THIRTEEN SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR C
Commentary of Fr. Fernando Armellini
A good Sunday to all.
Let's put today's Gospel passage in its context. Jesus lives a difficult moment, a crisis that weighs on a good part of his public life. He is still in Galilee, and let's remember that from the beginning, there was opposition from the religious authority. The scribes and the Pharisees immediately realized that they were dealing with a subverter of the traditions, crushing all their catechesis.
They considered him a demoniac, in connivance with Beelzebub, a seducer of the people, a blasphemer because he spoke of a God who also loved sinners. Then, he did not observe the Sabbath or practice fasting. Therefore, it is not surprising what the evangelist Mark tells us: from the beginning, the religious authorities decided to take him out of the way. What has happened now is that even the people have turned away from him.
The evangelist John says it: at a certain time, the people said, 'the speech that you make is hard' = Σκληρός - 'scleros' in Greek (Jn 6:60). It's something that if you go slamming against, you feel pain; you wake up as if you hit a pillar while walking along quietly, and it hits you, you 'wake up.' The words of Jesus were hard, but the people began to understand what Jesus proposed. And it's a complex speech because it's about giving life; even the people turned away because they realized there had been a misunderstanding. They went willingly, but when they understood what Jesus proposed, what it means to go after him, they turned away.
The religious authorities persecute him; the people turn away, and the apostles are in crisis because twice Jesus told them that he went to Jerusalem not to triumph, to take power, but to give his life, and the disciples are afraid. This climate surrounds Jesus when the episode is introduced as narrated in today's gospel passage. Jesus makes a very conscious decision about where he is going.
Let's listen to the decision he makes:
“When the days for his being taken up were fulfilled, he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem and sent messengers ahead of him. On the way, they entered a Samaritan village to prepare for his reception there.”
The evangelist introduces the decision taken by Jesus in a very solemn way. “When the days for his being taken up were fulfilled.” The Greek text reads 'ἀναλήμψεως αὐτοῦ' = analempseos autou, from the verb 'analambano' meaning to raise one up. It seems to see the heavenly Father welcoming into his arms the Son who has fulfilled his mission to reveal to perfection the face of the heavenly Father, who is love and only love.
Jesus decides to go to Jerusalem. The Greek text reads ἐστήρισεν τοῦ πρόσωπον = estérisen tou prosopon = he has hardened his face; he knows what he will find, he must give his life, and for that, it is necessary to harden his face, to make a firm decision. This expression 'harden the face' was not invented by the evangelist Luke; we find it in the book of Isaiah when he speaks of the Servant of the Lord who, to fulfill his mission, made his face as hard as a stone. The same happened with the prophet Ezekiel, who had to announce the destruction of Jerusalem. He has the opposition of all the people, and God tells him: 'Be courageous, do not be afraid because I will give you a hard face, harder than stone. You will have the firmness and strength to carry out your prophetic mission.'
Jesus is resolute. It is really necessary to harden one's face to make certain choices. What is Jesus going to do in Jerusalem? What is the difficult task? He must clash with the center of the power that perpetuates the old world. Jesus has already presented this center of power with another image, that of the leaven, which makes it ferment, which creates rottenness in the world and is the leaven of the scribes and Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.
Jesus does not clash with people; he loves everyone, but it is two ideologies that make the world rotten and create an inhuman and uninhabitable world that is not the one desired by God. The first ideology is that of the scribes and Pharisees. They are the representatives of the religious mentality that preaches a false, diabolical image of God—the God who loves the good and hates the wicked who punishes them.
This is an image invented by our wickedness, and we project it on God. We turn him into an avenger who pays those who have done evil. This image of God is very dangerous and diabolical because it creates the old world, and then people resemble this God that they worship and behave like him.
It's also a religious image that creates a business relationship with God; that is, to get the benefits of God, you must behave nicely and offer him sacrifices, NO. This religion is false because God gives them to you, even if you are bad. The image of God is that of gratuitous love. Until we do not accept this image, this relationship with Him, of gratuitousness, we will not introduce the relationship with our brothers and sisters of gratuitous love.
The other ideology is the leaven of Herod, the leaven of dominion, and the leaven of power. We also find this leaven in the disciples: the conviction that the powerful, the strong are the ones who should dominate the others and make themselves be served by others. Jesus came to overthrow this image of the world because the true man is not the one who dominates the others but the one who loves. And love is service.
Let us reflect: to follow Jesus, who went to Jerusalem, to be his disciples, means to accept this proposal, and to accept this is not easy; like him, it is necessary to harden the countenance because as long as one stops in the fickleness, the good intentions, as long as one reduces the faith in Jesus to the fulfillment of a few devotional practices, there is no need to harden the countenance. But when one realizes that one must be willing to lay down one life, even for an enemy, if you do not harden one's countenance like him, one cannot be his disciple. You will accompany him as an admirer but are not a disciple; you do not belong to the new world.
What does Jesus do? He doesn't go directly; he enters a city, a house, and the people's heart must be prepared. Jesus sends messengers. The Greek text calls them angels. A practical reason could be to find hospitality in someone's home, and we know that oriental hospitality is proverbial; nobody denies lodging and food to the guests.
But here, it's a parable because we must prepare people to receive Jesus. The Greek text tells us again to prepare to receive his face: πρὸ προσώπου = pro prosopou = it is necessary to prepare to receive this face of God, this face of man that is reflected in the face of Jesus. The task that these angels—and all the baptized receive this task from Jesus—is to prepare for his coming into the hearts of people and, thus, prepare them to welcome him and his Gospel.
It is necessary to be very careful how the coming of this face is prepared. If one has not seen the true face of Jesus, how can one prepare for the arrival of this face in the hearts of the people? It is necessary to pay much attention because the face of Jesus may be rejected. After all, it has been poorly presented because the one who offers it has not seen the true face of Jesus. I believe that much catechesis sins in this aspect; a face of Jesus is preached that is not authentic. What do these angels who now depart do? They enter a village of the Samaritans.
Here is a map in which I show you the journey that these angels who precede Jesus make to prepare for the arrival of his face among the Samaritans. We start, of course, from Capernaum, descend along the shore of the lake, along the Jordan River to Beth Shean, and then enter the plain of Esdraelon and descend to Samaria. We came to a town of the Samaritans; we might consider Shechem the holiest place, where the patriarchs have been.
You can also see Mount Garizín in the background, just behind me; you can see the remains of the Byzantine constructions that, at this moment, do not interest us. And in the background is Mount Baal, the cursed mountain. The place where this famous temple of the Samaritans had been built in the time of Alexander the Great and was later destroyed 150 years before the birth of Jesus by the Maccabees, who, once in power, wanted all the worship to take place only in Jerusalem; thus, this worship of the Samaritans, who were semi-heretical, had to be eliminated and canceled. The temple had been destroyed 150 years before Jesus met the Samaritan woman, but it was there.
Jesus then comes from this northern part, from Nablus, and crosses into the gorge between the two mountains. He comes to Shechem, where he meets the Samaritan woman. Now you can see the two mountains: Baal, the cursed mountain, and Gerizim, where the temple was, and it is indicated where it was. You can also see the city of Shechem.
Suppose Jesus arrived at this place; what reception did these angels who were to prepare the coming of Jesus have? Let us listen:
"But they would not welcome him because the destination of his journey was Jerusalem.”
We consider the mission that Jesus entrusted to these angels: to prepare for the reception of his face = πρὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦ = pro prosopon autou. Why were these angels rejected? There are two possibilities: The first reason could be something similar to what happened in Nazareth. Jesus was rejected because they preferred the religious conviction they had always believed in and did not welcome the novelty. The same may have occurred with the Samaritans; they did not like the face of Jesus and wanted to continue with the religion they inherited from their ancestors.
There is another possibility. The text says they were expelled because his face was on the way to Jerusalem. Again, the literal translation is not that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem but that they saw the face of one who was going to Jerusalem. When one was going to Jerusalem, he was going to offer sacrifices; he was confirming the preached religious practice by the scribes and Pharisees, but they saw the face of Jesus wrongly because he went to Jerusalem precisely to end that religious practice and, therefore, it means that these angels have not presented the true face of Jesus.
And this could happen with the angels of today that present a face of Jesus that is not authentic; it is not the face of God, who is love and only love. So, if so, many people reject Jesus and his Gospel, they reject God, and they present themselves as atheists; perhaps it is the fault of those who have not performed well in their service as angels who prepare for the arrival of the true face of Jesus. The encyclical Gaudium et Spes, in number 19, says: "A great responsibility of atheism in today's world is due to the preaching of believers who have not presented the true face of God."
So, we can read what happened to these disciples sent by Jesus, which could be what happens to us today. What was the reaction of the disciples to this rejection? Let's listen:
“When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, ‘Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?’ Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they journeyed to another village.”
To decide to leave and go to Jerusalem, Jesus had to harden his face. And here we find James and John, who also harden their faces, but it is a very different hardness to that of Jesus. They harden their faces because they cannot bear to be rejected by the Samaritans, and they become aggressive; they want to make them pay because they have been offended.
Their reaction derives from an erroneous catechesis they received. The rabbis have told the story of Elijah, who twice brought down fire from heaven and burned his enemies. The disciples had interpreted this episode literally because they liked this God who did not hesitate and incinerated his adversaries. They probably read what Ben Sirach says in chapter 48 when he praises this great prophet and says: "The prophet Elijah, his word burned like fire, like a torch."
This is the meaning of the fire that burns: the word of the prophet was that which burned like fire; it was this word that made the enemies disappear, not the people, but it eliminated that evil heart, that evil that the word the prophet announced in the name of God. This is the fire of the word of Elijah.
Also, the Baptist had spoken of the weeds and the fire that burned the trees that did not produce fruit. This is good news because the trees that do not produce fruit only disturb, and it is good that they burn, but not to burn the people; it is the evil present in each one of us which, fortunately, the fire of heaven burns. Even Jesus spoke of fire: "I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were ablaze already." It is not the fire of hell to burn the wicked, no. The fire removes the evil present in everyone, and this fire is the Spirit of the Lord.
James and John become intolerant; they behave like fanatics who think they will solve the problem of evil by eliminating those who do it so that only the good ones remain. Then we should check and be very careful because we can cultivate a great love for Jesus, like that of James and John, and then, in good faith, do precisely the opposite of what Jesus wants.
What does Jesus do? He turns around and rebukes James and John. It is important to notice the Greek verb that is employed: ἐπετίμησεν αὐτοῖς = epestímensen autois. Epitymman is the verb the evangelists use to say that Jesus is performing an exorcism and casting out a demon. When Jesus cast out demons, he rebuked them. Here, he rebukes the demon present in James and John; he is performing an exorcism because James and John are demonized. It is the demon that makes them reason like this.
These two will understand after the Passover. John, together with Peter, will return to Samaria; this is what the book of the Acts of the Apostles in chapter 8 tells us: that Peter and John will call down fire from heaven on the Samaritans, but not the fire that sets them on fire; they shall invoke the Spirit, they shall lay their hands on the Samaritans and upon them shall come down the fire of the Spirit.
Let us try to grasp the messages for our Christian life today. The first one: We must take the rebuke of Jesus very seriously and put an end to the catechesis on the chastisements of God, which is blasphemy. He who speaks thus of God is a demoniac; it is the devil that makes him talk, therefore, and needs to be exorcised. James and John will receive from Jesus a very unsympathetic nickname: 'Boanerges,' which means the 'sons of thunder,' those who thunder and want to bring down lightning on the world; they are fanatics, exalted fundamentalists. The devil moves these people; they must be exorcised with the word of the Gospel.
Second message: To accept Jesus means to give him adhesion, that is, to accept his proposal of the gift of life. This change of life cannot be expected to happen suddenly, no; time is needed for the person to change, for the new man proposed by Jesus to be born. Therefore, the true disciple is patient; he knows how to wait for the time that each one has in this growth of the Gospel of Christ within him.
The third message: Not only will some people be slow to accept the proposal of the Gospel, but there will also be those who oppose this announcement. The disciple, the angel who must prepare the reception of the face of Jesus of Nazareth, knows that some oppose Christ and his Gospel. These people are not to be considered enemies; the disciple of Christ respects those who think differently; he does not impose anything; he proposes the evangelical option, knowing that it is the greatest of treasures, but it can be rejected and even opposed. The disciple will always manifest his great love for these people, and it will be precisely this loving acceptance that will then be able to open a breach in their hearts and make them accept the beautiful face of Jesus of Nazareth.
However, understanding certain decisions, indecision, and respect for fragility does not mean accepting compromises in presenting the Gospel. Luke now introduces three examples highlighting the radicalism that Jesus demands from those who want to follow him. Let us listen:
"As they proceeded on their journey, someone said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ Jesus answered, ‘Foxes have dens, and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.’ And to another, he said, ‘Follow me.’ But he replied, ‘Lord, let me go first and bury my father.’ But he answered him, ‘Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.’ And another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home.’ To him, Jesus said, ‘No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.’”
The first example Luke introduces is that of a person who appears to have the ideal condition to be a disciple. He says that he is willing to do anything to follow Jesus. Jesus is not immediately impressed at this enthusiasm and responds to him using two examples: The birds of the air that flutter back and forth to their nest and the foxes that go out to hunt at night but return to their dens.
What do these two images mean? We also use them: 'to make our own nest' or 'to enclose ourselves in our own nest,' to live as an enclosed person indicates the need to stop and remain quiet in one's world, shows the conditions of the one who wants to stay in one's comfort, to remain sheltered where one does not want to be disturbed by anyone. Jesus makes it clear that nests and dens are incompatible with the choice to follow him because he is always on the move; he never stops; he who follows him must always be willing to go further in life; there will be no time when you can accommodate laziness, tantrums, listlessness.
If you want to be a disciple, you will behave like a disciple day and night; you must always be available to serve your brother when he needs you; you can never put outside your door the 'do not disturb' sign - 'leave me alone in my nest,' no, never.
Jesus warns of certain spiritual sweetness that devout people may be tempted to shut themselves away, where they are left alone because they faithfully observe the practices they have learned since childhood but do not go beyond that, and they do not listen willingly to those who propose a leap of quality in the spiritual life, a new way of praying, for example; a new way of relating with God and brothers and sisters. The Gospel uproots all the nests and dens in which we seek refuge.
The second example: This time, Jesus calls and says, 'Follow me'; the objection presented to Jesus: "Let me first go and bury my father." Jesus' response is scandalous and provocative because the most sacred duty for a son in Israel was accompanying his parents until death. To fulfill this duty, the rabbis said that one was dispensed from all the precepts of the law, even from the precept of the Sabbath; even the high priest who was forbidden to enter a cemetery and could not even approach a corpse was obliged to accompany his parents to the grave.
Jesus uses this paradoxical image with an obvious meaning. The father in the Semitic culture indicates the bond with tradition, the past, the learned customs, and the life proposals of the society in which one was born and raised. Jesus refers to this 'father,' that is to say, the society that proposes a particular traditional image of a man in that society, the successful man; this is the father they are called to resemble.
We know that there's an actual media bombardment that proposes dead values, and this 'father' never dies; he hopes you never adhere to Christ. It is the consumerist mentality, the idolatry of fashions, of the ephemeral. Sometimes, parents themselves are the ones who teach these dead values of society. They tell you that the important thing is achieving success, no matter how; it is accumulating possessions and thinking about yourself.
If you find the Gospel that makes you see and understand that these values are dead, don't delay the detachment; immediately follow the Gospel's proposal. The Spirit demands an immediate disposition to renounce the old and be converted to the new.
The third example introduced by Luke: Again, the person wants to follow Jesus: “I will follow you, but first I must go to say goodbye to my family.” And Jesus introduces another example of one who begins to plow and then looks back. The problem is starting to follow the Gospel and getting caught up in the nostalgia of the old life. Jesus asks me to donate my life, but then it comes to my mind, 'In the end, won't I regret that I didn't enjoy life as many do?'
These are the nostalgias; they are the nostalgias that the Israelites also had in the wilderness at the hardships of the journey; they looked back, they repented, and they even began to dream of pleasures that did not exist when they lived in slavery. They are pots with meat, but they have never seen meat. They are the dreamers, the repentant ones. Even those who have decided to follow Christ have temptations to look back and go back to their life.
Jesus says: 'Be on your guard against wavering; they only make you lose precious time; go forward in life, follow my steps, follow what the Gospel tells you.'
I wish you all a good Sunday and a good week.
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