
The adversaries of Jesus tempt Jesus by asking for a sign. The original text uses the same word for test that Mark used in describing the Lord’s temptation in the desert by the devil. Asking for a sign, then, is like asking Jesus to betray the will of the Father. Jesus, therefore, refused to give the Pharisees any sign. With this refusal, Jesus left the Pharisees lost in the desert while he went off to the other shore.
The question returns to us. Who has the power in our lives? How do we allow Jesus to use his power and share his power with us? Are we left looking for a sign, like people lost in a desert, kr are we off with Jesus to another shore?