4^th Sunday in O.T. (C); 01-30-2022

Jer 1:4-5, 17-19.  Ps 71.  1 Cor 12:32-13:13.  Lk 4:21-30

Deacon Jim McFadden

            Last Sunday’s liturgy had us look at the episode of Synagogue of Nazareth where Jesus reads a passage from the prophet Isaiah that reveals the true interpretation of who He is and in the end reveals that those words are fulfilled “today” in Him.  Jesus is telling them—indeed, he is telling us—that we are freed right here, right NOW.  We now know the identity of the Son of God, what it means.  Luke then gives us another misinterpretation.

            Today’s Gospel is a continuation of that narrative and shows the astonishment of his fellow citizens of Nazareth that someone from their obscure  region,  that “Joseph’s son” (Lk 4:22) would  claim to be the long-awaited Messiah.  At first they were giddy and “…all spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that come from his mouth” (v. 22a).

            Jesus, with his ability to penetrate the minds and hearts of people, immediately knows what his fellow countrymen are thinking.  Despite their flattery, they’re probably thinking to themselves, “Physician heal thyself.”  Moreover, since he is one of them, he must prove his strange claim to be the Messiah by working miracles there, in Nazareth, just as he had done in neighboring Capernaum.  They want their hometown boy to give them benefits.  They think that since he is from Nazareth, that He belongs to them.  They are trying to perpetuate an exclusivity: an in-group/out-group mentality of an elected people. 

            But Jesus refuses to play their game because it does not conform to his Father’s plan:  God wants faith, they want miracles, signs.  God wants to save everyone, and they want a Messiah who would cater to their own egoic needs.

And, to explain the logic of God’s thinking, Jesus throws them a curve.  He invokes two relatively obscure stories from the Old Testament tradition involving Elijah and Elisha to show that his messianic mission is universal in scope.  God sent them to heal and save the non-Hebrew people who had trusted in his word.

            Faced with the invitation to open their hearts to the gratuitousness and universality of salvation, the citizens of Nazareth did not take kindly to this message; they rebelled, and even assumed a very aggressive attitude which degenerated to the point that “they rose up and put him out of the city, and led him to the brow of the hill…that they might throw him down” (v. 29).  The initial admiration turns into aggression, a rebellion against Jesus.  In the two exchanges we go from appreciative people to those capable of murder.

            This Gospel passage shows us that Jesus’ public ministry begins with a rejection and a death threat, paradoxically, a pattern that follow him culminating in His crucifixion.  Jesus and His Father know that this is the context in which He proclaims the Good News of salvation.  He will face fatigue, persecution, and defeat.  This is the price to be paid for authentic prophesy.  And, as members of the mystical Body of Christ, the Church, who share in his salvific Mission, this is what we’re called to pay.  The harsh rejection, however, does not discourage Jesus, nor does He stop the journey as the fruitfulness of his prophetic action cannot be thwarted.  Jesus keeps going on his way (cf. v. 30) trusting in the Father’s love.

            That’s the key, brothers and sisters. The Kingdom of God is God’s love manifested and it’s not going to be stopped.  We will resist the Kingdom, try to stop it, even kill it, but the Lord will walk through our midst. Violence and rebellion cannot stop love because it is deeper than violence/hatred because Love is God’s nature and is, therefore, the core and structure of the universe, which will move at its own way at its own pace and will be victorious.  The great assurance is that Jesus is the “beloved Son of God” and that love is stronger than hatred and violence.  We believe this to the very core of our being because God is Love and He will bring, no matter how long it will take, he will bring all of Creation to Love.

            That is why Jesus promises that the Kingdom of God is for everybody, not just the privileged few.  He tells the citizens of Nazareth to get in line and they say “no.”  That is the perennial tension: the Divine-yes and the human-no.  That is the dialectic of our human condition.  We can’t stop it, but we try. 

            People of God, Jesus heard his call at the Jordan River; he had it tested in the desert; he went back home to reveal what he had learned.  But, they wanted something else; they weren’t willing to listen.  Undaunted, when Jesus looked out, he saw blessed people (salt, light), those who have the deeper sense of being loved.  As baptized members of the Body of Christ, we are empowered to welcome the Father’s will within our lives and undertake to give witness to the Good News to others.   Amen.