Khi Chúa Giêsu trở về quê nhà Nazareth, Ngài công bố một thông điệp hy vọng dành cho những người nghèo khổ, đói khát, đang bị bỏ rơi và những người đau khổ. Đức Giêsu đã cho chúg ta thấy phúc lành của Thiên Chúa không phải chỉ dành riêng cho người Do Thái, nhưng còn ban cho những người không phải Do Thái nữa. Những người cùng quê cùng làng với Đức Giêsu không thích những lời tuyên bố này và ho đã trở thành những người thù nghịch với Ngài.
Mỗi ngày, chúng ta nghe Tin Mừng, chúng ta phải có thể nói như Đức Trinh Nữ Maria: «xin Chúa cứ làm cho tôi như lời sứ thần truyền". (Lc 1:38); và Thiên Chúa sẽ trả lời: «"Hôm nay đã ứng nghiệm lời Kinh Thánh quý vị vừa nghe" . Tuy thế, để cho Lời Chúa có hiệu quả trong cuộc sống của chúng ta, chúng ta phải loại bỏ tất cả những định kiến, những sự ghen tương, thù hận trong lòng của chúng ta. Những người đương thời của Chúa Giêsu không hiểu được ý nghĩa lời của Chúa, bởi vì họ đã nhìn Ngài với đôi mắt với lòng ghen tỵ của con người «anh này là ai, chẳng phải anh là con bác thợ mộc Giuse thấp kém ?» (Lc 4:22). Họ có thể thấy bản tính con người của Chúa Giêsu Kitô, nhưng họ không thể nhận ra và đánh giá được cái thiên tính của Ngái. Mỗi khi nào chúng ta lắng nghe Lời Chúa, ngoài phong cách văn học của nó, vẻ đẹp của biểu thức của nó hoặc các điểm kỳ dị của tình hình, chúng ta phải nhớ đó là Thiên Chúa, Đấng đang nói với chúng ta.
REFLECTION 2019
Jesus' words have never been meant to be taken lightly and today's Gospel reading makes this abundantly clear. When at the synagogue in his hometown Nazareth, he quotes from Isaiah to declare his mission and work, his own towns-people could not believe him, "Who is this but Joseph's son?". The people of Nazareth got more indignant when Jesus showed them they were acting as their ancestors did, "No prophet is honored in his own country." Jesus reminded them of God's actions for other people when the Prophet Elijah fed the widow and her son in Sidon, beyond Israel, and when the Prophet Elisha healed the Syrian Naaman of his leprosy.
The mission of Jesus continues as the mission of the Church. Each member of the Church is tasked to help out in some way, "to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and new sight to the blind; to free the oppressed and announce the Lord's year of mercy." Am I ready to help out?
It’s hard to believe that those people who knew Jesus, those from the town in which He had been raised, reacted in such a severe way to our Lord. Jesus had just entered the Synagogue and read from the Prophet Isaiah who stated that “the Spirit of the Lord” was upon him and that he had come to “proclaim liberty to captives.” Jesus’ mission was clear. He was the Messiah, sent from the Father, in fulfillment of the teachings of the prophets, and yet Jesus was rejected to the point that the people drove Him out of the town and tried to throw Him off a cliff near the town to kill Him. Again, it’s hard to comprehend the extreme emotions that people experienced in regard to Jesus. Some came to love Jesus with the deepest passion, others were outraged at Him and sought His life.
One thing that these extreme emotions experienced by many should tell us is that we cannot remain indifferent to Jesus when we truly listen to His words. Indifference comes when Jesus is ignored. But when He is heard and understood, it is clear that His message demands a response. If we do not fully accept Him as we listen to His message, then we will be tempted to reject Him and all that He speaks.
Jesus wants to do the same with us. He wants a response from us. First, He wants us to hear Him, to understand the radical nature of His message, and then to make a choice. He wants us to follow Him with passion and zeal, to believe in everything He teaches, and to radically change our lives as a result. And if we will not change, then Jesus’ words will challenge us and evoke a response.
One example of this that is common today is the strong response that sometimes comes from a teenager or young adult when a loving parent confronts them when they begin to go astray. When confronted in love and with the truth, emotion is often evoked and stirred up. But that is not always bad. The temptation on the part of the parent is to back off and compromise. But that’s not what Jesus did with the townspeople. He spoke the truth in love and accepted their response. So it is with those in our lives. At times we must speak the hard but loving truth others need to hear even if we know they will lash out. In the end, challenging them with compassion and truth may ultimately win them over. We do not know what ultimately happened to those townspeople who tried to kill Jesus that day out of anger, but it is entirely possible that the extreme emotion they experienced eventually led them to the truth.
Reflect, today, upon the courage and love Jesus had as He directly confronted and challenged His own townspeople for their lack of faith. Try to understand that Jesus’ challenge of them was a mercy He offered them to move them from indifference. In your life, are there ways in which you need to be challenged? Are there things you have reacted strongly to and even with a form of rage? Try to see yourself as one of those townspeople who became enraged by our Lord. Be open to any way that you have reacted negatively to that which Jesus has spoken to you. Consider, also, any ways that Jesus may want to use you to speak His clear message of love to another, even if you know it may not immediately be received. Pray for courage, compassion, clarity and love so that you will be able to imitate Jesus as He sought to move those of His own hometown out of the indifference they were experiencing.
My challenging Lord, You desire that all Your children turn to You with their whole heart. Your chastisements are acts of mercy meant to move us out of indifference. Please speak to me the truths that I need to hear this day and use me to share Your holy word with others, especially those of my own family. Jesus, I trust in You.
2. Open My Heart to Your Message: Initially, the people of Nazareth in today’s Gospel seemed quite receptive to Christ’s message, delivery, and authority. What they couldn’t stomach was that they believed him just “one of them.” He would later prove himself “too much for them.” Surely, they must have thought that he had forgotten his roots and that his Capernaum fame had gone to his head. But of course, the Nazarenes were neither the first nor the last to fall into the trap of focusing more on the messenger than on the message. This is precisely why Christ brought up the example of Naaman the Syrian, who was rewarded with a cure only after overcoming his rationalism and eating a bit of “humble pie.” (See his story in 2 Kings 5.) Has my hurt pride ever blinded me from listening to what Christ desperately tries to tell me?
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