Scripture Readings: Jeremiah 1:4-6,17-19; First Corinthians 12:31-13:13; Luke 4:21-30
From the beginning of his public ministry, at about the age of thirty, Jesus is described in the Gospels as being filled with the Holy Spirit and proclaiming the saving word of God. As Christians we believe that Jesus is fully human and fully divine, so he is like no other person who has ever existed or who will ever be. Not surprisingly, then, people are described in the Gospel as “amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth” (Luke 4:22).
However, Jesus also faced opposition and rejection from those who found his words and deeds to uncompromising and demanding, “sharper than any two-edged sword,” as the Letter to the Hebrews (4:12) describes the word of God.
Right to our present day, the words of Jesus are continuously being offered and are either accepted or rejected. We are never forced to accept the saving word of God, but lovingly invited to hear and embrace it. We are creature endowed with free will, not robots or lacking discernment. Created in God’s image and likeness, we are invited to receive the word of God with humble, loving and discerning hearts.
In today’s Gospel passage, the Evangelist Saint Luke places before us the beginning of the public ministry and the double theme of the rejection and acceptance of Jesus. In the synagogue of Nazareth, the town where Jesus grew up, the people are initially filled with wonder and praise at the words of the Lord. Soon they are also asking, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” In other words, how can someone so well known to us be capable of bearing an exalted message from God regarding the path of salvation?
The seemingly insignificant background of Jesus causes scandal causing indignation that the people are being expected to embrace a seemingly impossible reality. With that in mind, the people attempt to hurl Jesus over the precipice on which Nazareth was built.
Before they can do that, Jesus uses a common proverb from the time which has come down to modern use as well: no prophet gains acceptance in his native place. What the people want of Jesus is that he authenticate and prove before their eyes with signs his wonder-working done elsewhere. The refusal of Jesus by some in Nazareth becomes the wider reality of many rejecting Jesus and ultimately putting him to death. However, God’s will and power cannot be thwarted, as Jesus conquered sin and death by saving death and resurrection.
The people at the synagogue of Nazareth, at the very beginning of the ministry of Jesus, take the law into their own hands by plotting to destroy the one who in fact can save them. Jesus, however, “went straight through their midst and walked away.” a very simple but telling statement. Saint Luke does not imply that Jesus mysteriously vanished, for example, but that he simply walked away from the crowd. This implies that there is something compelling in Jesus’ composure, strength and conviction, that prevents the people from carrying out their drastic deed.
The lessons from the Gospel today includes the following: we need to have firm faith in order to accept God’s word, coming to us under many forms, most especially through the Church and her Sacraments, through Holy Scripture (the Bible), but also through those who touch our lives and whose lives we touch.
In life’s journey, may we be granted Christ-like courage to face opposition whenever and however it comes. May we be steadfast in doing what we know is right, relying on the action of the Holy Spirit to assist us in our daily lives.
May we realize that God gives gifts to those who place their trust in God. That does not mean wealth and riches, fame or beauty, but membership in God’s family and realizing the possibility of eternal life in the world to come.
Abbot Christian Leisy, OSB