3^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (C); 01-23-2022

Neh 8:2-4a.  Ps 19.  1 Cor 12:12-30.  Lk 1-4; 4:14-21

Deacon Jim McFadden

                        An operating principle that governed Jesus’ life is that he saw in others what he saw in himself.  In Buddhist literature there is a story where a soldier comes up to a Buddhist monk and says, “When I look at you, I see a pig.”  The monk responded, “When I look at you, I see the Buddha.”  How’s that?  What you see in on the outside is what you know in the inside.  If you see the Buddha in the outside, then you are the. Buddha.  If you see a pig, then… Along this line, the Talmud says “We don’t see things as they are, but we see things as we are.”

            In the accounts of Jesus’ Baptism, Temptations, and Homecoming (which is today’s Gospel) Luke is going to tell us how Jesus learned to see it in himself and what it meant to him.  These three stories are like a triptych: (1) at his Baptism Jesus is going to find out who he is; (2) there’s going to be mistakes about it (temptations, testing); (3) then there is the true interpretation of who he is.  These stories are about the mystery of Christ Jesus: i.e., there not just about what happened to Jesus, but they represent a process that his followers also undergo who participate in his mysteries.  We participate in his identity, which is why we call ourselves members of the Body of Christ, the Church.  We say that we are animated by the Spirit of Christ.  So, to reflect upon these stories is to hold up a mirror to ourselves.

            At Jesus’ baptism, “the heavens opened”—i.e., reality is being manifested.  The heavens speak and the Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus is the visible form of a dove.  In Luke’s world, when you gave someone a dove, you were expressing your love.  In Luke, you have the symbol, then the interpretation: “You are my beloved Son, with you I am well pleased” (Lk 3:22c).  Using St. Bonaventure language, when the Eye of the Soul was opened, Jesus knows that he is the beloved one.  He is loved by his Father.  When God the Father hands over his love to Jesus, he is handling over himself—total self-giving since God is love.  Why did Jesus see blessed people?  Inside himself he knew that he was the beloved Son.  That’s the beginning of the journey.  Your story begins when you realize that you are the beloved daughter/son of the Father.

            The ancients believed that one only knew things through tests, which leads us to the Temptations of Jesus and this test will be directed by the Holy Spirit.  Once you know who you are, you have a temptation: you can choose to live that reality or not.  Satan has some ideas as to what it means to be a child of God.  He’s going to try to convince Jesus and us that are value comes from the goods of the world—the things are not God.  These temptations take place in the desert, another on a mountain, and the last one at the parapet of the temple—each one of them has a view of what it means to be the Son of God. 

            These Temptations suggest that you’re only the Son of God if you’re full; if you’re ever empty, you’re not loved.  You’re only beloved if you have power in terms of how the world exercises power; if you’re not dominating others, you’re not loved.  You’re only loved if you’re totally safe at all times.  Jesus rebuffs all three Temptations; in so doing, he is learning what it means to be the beloved Son of God by learning what it isn’t.  That is how we learn our true identity: we learn who we are but learning who we are not.  Jesus is learning what it means to be the Son of God by refuting the false suggestions of the Tempter. 

            The Baptism and the Temptations now flow into the Homecoming of Jesus, which is today’s Gospel reading.  After Luke has told us what the Son of God is not, he’s going to tell us what it is: what it means to be beloved Son of God.  We hear that “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit” (4:14).  Jesus came out of testing filled with power; the Spirit has been honed in him.  Moreover, Jesus is a big hit: “news of him spread throughout the whole region.  He taught in the synagogues and was praised by all” (vs 14-15).  Nazareth is home: Jesus is being praised and he returns home.  Jesus has found out who he is and he returns home; but the way he returns home is not the way that they want him to be.

            So, “He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah.  He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:” (v. 17).  Jesus is looking for a certain passage.  What is he trying to find?  He wants to find that passage in his tradition which articulates the structure of his consciousness he has found in his Baptism and Temptations.  Jesus is illumined; he knows who he is and who he is not.  He wants to find the text that matches his consciousness, which will articulate the truth of who he is.

            It’s no accident that first line says, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me” (v. 18). Jesus is on a mission.  By extension, to be a son or daughter of God is to be on a mission.  Jesus has been elected: the Father has sent him to bring life to the world, to bring salvation.  He will bring glad tidings to the poor—where there is impoverishment, he is going to bring gladness right in the middle of it.  Wherever people are captive, he is going to liberate them.  Wherever people are blind, he is going to make them see.  Where people are imprisoned, he is going to release them.  “And to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord” (v. 19).  He’s beginning to see out of himself; his vision of himself is universal: he is becoming pure of heart; he sees reality as his Father sees reality.  “Today’s this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing” (v. 21).  You are freed now.  Now we know the identity of the Son of God, what it means.

            People of God, let us ask ourselves:  are we living out of our true identity as being the beloved daughters and sons of God?  Are we being faithful to his mission?  Do we give priority of evangelizing the poor, bringing them the joyful Good News?  In our world torn by dissension and animosity, are we offering the strength of the Gospel of God, who converts hearts, heals wounds, transforms human and social relationships according to the dynamic of love.  Are we proclaiming and living the Gospel?  Amen.