Unpacking and Understanding Scripture

[Jesus] said to [his disciples], “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:15-16 NABRE)

Taken literally, these words from Jesus would exhaust even the heartiest disciple. As with all of Sacred Scripture, this pericope from Mark’s Gospel needs to be interpreted and acted upon according to the understanding and capacity of each believer and in conformance with Church teaching.

The “matter of fact” statement on who will be saved and condemned needs to be unpacked and interpreted prayerfully with divine assistance. The eunuch’s encounter with Phillip in the Acts of the Apostles can help shed light on how to approach Scripture properly:

Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a wilderness road.) So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet, Isaiah. Then the Spirit said to Philip, Go over to this chariot and join it.” So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” He replied, “How can I unless someone guides me?” (Acts 8:26-31 NRSVCE).

God has given us the Church to “guide” us in our journey of faith. Sacred Scripture and Tradition have been safely guarded throughout the centuries under the sure hand of God’s providence. Prayer and discernment are necessary to know God’s will and act in accordance with it to the best of our ability. Strict adherence to the literal interpretation of Scripture will result in the equivalent of “practicing without a license” as a doctor. The letter of a directive or command must conform with the spirit and overall meaning of a particular passage.

The following quote, also from Mark’s Gospel, can serve as an illustration:

[Jesus said,] “These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name, they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. They will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” (Mark 16:17-18 NABRE).

Attempting to drive out demons while speaking new languages and drinking poison most likely will not produce a desirable outcome. Similarly, laying hands on the sick while juggling serpents could prove to be problematic.

Just like the eunuch in Acts, having access to Scripture is only half of the equation. The other half is the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The gift of faith, received in Baptism, must be nurtured and allowed to grow in our lives. “Mustard seed” faith can move the “mountains” in our lives:

When they came to the crowd, a man came to [Jesus], knelt before him, and said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly; he often falls into the fire and often into the water. And I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.” Jesus answered, “You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him here to me.” And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was cured instantly. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:14-21 NRSVCE).

As we look forward to Pentecost, let us pray for the grace to discern God’s will, to act upon it prayerfully, and to proclaim the good news of the Gospel to everyone in our lives.