Sunday Gospel Comment
Alberic Jacovone OSB
YEAR C FOURTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR - 1.2.04 Jer 1,4-5.17-19; 1 Cor 12,31-13,13; Lk 4,21-30 Majestic walking through opposition Fierce
confrontation.
We resume today’s Gospel from last Sunday. We ask: why did the people of
Nazareth refuse & reject Jesus? At heart, they were good & religious
people, staunch Bible readers, well versed in their customs & traditions,
enjoying their exclusive claims to God’s privileges. Could the reason be
linked with making money, as perhaps the words of Jesus would suspect? They
would want to make Jesus the object of local pride and profit: if Jesus worked
miracles in Nazareth, as he had done in Capernaum... people would come in droves
and the town would make huge profits. But this is not the case: to imply this,
would betray a tinge of anti-Semitism in us. Luke describes the Nazarethans as
people of pride and passion, eagerly expecting the Messiah’s coming in the
agonizing events in their lives. Such a reason would miss the point that Luke is
trying to make for his church & us. In the story, Jesus has just
claimed that the promise made by God in Isa. 61,1-2 is being fulfilled now. At
first, the people approve & wonder at his gracious words, but at the same
time they have a suspicion that something is wrong. They say: isn’t this
Joseph’s son? With this, they are objecting that Jesus owes them a ‘tit for
tat’, in return for the support they give to his carpenter business?... But,
even this insight doesn’t warrant their violent reaction: ‘they rose up as
one body - threw him out of town’ The
point of contention
is in conflict with the heart of Jesus’ ‘Good News’: the people revolted
against a claim that Jesus was obliquely making, namely that He as promised
Messiah, was opening the doors of God’s mercy to every human being. He dared
to welcome sinners and idolaters into God’s Chosen People as equal partners.
This of course was (& is) totally unacceptable to the Israelites. On his
part, Jesus disregarded their rejection, & went on to say that people had no
option, but to accept God’s new economy now God is unconditionally rich in
mercy to everyone. At the same time, Luke is urging us readers, to accept Jesus
as God’s Messiah, never contradicting or watering down his teaching. Faith is
open to all: -Jews & Pagans alike- it is God’s gift, freely given &
freely received.- Before God, no one can demand, claim or expect favour or
privilege. Luke says: take it or leave it, but this point of contention is
non-negotiable. It addresses not simply the conflicts of Synagogue & Church,
but also all situations of discrimina-tion, at all levels in our multi-cultural
world. Even in our Church, God is not tied down by expectations of
individuals or religious groups. God must be accepted on His terms, in
faith. And in fact, God’s unbelievable mercy is directed to the deprived &
oppressed, never to the privileged. To make sure we understand this point, Luke
presents the people of Nazareth as people who are good & devoted, steeped in
their Torah-minded piety, aware of their history, culture & pride in Old
Testament. However, in spite of their impeccable pedigree & piety, in spite
of their Sabbath observance in the Synagogue, they stand condemned. For the same
reason, we today, run the risk of standing condemned. Yes, we too, good
religious people that we are, attending Sunday Mass, and belonging to strong
religious groups must understand that God’s heart (& ours) is hurting for
the poor & oppressed, wherever they are. Yes, we too risk to reject the Lord
& be rejected by him. A feeling of sad inevitability pervades the story: there will always be
claims and counter-claims in and out of the Church. However, when tensions reach
breaking point, Jesus is still in charge - has the answers, as when ‘he walked
through their midst & went away’. ______________________________________ |
