Today’s Scripture Readings

Gospel Reading

NRSV

Jesus departed with his disciples to the lake, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him; hearing all that he was doing, they came to him in great numbers from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and the region around Tyre and Sidon. He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him; for he had cured many, so that all who had diseases pressed upon him to touch him. Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and shouted, ‘You are the Son of God!’ But he sternly ordered them not to make him known.

Twenty years ago, two well-meaning parishioners shared their opposing perceptions of me as a theological conservative and a liberal. These contrary perceptions made me smile. Perhaps I was doing something right. They revealed how easily our identity and vocation can be shaped, confined, or even distorted by others’ perceptions.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus experiences something similar. The unclean spirits identify him as the “Son of God.” In that context, this title points to a popular expectation: a powerful, kingly Messiah who would restore Israel’s fortunes. Yet Jesus rebukes the unclean spirits and orders them not to make him known. He refuses to let his identity and vocation be defined by their assumptions or agendas.

Jesus knows who he is and what he is called to do. His identity and vocation flow from his mission to proclaim and embody the reign of God—a peaceable kingdom marked by healing, mercy, and self-giving love. He is already setting his face toward Jerusalem, toward suffering, death, and ultimately resurrection. No label, even a seemingly correct one, will distract him from that path.

We, too, are invited to reflect on our own identity and vocation. Others may offer insights that help us grow, but we must be careful not to be overly shaped by their perceptions. Instead, we are called to discern who we are and what we are called to do in the light of Jesus’ own identity and vocation.

As we move into a new year, how might Jesus’ way of living and serving shape our understanding of who we are and how we are called to live?