THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR C
A good Sunday to all.
Today's gospel passage is the programmatic discourse delivered by Jesus in the synagogue of Nazareth at the beginning of his public life. The liturgy, however, has wished to precede it with the four verses with which the Gospel according to Luke begins. It is the prologue of his entire work. In it, Luke has adapted to the literary procedure in use among the classical authors of his time, authors that he knew very well. In this prologue, Luke, although he does not mention his name, introduces himself, declares the purpose he sets out to achieve, in writing the Gospel and exposes the criteria he will follow in its composition.
Let us listen:
"Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the events that have been fulfilled among us, just as those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning and ministers of the word have handed them down to us, I too have decided, after investigating everything accurately anew, to write it down in an orderly sequence for you, most excellent Theophilus."
What does Luke want to tell us in these first four verses of his Gospel? In the first place, he does not want to tell fables, legends, visions, but he wants to relate real events that happened among us. He immediately adds, 'I was not an eyewitness to what I am writing; I did not personally know Jesus of Nazareth. He was introduced to me by those who were witnesses from the beginning. Those who lived with Jesus of Nazareth, heard his message and saw his actions, what he did.'
We wonder: Are these eyewitnesses who introduced Jesus of Nazareth to Luke reliable? Luke, like us, did not adhere to Christ because he knew him directly but because he received the message from those who had known him, from reliable witnesses. Indeed, says Luke, these witnesses were not storytellers, charlatans, greedy for money, who swarmed throughout the empire, but people who risked their lives to proclaim the Gospel that the Master had entrusted to them. They are not the owners who want to announce their ideas, NO. They are the ministers of a message entrusted to them.
Luke also says, ‘I was not the first to write these things; many before me wrote something about Jesus of Nazareth.’ Certainly, the Gospel according to Mark, had already been circulating in the Christian communities for 15 years and many little books and stories that spoke of Jesus of Nazareth. What did Luke decide to do then? He let himself be involved in this announcement and set out to present the facts in an orderly manner, with extreme care, starting from the beginning.
The characteristic that Luke wanted to give to his Gospel is that, from the beginning, with order, he presents facts that really happened. Then there is the dedication of the book to the illustrious Theophilus, probably a well-to-do Christian of the wealthy community of Philippi, who offered to help Luke financially. At that time, there were no royalties, Luke had to live, and this Christian offered to give what was necessary to help for Luke to complete his work. I would say about this Theophilus, that if he wanted to gain publicity, he was very skillful because until the end of the world he will be remembered; in fact, Luke does not mention him only at the beginning of the Gospel, but also at the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles.
What is Luke's purpose for writing the Gospel? To give a solid foundation to the faith of the Christians. He did not write it, therefore, to convert the pagans, but he for those who are already believers and wish to lay a solid foundation for their faith. If someone asks them the reason for the choice they have made, they should justify it. The truths of the faith cannot be demonstrated by incontrovertible scientific proofs. No, but adherence to Christ has nothing to do with credulity. It is not about a certain naivety of the ignorant who are willing to accept all fables uncritically. No, there are very good reasons to believe, and Luke wants to explain them here.
Here Luke has clearly laid out the path for us today if we want to base our faith choice authentically and maturely. Let's move now to the programmatic discourse of Jesus in Nazareth:
"Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news of him spread throughout the whole region. He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all. He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day."
A visit of Jesus to Nazareth where he grew up is also narrated by Mark and Matthew which, however, place it towards the middle of his public life; after a year and a half, Jesus decided to go to visit his mother and gave a talk in the synagogue. Luke places this visit at the beginning of his public life, and he does so not to give us precise chronological information but for a theological and pastoral reason; he wants to present from the beginning the mission that Jesus will carry out. He places this presentation in the context of the Sabbath liturgy in the synagogue.
Jesus faithfully participated in these weekly meetings of prayer, of listening to the word of God, which Luke makes clear with that note: "he went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day." He also tells us that he volunteered to do the readings. During the Sabbath liturgy there were two readings: one was taken from the Torah; in three years, the five books of the Torah were read; and the second reading was taken from a book of the prophets. Nazareth was a small village synagogue, and they certainly did not have all the texts of the prophets; they must have probably had only the book of Isaiah and as it was read continually, they must have known it almost by heart. We also observe that the head of the synagogue could invite the second reader to deliver the homily; the commentary had to be up to the circumstances.
Let us now listen to what happened:
"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: 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.' Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down."
In the reading we have just heard there are two details that, like a chronicle, are entirely superfluous. If you want to read a book, you must open it and then close it at the end, there is no need to say it. If Luke notes that Jesus opened the scroll of Isaiah and then closed it, it means that for him these two gestures are very important and have theological significance. The first: the fact that Jesus opens the book of Scripture and then closes it. The fact that Jesus opens the book of scripture means that without him the sacred book remains closed, incomprehensible because it does not have the light that shows why it was written. No one has brought to completion the oracles of the prophets. Then the fact that at the end Jesus closes that book and gives it to the helpers means that the Old Testament has already fulfilled its mission to lead to Jesus.
Another detail is also noted: Jesus sits down. It was the gesture made by the rabbis when they began their lessons while the students listened standing. It means that now it is the Teacher who speaks and that it is very important what he is going to say. It is the reading that Jesus did that we heard: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor."
Who is this character mentioned in the book of Isaiah? He is a personage who the Lord has anointed for a prophetic mission. He is a prophet who God sent to the people 450 years before Christ with the mission to comfort an afflicted people who had returned from exile in Babylon. Let us remember what happened in Babylon. During the exile, another prophet arose in the time of Cyrus the Great; after 50 years of the people in exile, the deportees were already dead, their children and grandchildren remained. This prophet in exile began to insistently urge the Israelites to leave the pagan land and to return to the land of their fathers; in Babylon their faith was in danger. They could forget that they were the children of Abraham, the children of promise. In Babylon the Israelites were very well settled; they were not slaves, they enjoyed all the rights of the citizens of the empire, they had to pay taxes, of course, but they worked, they earned, built houses, and many of them had made a fortune and lived well. The prophet urged them to return, but they were well off in Babylon.
Only a few small groups, of the less fortunate, returned to the land of their fathers. Some caravans departed from Babylon. What did they find on their return? A total disappointment, the city was still in ruins, the land of their fathers. had been occupied by foreigners, the Edomites, Ammonites, and Moabites who had settled in Judea. Religious life languished there, the foreigners who had settled there had imported their gods, their traditions, their customs, so that there was widespread moral corruption.
This is the context in which, around the year 450, came this prophet, who presents himself as anointed by the spirit of the Lord to comfort these poor and oppressed people. He says: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
We are not talking about the blindness of the eyes, of course, but those who no longer see any meaning in their lives, no longer see a future, no longer cultivate any hope, and he is the one who has been sent to proclaim a good news to the poor. And then to "proclaim liberty to the captives, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." A jubilee, a time when all debts shall be forgiven, and all forms of bondage shall end. Then righteousness shall be restored. This is the original meaning of the prophecy read by Jesus in the synagogue at Nazareth.
Let us now hear how Jesus applies it to himself:
"And the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. He said to them, 'Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.'"
When the eyes of all who were in the synagogue at Nazareth were fixed upon him, Jesus began to say, 'the prophecy which you have heard has been fulfilled today.' He identifies himself with the prophet spoken of in the book of Isaiah. What has he come to do in the world? First, to bring the good news to the poor.
Who are these poor? The scribes, the Pharisees, the priests of the temple were rich, not so much from an economic point of view, (although even also) but they were rich before God because they were convinced that they could offer to the Lord their good deeds, merits, sacrifices, burnt offerings, and thus claiming blessings and rewards from God. Jesus came to bring good news to the poor, to those who have nothing to offer to God; they only have to open their hearts to the great news. Who are these poor? All the people. They must become aware that they have nothing to offer to God; from God we can only receive and thank Him.
This is the good news for these poor people: the unconditional love of the Lord. An unprecedented message. Previously everyone was convinced that God rewarded those who obeyed his commands. Jesus comes to say that God loves, by his nature, unconditionally every man and every woman, even those who are not righteous, those who have nothing to offer him, except for their sins. God loves them just the same. This is the great news. The business relationship with God is over; now there is a love relationship. So, is it all the same to be good or bad? NO! The righteous is the one who has let himself be involved and has understood this love; the wicked is the one who has not yet understood and is not happy until he lets himself be involved in this love of the Lord.
And also, what has he come to do? "To set at liberty those who are oppressed." The Hebrew term used by Isaiah to indicate deliverance is ְדּרוֹר = 'deror,' a term meaning to remove bonds, the hindrances that prevent us from running. Jesus came to liberate us from everything that does not allow us to move forward in life, to grow in love, and what is it that hinders? What is the first of the hindrances that prevent us from running in love? It is the withdrawal into ourselves, the thinking of ourselves, of our own gain. Today Jesus says, 'I have come to make you able to open yourself to love your brother and sister, to care for his needs, to look beyond your self-interest to open yourself to love.' Here is the first liberation.
Also: 'I have come to set you free from the bondage of idols; if you lock yourself up in processions, you accumulate them; you are a slave, you are not able to love; I came to set you free.' Also, 'I have come to free you from that desire to dominate others which prevents you from being a genuine person. I have also come to free you from the fears, the grudges, the regrets that keep you a slave to the past.'
The errors of the past must be seen in the light of this new image of God, which is unconditional love, therefore, you must feel loved even if you are a sinner. This is the love that changes you and therefore makes you happy. Then, 'to give sight to the blind.' The blind are those who do not know where they are going; they run into walls, they hurt themselves and others; they are the ones who have no goal in life, they have not yet become conscious of their destiny, which is why they make wrong decisions that do not make them grow in their humanity.
Jesus came to open their eyes so that people know how to give the correct value to things, not to confuse what is ephemeral, which is only appearance with what really counts, what is valuable in life. What is it worth to accumulate goods, to have riches... is this what is valuable? Jesus came to make us see what is right and what is wrong, not to confuse what is true with what is false, what is good with what is bad; they are not the same thing. If he does not open your eyes, you cannot move, in front of you everything is confusion. And then you follow your whim, the impulse of the moment, what suits you, what pleases you and does not humanize you. Jesus opens your eyes.
'He came to set the oppressed free.' This is an addition that he made to the prophecy, and that is why he insists on the fact that his coming is the liberation from the impulse that leads to enslaving you and making others serve you. This addition that Jesus made is inspired by the prophecy of Isaiah chapter 58 that speaks of true fasting, which does not mean to bow the head like a reed, to lie down on matting and ashes... No. It means to open the unjust prisons, to break the stocks' bars, let the oppressed go free, and break all the stocks.
Our impulse leads us to dominate others. Jesus came to free us from this drive that dehumanizes us because if we dominate, we are not humans, and we are real people only when we are at the service of our brothers and sisters.
And 'to preach a year of grace of the Lord, a year of jubilee.' What was the jubilee? It was the law that prevented accumulation, the bondage of hearts to the goods of this world; prevented the idolatry of wealth because the earth belongs to God. In the year of jubilee, everyone again possessed the land God had given him, so it was impossible to become rich. The year of jubilee was the year in which the people became aware that they were not the owners of this world's goods and that everything belongs to God. God's goods are meant for all his children, and if they are accumulated, they are already out of God's plan.
This is the announcement that Jesus came to give. This year, we will be accompanied every Sunday by the Gospel of Luke; we will, therefore, have the opportunity to see how this program announced in Nazareth by Jesus is concretely fulfilled.
I wish you all a good Sunday and a good week.
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