Easter Monday – First Reading

Commentary on Acts 2:14,22-33

We begin today reading from the Acts of the Apostles. From now until the end of the Seventh Week of Easter, the weekday First Readings will be from Acts. The Sunday First Readings will also be from Acts.

Today’s reading follows immediately on the account of the Pentecost experience. The immediate result of that experience is for Peter, filled with the Spirit and as leader of the new community, to begin proclaiming the message about Jesus Christ as Saviour to the people gathered in Jerusalem for the Jewish festival of Pentecost.

It is the first of six such kerygmas (from the Greek kerux, meaning a ‘herald’) or proclamations in Acts about Jesus as Risen Lord and Messiah-King. Five of them are attributed to Peter and the final one to Paul (to the Jews at Antioch in Pisidia, Acts 13:16-41).

Peter’s address follows a pattern that became common in the early Church: 1) an explanation of what was happening; 2) the proclamation of the death, resurrection and glorification of Jesus, the Christ; 3) an exhortation to repentance, a change of life and baptism.

Peter stood before the crowd, flanked by the Eleven (including Matthias, newly chosen to replace Judas as a witness who had been with them “during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us” (Acts 1:21). Peter spoke, then, not just in his own name, but in the name of the whole apostolic ‘college’. Right from the beginning, his special position in the group is recognised.

And he has ‘good news’ (i.e. ‘gospel’, from the old English ‘god-spell’; Greek, euanggelion) to communicate to them. His words reflect the content of the earliest apostolic preaching:

1. He gives witness of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and his being raised to glory.
2. He describes some general details of Christ’s ministry and how it was proclaimed in advance by John the Baptist, inaugurated by teaching and miracles, and completed by appearances of the Risen Christ and the giving of the Spirit to his followers.
3. The story of Jesus is put in the wider context of the Old Testament prophecies, while at the same time looking forward to a Messianic age. All—Jews and Gentiles alike—are called to a radical change of life in order to be ready for the Christ’s glorious return—believed to be in the near future.

Peter, then, reminds them that Jesus had come to live among the people—as many of his listeners were well aware—and performed signs and wonders as the credentials of his real identity. But in the inscrutable plan of God, he was “handed over” (again we have that term which is a refrain throughout the New Testament).

Sad to say, those who handed Jesus over were from among his own people, perhaps including some of those listening to Peter, and they had even delivered him into the hands of the Romans (“those outside the Law”) for crucifixion. There must surely have been some uneasy feelings among the crowd when he said that.

But Jesus was liberated from the pain of death, and death had no power over him. Peter sees in words spoken by King David, their fulfilment in Jesus, his descendant:

…you will not abandon my soul to Hades…
(In Hebrew, Hades is Sheol, the place of the dead.)

These words are seen as applying more appropriately to Jesus because David died, was buried, and the place of his tomb was known to his hearers, while Jesus:

…was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh experience corruption.

Instead,

This Jesus God raised up, and of that all of us are witnesses.

We, too, are called to be witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection and his living presence among us by the way we live both individually and as a community.

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Thursday of Week 2 of Easter – Gospel

Commentary on John 3:31-36

In rather abstract language, the Gospel today contrasts Jesus with those who see the world with purely worldly eyes. Jesus is the One who comes “from above”, although he lives in the world. The “one who is of the earth” can mean any of us, but here seems to refer to John the Baptist, who spoke of “earthly things” in the sense that he spoke simply as a human being, as opposed to Jesus as the Word.

But the “one who comes from heaven” is above all and:

He testifies to what he has seen and heard, yet no one accepts his testimony.

What Jesus has seen and heard comes through direct communication with his Father.

But “no one accepts his testimony”. This does not mean literally every single person (obviously not true), but all those who are entirely immersed in this material world. Yet there are some who do listen and who do accept what Jesus is saying, and they know that what God says is trustworthy. When anyone fully accepts Christ’s witness, he accepts that Jesus is truly from God and that God acted (and continues to act) through him for the establishment of the Kingdom and the salvation of the world. For:

He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure.

He is the Word of God. But the sentence can be understood to apply to everyone who has consciously become a disciple and Apostle for Jesus and his message. Jesus is the Light of the world, but his followers are also called to be the light of the world (Matt 5:14).

The Son, Jesus, is the perfect image of the Father, and shares generously with us what he has received from his Father. Life without end awaits all those who believe in the Son, who believe his words and accept them as their way of life.

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever disobeys the Son will not see life but must endure God’s wrath.

Notice that one who believes “has” eternal life. Eternal life begins now with the response of faith.

We must not think that God takes vengeance on those who disobey Jesus. God can never be angry in our normal sense of the word. But rather, those who choose to go another way, the way of darkness and evil, can only expect to meet death. They are the victims, not of God’s anger, but of their own determination to live in darkness. Let us remember that with God’s help, the choice is ours to make.

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Friday of Week 22 of Ordinary Time – First Reading

Commentary on 1 Corinthians 4:1-5

Paul continues the theme that he and the other Apostles and ministers in the community are merely human agents of God. He asks the Corinthians to see him and his fellow workers in the church as servants and not masters or lords. They are to be seen as stewards or house managers working for a master. And they have been entrusted with communicating the “mysteries” of God.

The word ‘mystery’ (Greek, mysterion) here does not strictly mean something that is beyond all understanding. Rather it refers to truths which we could not discover by our own human efforts, but which are now being revealed and made known by God through his agents to those who believe. The term is linked to the so-called ‘mystery religions’ of the time, where the inner workings of the religious sect were only made known to initiates.

In the Christian community, there are also ‘mysteries’ made known. They are not meant to be kept secret, but it is likely that they will only be accepted and understood by those who have faith.

Paul emphasises that what is most expected of a steward is that he can be trusted—that he is reliable and conscientious. Paul also knows, however, that he has his critics among the community, so he affirms that his trustworthiness cannot be measured by them. He does not even dare to evaluate his own trustworthiness, on the principle that one is very often a poor judge where oneself is concerned.

Nevertheless, in spite of the criticisms he has received, his own conscience is perfectly clear. But that still is not enough. Only God can be his judge. And if only God can judge, then others have no right to pass final judgement on him. Jesus certainly had something to say about that (see Luke 7:36-50).

When the Lord comes at the end of times, the hidden intentions of all (Paul and his critics) will be made plain. Then, and only then:

…each one will receive commendation from God.

We should remember that each one of us, too, is a steward of the mysteries and truths of the gospel. Through our Baptism, they have been entrusted to us and we are expected to pass them on to others.

And we must do our utmost to be faithful and reliable stewards. Even if we are carrying out our stewardship to the best of our ability, it is almost inevitable that we will run into criticism, misunderstanding and opposition. In such cases, we must do our best to be people of honesty and integrity.

Sometimes the criticisms may be valid, and sometimes not. If they are valid, we should be grateful and make the necessary changes. If our consciences are clear, we should not be too concerned with what is being said about us, and leave the judgement ultimately to God. On our part, we continue to carry out our stewardship to the best of our ability.

Jesus never promised praise and popularity to those who proclaim the gospel—quite the opposite, in fact. He himself lost his life because of the hatred his work for others generated:

A disciple is not above the teacher nor a slave above the master. (Matt 10:24)

Paul focused on loving and serving Christ and the gospel in spite of great opposition both from fellow-Jews and fellow-Christians. Let us try to follow in his footsteps.

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Easter Thursday – First Reading

Commentary on Acts 3:11-26

Immediately after the dramatic cure of the beggar who was “lame from birth” in the Temple, Peter takes the opportunity to address the crowds which had gathered, to explain the meaning of what they have just witnessed.

The scene takes place at “Solomon’s Portico”. This was a porch along the inner side of the wall enclosing the outer court, with rows of 27-foot high stone columns and a roof of cedar. So it was a roofed structure—somewhat similar to a Greek stoa. There was a common, but mistaken, belief that it dated back to Solomon’s time.

The message that Peter now gives the amazed crowd gathering around is similar to other addresses in the early Church and contains: 1) an explanation of what is happening; 2) the gospel of Jesus Christ—his death, resurrection and glorification; and 3) a call to repentance and change of life, symbolised by baptism.

First, Peter makes clear that the healing that has just taken place before their eyes is not by his own power or that of his companion, John. They are not to be gaped at as having supernatural powers. What has been done has been through the power of Jesus, who has been empowered by the God they all believe in, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Jesus is the one his hearers “handed over” to Pilate. Here again we have this ‘handing over’, a phrase which runs like a refrain through the Gospel. And he whom they handed over was the “Holy and Righteous One”, indicating Jesus’ special relationship to the Father and his sinlessness—in stark contrast to the guilt of the murderous Barabbas.

Pilate was only too anxious to let Jesus go, being aware of his innocence, but he gave in to the demands of the crowd and yielded to their choice of a convicted murderer, Barabbas. To the crowd, Peter says:

…you killed the author of life…

While Barabbas had taken away life and was freed, Jesus—the source of life—was condemned to death. The sequence of the Easter Sunday Mass says:

Dux vitae mortuus regnat vivus.

Literally translated this means: “The Leader of life, having died, reigns alive.”

Peter and his companions are witnesses that Jesus was raised again. And it was in the name of this same Jesus that the poor beggar has been restored to health and mobility.

God has “glorified his servant” by Jesus’ resurrection and ascension. The word “servant” is reminiscent of the Songs of the Suffering Servant in Isaiah (and which we read early in Holy Week), especially Isaiah 52:13—53:12. Jesus himself spoke of being a servant when he washed his disciples’ feet and when he said that he had come to serve and not to be served. All of this did not quite fit the image of the kind of Messiah the Jews were expecting.

And it is by faith in this very Jesus that the poor beggar, “lame from birth” and well known to the crowds who came regularly to the Temple, has been “made strong”:

…faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you.

Peter excuses his hearers (as Jesus himself did), saying they did not fully realise at the time what they were doing. Yet, the suffering of the Christ had long been foretold by the prophets. The early Christians saw the suffering and death of Jesus clearly indicated in Old Testament prophecies. The Jews, however, did not expect a suffering and dying Messiah—quite the opposite. They saw in Isaiah’s Servant Songs their own suffering as a people.

Now it is not too late for them to ‘repent’ (there is metanoia again), that is, radically to change their ways and thus have their sin taken away. To ‘repent’ is not just to express sorrow; it involves re-establishing one’s close relationship with God and submitting totally to his Way. The nearest English equivalent is ‘con-version’, a ‘turning round’, which means, of course, a ‘turning towards’.

Jesus, after all, is the prophet who was foretold by Moses, who, Peter tells the crowd, had said:

The Lord your God will raise up for you from your own people a prophet like me. You must listen to whatever he tells you.

This is a loose quotation from Deuteronomy (18:15). In fact, at the time of Jesus, some Jews expected a unique prophet to come in fulfilment of this text. So early Christianity applied this tradition and text to Jesus, especially where Christian teaching seemed to diverge from traditional Judaism.

And indeed, says Peter, every prophet from Samuel down predicted what is now taking place before their eyes. Samuel was one of the earliest of the prophets and the one who anointed David, Jesus’ ancestor, as king. So the Jews in his audience are the heirs of the prophets’ messages; they are the heirs to the covenant first made way back with Abraham:

…and by your offspring shall all the nations of the earth gain blessing for themselves, because you have obeyed my voice. (Gen 22:18)

It is time now for the people to acknowledge this sacred covenant, made new through Jesus Christ, and they will do that by their accepting Jesus as their Saviour and abandoning their sinful ways to walk the Way of Jesus. Exactly the same applies to us.

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Friday of Week 2 of Easter – Gospel

Commentary on John 6:1-15

Today we begin the great chapter 6 of John with its strong Eucharistic overtones.  We are bypassing chapters 4 (the Samaritan Woman) and chapter 5, which was read earlier. The stage is set by the story of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, a story we find in all four Gospels but which, in John, has some characteristics of its own.

As Jesus crosses the Sea of Tiberias, large crowds follow him along the shore.  This lake was more commonly known as the Sea of Galilee.  Its Roman name came from the new town of Tiberias, named after the emperor and founded about AD 20, i.e. during Jesus’ lifetime.

The crowd’s motive in pursuing Jesus was because of the “signs that he was doing for the sick.”  The implication is that they were not following Jesus for his own sake or because of his teaching.  They were not really disciples, but to some extent, people looking for something just for themselves.  It is possible for us to come to Jesus in that frame of mind too, our prayers full of ‘Give me this and give me that’, but with little real commitment to the mission of the Kingdom.

Jesus goes up the mountain and sits down with his disciples.  There are echoes here of Moses on Mt Sinai; Jesus is the new Moses and his disciples are the nucleus of God’s new people.  It is also close to Passover, a time soon to be linked with the new Passover in the death and resurrection of Jesus and with the Eucharist, which is the new Passover meal.  The whole of the chapter is linked to this.

Seeing the vast crowds approaching, Jesus teasingly asks Philip, always presented as being somewhat simple and naive:

Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?

As Philip came from Bethsaida (John 1:44), which was nearby, it was logical to ask him as a ‘local boy’. If Philip had any insight into who Jesus really was, he might have given a different answer.  As it was he sees no solution:

Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.

Then Andrew, Peter’s brother and sometimes seen as a companion of Philip (see John 1), mentions a small boy who has five barley loaves and a couple of dried fish.  Barley bread was the food of the poor.  Obviously, that would not go very far.  But of course, it is all that Jesus needs.

The British priest and author, Monsignor Ronald Knox, makes much of this small boy who was picked out of the crowd and was being asked to give up his precious lunch. The boy played a crucial role; it was his tiny contribution which made it possible for the whole crowd to be filled and satisfied. 

It is typical of Jesus to make use of someone, a very insignificant person, in the doing of his work.  This is something which happens all the time.  How many times have I been chosen to be an instrument of God’s work?  How many times have I failed to recognise some person I regarded as being of no importance who was in fact bringing me something from God?  How often have I not recognised God’s presence in what needed to be done?

Jesus now gets all the people (5,000 men not counting women and children) to sit down on the grass: 

In meadows of green grass the Lord lets me lie…[He] prepares a table before me. (Ps 23:2,5)

Then, in a ritual reminiscent of the Eucharist, Jesus:

…took the loaves, and when he had given thanks he distributed them to those who were seated.

All had enough and more than enough to satisfy their hunger, and the disciples are instructed to gather up all that is left over. After doing so, 12 baskets were filled. The Jews regarded bread as a gift of God and it was required that any scraps that fell to the ground should be picked up. These were collected in small wicker baskets which were carried as part of one’s daily attire. Twelve represents a number of completeness and abundance—an indication of just how much there was from the original five loaves that the little boy offered.

The boy provided the offering, but the Lord gave the increase.  Such is always the case.  The 12 baskets may also represent the Twelve, the ones who actually did the distributing of the Lord’s largesse—still the role of the Church today.

The crowd became excited at the sign they had witnessed and were saying:

This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.

Recall that John the Baptist was also asked if he was the ‘prophet’ (John 1:21).

As we will see in the rest of the chapter, the sign was pointing to Jesus and the food for eternal life which he will give.  But the people were thinking of the ‘Prophet’ mentioned in Deuteronomy (18:15) who would be like Moses.  Through Moses, God had provided food (manna) and water (from the rock) for the people in the desert. The Prophet they were expecting would do more or less the same.

Jesus, realising that they wanted to make him their leader, fled to the mountains alone.  This is an example of one of those temptations experienced by Jesus when fasting in the desert:

…the devil…showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” (Matt 4:8-9)

Jesus had come to win over the people to himself as Messiah and Lord and here was a glorious opportunity when the people were, literally, eating out of his hand.  But Jesus knew that this was not the way he was to become king, nor was he to be the kind of king that these people wanted him to be—so he fled.  The time for establishing his own kind of kingship would come later on.

We, too, sometimes can be tempted to take steps which seem, at first sight, to bring people to Christ, but on reflection, they may lead to results which are far from the gospel vision. They tend to lead people to ourselves rather than to God.

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Saturday of Week 22 of Ordinary Time – First Reading

Commentary on 1 Corinthians 4:6-15

In the reading which continues from yesterday’s passage, Paul has been describing himself and Apollos as stewards or managers of God’s message. The focus should be totally on the message rather than on the messengers (also good advice for today’s Church!). As Paul says elsewhere, the messengers are just leaking vessels, vessels of brittle clay. The Corinthians therefore should not be taking sides and pitting one messenger against another, accepting one and rejecting the other. They have no right to be doing such a thing. They should keep to “what is written”. This may refer to Scripture or the written traditions and teachings that had been passed on to them.

The Corinthians themselves can only make judgements based on the teaching they were given, and they should not act as if their ideas were their own. Paul says:

Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Quite apart from us you have become kings!

There is a strong element of irony and sarcasm here as Paul points out their arrogance coupled with their spiritual poverty, in comparison with those by whom they were taught. He wishes it could be otherwise so Paul could share in their riches, but the sad fact is that those riches do not exist.

And in spite of their calling to be apostles, missionaries and teachers, Paul and his fellow evangelisers seem to be at the very bottom of the social ladder:

…God has exhibited us apostles as last of all…

It is as if Paul and the other evangelisers were numbered last in the line of condemned men called to fight for their lives in the gladiatorial arena and on display before the whole world.

There is more irony as Paul mockingly compares his position with the imagined superiority of the Corinthians:

We are fools for the sake of Christ, but you are sensible people in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are honored, but we are dishonored.

The fact was, as he had reminded them earlier, they were neither learned nor powerful nor influential. They came from the lower strata of their society.

On the other hand, what Paul says of himself was largely true. He proceeds to give a litany of the trials and hardships he and his companions have to go through to fulfil their mission of proclaiming Christ to the world:

To the present hour we are hungry and thirsty, we are naked and beaten and homeless, and we grow weary from the work of our own hands.

Paul and his companions worked hard to support themselves. For example, we know that Paul supported himself as a tent-maker.

But following the teaching and example of their Master, they turn the other cheek to all the abuse showered on them:

When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we speak kindly. We have become like the rubbish of the world, the dregs of all things, to this very day.

And as it seems to be implied, some of this abuse comes from the Corinthians themselves.

Paul is saying all this not to shame or condemn them, but “to admonish you as my beloved children”, and to help them realise the real meaning of the gospel they have been called on to embrace. They may have “ten-thousand guardians in Christ”, but they should remember they have only one father, only one person who originally established the gospel among them and that person is Paul:

Indeed, in Christ Jesus I fathered you through the gospel.

All too often we hear Church leaders and pastors being criticised, sometimes with justification. But we do need to remember that, from top to bottom, we are a Church of flawed people. And so, we should keep in mind what Paul says—namely, that what we really need to focus on is the Message rather than the messengers. Some people abandon the Message on the basis of the behaviour of one or two messengers. Sometimes this is a rationalisation for not accepting the Message. We might remember Jesus’ words about being too conscious about the splinter in the eye of the other while there is a large beam of wood in our own. Messengers have had their shortcomings since the very beginning. Just look at Peter and Paul. The gospel, too, is addressed equally to all and the same fidelity is required of every member and not more from some and less from others.

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Easter Saturday – First Reading

Commentary on Acts 4:13-21

Today’s passage from Acts continues from yesterday’s First Reading and describes the second half of the ‘trial’ of Peter and John before the members of the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin are astonished at the self-confidence of the two Apostles, considering that they are uneducated fishermen. They had no training in rabbinic schools, nor did they have any standing in recognised religious circles. They were, in the eyes of their judges, ‘only’ lay people.

It is important to remember that faith and convictions do not depend on learning. It is also clearly implied that the source of their strength and confidence is Jesus. The rulers, elders and scribes:

…when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed and recognized them as companions of Jesus.

Our Church consists of the highest intellectuals as well as people who are completely illiterate; all have equal access to knowing and loving God, and all have equal access to the highest levels of contemplation, mysticism and sanctity.

The Apostles’ judges in this case are obviously intellectual snobs, a kind not unknown in Christian circles. Because they could not deny the extraordinary cure that had taken place in the full view of a large number of people, the Jewish leaders could only tell the Apostles not to speak any more about Jesus. In matters of this kind it seems that the accused, unless they were rabbis, could not be jailed except for a second offence.

We can never be stopped from preaching the gospel. Nor can we ever obey such an order. As Peter told his judges:

Whether it is right in God’s sight to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge; for we cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard.

It reminds one of St Thomas More’s words to his accusers: “The King’s good servant, but God’s first.” The judges felt obliged to implement the law, but there are situations where the law cannot be followed.

Of course, we have to be careful that it is not our own interpretation of the truth that we proclaim. At the same time, we are bound to follow our conscience and follow the truth as we know it. If we are wrong, it will be exposed. Eventually, real Truth will always come to the surface.

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Saturday of Week 2 of Easter – Gospel

Commentary on John 6:16-21

We have today an epilogue to the story of the multiplication of the loaves for the 5,000. Jesus had fled to the mountains to avoid the misdirected enthusiasm of the crowd.  Before that (according to Mark’s version of this story), Jesus had packed the disciples off into their boats.  Very possibly they were much more ready to receive the adulation of the crowd.  They must have been quite excited to have been so closely linked with the sensational act which Jesus had just done and which had stirred up the excitement of the crowd.

The story that follows is much more than a mere account of a storm at sea.  There is a good deal of symbolism:

It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.

They might have been feeling quite disgruntled at being sent off so unceremoniously when things seemed to be going so well for their Master—and of course, them.  Life without Jesus is a kind of darkness.

As they crossed:

The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing.

The strong wind and the rough sea can also be seen as a symbol of the storms that can surround the Church and any Christian community.  The boat with the little group inside represents a Christian community surrounded by a hostile sea which can be very threatening at times. It still happens.

Suddenly they see:

…Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat…

Their first reaction is fear, until they hear his comforting words:

It is I; do not be afraid.

“It is I” is not mere self-identification, like “It’s only me.” Here it is translated “I AM” (Greek ego eimi), reminiscent of the words spoken by God to Moses from the burning bush. It is a phrase regularly on the lips of Jesus in John’s Gospel, and it identifies Jesus as one with God.

The words “do not be afraid” occur regularly from the lips of Jesus and in other parts of the Scriptures as well.  With Jesus close by, there is no need to be afraid.  As the First Letter of John tells us:

…perfect love [Greek, agape] casts out fear… (1 John 4:18)

The Apostles wanted to take Jesus into the boat with them, but all of a sudden they found they had reached the shore and safety—some see a miracle in this.  On the other hand, in their fear the shore seemed far away.  With Jesus close by they find themselves there in no time.  The storm was over, their fears having evaporated with the presence of Jesus.  The peace that only Jesus can give has come.

We, too, can have the same experience.

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Monday of Week 22 of Ordinary Time – Gospel

Commentary on Luke 4:16-30

Today we begin the reading from Luke’s Gospel, which will bring us to the end of the Church year. We have already gone through Matthew’s and Mark’s, and John’s Gospel has been spread through various parts of the year, especially during the Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter seasons.

Luke’s Gospel is a companion volume to the Acts of the Apostles, and the language and structure of these two books indicate that both were written by the same person. They are addressed to the same individual, Theophilus, and Acts refers to Luke’s Gospel. Luke’s Gospel and Acts could be considered as volume 1 and 2 of the same book.

Luke presents the works and teachings of Jesus that are especially important for understanding the way of salvation. Its scope is complete from the birth of Christ to his ascension and it appeals to both Jews and Gentiles.

Today, we take up Luke’s Gospel at the beginning of Jesus’ public life (chap 4). After his baptism by John the Baptist:

Jesus, in the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee…
(Luke 4:14)

As we know, Galilee is the northern province of Palestine and his home province. Already people were talking about him everywhere.

Now, as our reading opens, we find him in Nazareth, the small town in Galilee where he grew up. From the verses immediately preceding, it does not seem that Jesus actually began his ministry in Nazareth. The event described here may not have taken place until a year later. One suggestion (NIV Bible) is that all that is described in John’s Gospel between 1:19 to 4:42 took place between the temptation in the desert and the moving north to Galilee (see Luke 4:13-14).

But Luke has arranged the structure of his Gospel so that Jesus will begin his public life in Nazareth, and will gradually proceed southwards towards his goal, Jerusalem, without turning back. In the other Synoptics, he moves around Galilee in all directions, and John suggests that he made a number of visits to Jerusalem during his public life.

The Jerusalem Bible suggests that our passage today actually combines three distinct parts:

1. vv 16-22 Jesus is honoured: occurring at the time indicated by Matthew 4:13;
2. vv 23-24 Jesus astonishing his audience: the visit of which Matthew and Mark speak;
3. vv 25-30 the life of Jesus threatened: not mentioned by Matthew or Mark and to be placed towards the end of the Galilean ministry.

In this way Luke presents an introductory tableau which is a summary and symbol of Christ’s great offer and of its contemptuous rejection by his own people.

As the reading opens we find Jesus in the town synagogue. It is a Sabbath day. He gets up to read the Scripture and comments on it. The ruler of the synagogue could authorise any adult Jew to read the Scripture lesson. The passage he reads is full of significance. It comes from the prophet Isaiah, and Jesus’ reading of it amounts to a manifesto or what we might call today a ‘mission statement’. ‘Books’ in those days were in the form of scrolls, and the Scriptures were kept in a special place in the synagogue and given to the reader by an attendant. Jesus may have chosen the passage himself or it may have been assigned for that day.

But it is more than just a mission statement. As he reads, it becomes clear that the whole statement is about Jesus himself:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me…

This has already been confirmed during his baptism in the river Jordan when “the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove” and a voice was heard to say:

You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.
(Luke 3:22)

Next Jesus, still reading from Isaiah, says:

…because he has anointed me…

In saying this, he is making an unequivocal claim to be the Messiah or the Christ, the long-awaited liberating King of Israel. The word ‘Messiah’, translated into Greek as Christos, means someone who is anointed with oil (we call the oil in baptism and confirmation ‘chrism’). And a person was made king by having oil poured over his head (remember how David was anointed king). Jesus, of course, was not literally anointed, but had been figuratively ‘anointed’ by the coming of the Spirit on him during his baptism. ‘Anointing’ is our equivalent of ‘coronation’, symbolised by the putting of a crown on the new king.

Then comes the mission of this King:

-to bring good news to the poor,
-to proclaim release to the captives
-and recovery of sight to the blind,
-to set free those who are oppressed,
-to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

There is nothing here of restoring the glories of Israel, nothing about conquering enemies and laying waste their lands. No, it is about letting the poor of this world hear the Good News of God’s love for them. It is about healing and reconciliation. It is about liberating those who are tied down by any form of enslavement. It is about helping people to see clearly the true meaning of life. It is about restoring wholeness to people’s lives and to societies. It is about the inauguration of the Kingdom by its King.

It is, in short, the whole picture of Jesus that will unfold in the pages of Luke, a Gospel which focuses on the poor and vulnerable, a Gospel of tenderness and compassion, a Gospel of the Spirit and of joy, a Gospel of prayer and healing.

It is about proclaiming “the year of the Lord’s favor”. This refers to the Messianic age when salvation would be proclaimed. Isaiah, in the original text, is alluding to the Year of Jubilee, when every 50 years slaves were set free, debts were cancelled and ancestral lands were returned to the original family. Isaiah was thinking mainly of freedom from Babylonian captivity, but Jesus was speaking of liberation across the board of human living.

As he finished the reading, Jesus put down the scroll and said:

Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.

And the townspeople who thought they knew him so well were overawed by the wisdom with which he spoke. This positive reaction to Jesus is a favourite theme in Luke.

Rhetorically they asked:

Is not this Joseph’s son?

But they were wrong. He was not Joseph’s son. He was the son of Mary and of the Father, the divine Word sharing our ‘flesh’ (as suggested above, this event may have occurred on a second visit).

And this in turn leads us to the third section of the reading, which provides an unexpected turn of events and is more in harmony with the later part of Jesus’ public life. Jesus’ hearers were surprised at the way he spoke, but they were not moved to change. After all, he was ‘just’ the son of Joseph, and someone they knew so well could have nothing to say to them. At the same time Jesus says they, his own townspeople, must be wondering why he is not doing the things in Nazareth that he was doing in places like Capernaum.

Capernaum, apparently a sizeable town, was where Peter lived and Jesus made his house, the centre out of which he did his missionary work in Galilee. A modern church now stands over the ruins of a 5th century basilica on the supposed site of Peter’s house and there is a 4th century synagogue nearby.

The reason for the townspeople’s non-acceptance of Jesus is that they do not really accept him for what he is. He reminds them that prophets are seldom accepted in their own place. Familiarity blinds people to their message. Their attitude was: “I know who he is and he has nothing to say to me.” Jesus then gives two rather provocative examples:

• During a great famine in the time of the prophet Elijah, Elijah was sent to help, not his fellow Israelites, but a poor widow in Zarephath, near Sidon, in non-Jewish territory. Sidon was one of the oldest Phoenician cities on the Mediterranean coast and about 33 km north of Tyre. (Later, Jesus would heal the daughter of a gentile woman here.)
• In the time of the prophet Elisha, there were many lepers in Israel, but Elisha was sent to cure Naaman, a gentile general from Syria.

God’s reaching out to Gentiles through his prophets sets the stage for the Gentiles to receive the message of the Prophet Jesus, which is so much a theme of Luke’s writings. These remarks so angered the people of Nazareth that they dragged Jesus to the brow of a hill with the intention of throwing him down, but:

…he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.

Whether he did this miraculously or from the sheer power of his personality is not clear. In any case, his time had not yet come.

Prophetic voices being rejected by their own is a phenomenon only too common in our own day. And it was something Jesus foretold would happen to his followers, simply for being his followers and proclaiming his vision of life. In the meantime, let us make Jesus’ mission statement our own. It is what being a Christian means.

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Wednesday of Week 33 of Ordinary Time – First Reading

Commentary on Revelation 4:1-11

Chapters 4-22 of Revelation (Apocalypse) contain the Prophetic Visions. After the letters to the seven churches, the rest of Revelation is devoted to a series of prophetic visions expressed in very symbolic language and images. In chapters 4-16, God entrusts the future of the world to the Lamb. These chapters speak of events that will precede the “Great Day” (Rev 6:17), when the Lord comes at the end to judge and take to himself all those who belong to him and his Kingdom.

Today, the author has a prophetic vision of God’s throne, and this will widen to embrace the whole universe. We read:

…and there in heaven a door stood open!

This is a metaphor for the entrance to heaven, which must be open for revelation from God or for a heavenly ascent to his presence. The “first voice” heard speaking is that of Christ himself.

John hears a summons:

Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.

“Come up here” is a call similar to that which Moses received to go up Mount Sinai and converse with Yahweh.He is then “in the Spirit”, i.e. possessed by the Spirit in a kind of mystic experience. In this, he is given a vision of God ruling from his throne in heaven, an image familiar in the Old Testament.

God, seated on this throne, is described as being like:

…jasper stone [diamond] and carnelian [ruby] and around the throne is a rainbow that looks like an emerald.

John is careful not to describe God in any human-like terms, but only as an overwhelming impression of light. The images are derived very much from Ezekiel (chaps 1 and 10), who liked to use apocalyptic language, and also Isaiah (chap 6).

Surrounding God’s throne are 24 lesser thrones on which sit 24 elders, wearing white robes and golden crowns. These have the priestly role of praising and worshipping God, and also of offering the prayers of the faithful. Their number may suggest the 24 priestly classes or may represent the 12 patriarchs of Israel and the 12 Apostles, the foundation stones of the New Israel. That they are sitting on thrones indicates their role as judges of the ‘new Israel’, and their crowns indicate a share in God’s power. Their white robes indicate their total identity with God and freedom from any taint of sin.

It is to be noted that the thrones of the elders make the outer ring of the heavenly court, and in the New Jerusalem which comes down from heaven (chap 21), we are told that the outer walls are composed of twelve foundation stones of Apostles and twelve gates which are the twelve tribes of Israel.

From the throne come flashes of lightning and peals of thunder, traditional symbols of theophanies, when God becomes somehow visibly present—for instance, as on Mount Sinai. They are symbolic of God’s overwhelming power and majesty. In Revelation, thunder and lightning always mark an important event connected with the heavenly temple.

…in front of the throne burn seven flaming torches, which are the seven spirits of God, and in front of the throne there is something like a sea of glass, like crystal.

The “seven torches” (or ‘lamps’ in some translations) of the seven Spirits of God are the seven “angels of the presence”—God’s special messengers mentioned in the Old Testament and all through Revelation (‘angel’ means ‘messenger’).

The “sea of glass” may refer to the “upper waters” mentioned by Genesis in the creation story or it may be borrowed from Ezekiel. It is also possible that it refers to a heavenly counterpart of a large basin in the Jerusalem Temple known as the “Sea”. Other features of the temple in heaven are the lamps, the altar, the altar of incense, and the ark of the covenant—all features of the Temple in Jerusalem (at this time already destroyed).

Inside the outer circle of 24 thrones there are four more thrones immediately around God’s throne. These are occupied by:

…four living creatures, full of eyes in front and back: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with a face like a human, and the fourth living creature like a flying eagle.

Again the imagery is from Ezekiel, where these creatures are responsible for governing the physical world. That they number four is a symbol of the whole universe: north, south, east and west. The animals chosen—lion, bull, human, and eagle—suggest all that is most noble, strong, wise and swift in creation. We are also familiar with them as symbols of the four Evangelists, but that is an idea that dates later on from Irenaeus, one of the Fathers of the Church.

Each of the creatures has six wings and are “full of eyes in front and back”. They are the eyes and ears of the God who knows and provides for everything. Night and day they sing God’s praise and glory in words that we have borrowed for our Eucharist liturgies:

Holy, holy, holy,
the Lord God the Almighty,
who was and is and is to come.

And, as the four creatures sing the praises of God, the 24 elders also prostrate themselves and throw down their crowns before him, acknowledging that the power given them to rule over others comes ultimately from God himself. And they sing:

You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created.

Obviously, when we read a passage like this we are not to imagine that it in any remotely literal way corresponds to the reality of God. It is simply the use of language and images to express the inexpressible. We find similar language in mystics like John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila. It is important for us now and again to be reminded of the utter transcendence of God.

Too often we reduce God to human terms, and we can even identify the humanity of Christ with his divinity. But Jesus in his human nature gives us only the faintest idea of the reality of God in himself. What Jesus gives us in the Gospel is of priceless value because it tells us truths about God we might never have found for ourselves, but what Jesus revealed to us was only a faint image of the whole God.

That is why when we have some experience in praying, we find that the only thing we can do is to sit silent and motionless in a Presence that takes over our lives completely. Rather than trying to manipulate God to our own desires, we surrender to Him completely. That is, “We let go and we let God.”

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