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?
Monday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time
When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury. They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong. But he passed through the midst of them and went away. Luke 4:28–30
What a sobering beginning to our Lord’s public ministry. Shortly after His baptism in the Jordan River and the establishment of Capernaum as the center of His ministry, Jesus began calling His disciples and performing powerful miracles. News of His preaching and healing spread rapidly, reaching His hometown of Nazareth.
When Jesus returned to Nazareth, those who had known Him from His youth were not prepared for what they witnessed. In the synagogue, He stood and read from the scroll of the Prophet Isaiah. It was a messianic passage foretelling the One anointed by the Spirit to bring glad tidings to the poor, liberty to captives, sight to the blind, and freedom to the oppressed. After reading, Jesus sat down and solemnly proclaimed, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” With these words, He revealed Himself to be the long-awaited Messiah.
At first, the people were amazed at the gracious words He spoke. But their awe quickly turned to confusion, then to hostility. “Is this not the son of Joseph?” they asked, unable to reconcile the divine authority they had just encountered with the humble figure they remembered from years past. Their familiarity bred contempt. Their hearts, bound by human reasoning and pride, could not accept the divine mystery standing before them.
Perceiving their thoughts, Jesus addressed the unspoken demand in their hearts—the desire to see in Nazareth the same wonders He had performed elsewhere. But He offered them no signs. Instead, He offered truth, recalling that in the days of Elijah and Elisha, God’s blessings were extended not to Israelites, but to Gentiles—a widow in Zarephath and a leper from Syria. This comparison deeply offended their national pride and shattered their assumptions about divine favor. Rather than receiving His rebuke with humility, they were filled with fury. The crowd attempted to kill the very One they had once known as neighbor and craftsman. Yet Jesus, untouched, “passed through the midst of them and went away.”
Jesus certainly knew this would happen. In His divine wisdom, He foresaw the reaction He would receive. And in a mysterious way, He even appears to draw it out. Why? Because this holy provocation was an act of mercy. In exposing the hardness of their hearts, Jesus gave them an opportunity to confront their pride, repent, and receive the Kingdom in truth.
In the months and years ahead, many of the people of Nazareth likely benefited from this initial encounter. There is little doubt that after Jesus left Nazareth, He remained the talk of the town. There is no record of Him returning. However, as He continued His public ministry, the people who had rejected Him would have continued to hear reports of His authoritative preaching and miraculous works. Some may have even traveled to nearby towns, such as Capernaum, to witness Him for themselves. In doing so, their initial rejection would have confronted them anew—forcing a choice: Either repent and believe, or grow in bitterness and confusion. Either Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah or He was a false prophet. There could be no middle ground.
Reflect today on the mysterious ways Jesus continues to provoke hearts—including your own. Sometimes His Word unsettles us not because it is harsh, but because it is true, and we are unprepared to accept it and change. The people of Nazareth teach us that we—like them—sometimes need our pride stirred up so we can see it and reject it. As you consider the people of Nazareth from that moment forward, see yourself in them. Recognize any ways that you respond with hostility to humbling truths that are hard to accept, and allow time and grace to heal you—helping you to repent and grow in gratitude for Jesus’ humbling and holy provocation.
My challenging Lord, You see into the depths of my heart. When I resist Your Word, provoke me in mercy. Confront my pride, reveal my blindness, and call me to repentance. May I never reject You, but always surrender with trust to the truth You offer. Jesus, I trust in You.
1. The Gospel of Salvation: Today, we begin to read from the Gospel according to Luke at Daily Mass. This
2. The Inauguration of the Great Jubilee: The passage from Isaiah that Jesus proclaimed in the synagogue of Nazareth was highly significant. What Isaiah foretold was the coming of a Jubilee Year. This is what Isaiah meant when he referred to the “year acceptable to the Lord.” The Jubilee in Israel was to be celebrated every 49 years. It was a time of mercy, restoration, liberation, and the forgiveness of debts. Isaiah’s prophecy, however, points to something even greater: a definitive act of salvation in which God would restore his people and set them free. The number 490 in the prophecy of Daniel—seventy weeks of years—also came to be associated with the expectation of a climactic period of salvation. Some Jewish groups, including the Essenes associated with Qumran, appear to have developed expectations concerning an eschatological Jubilee (10 cycles of Jubilee years). Jesus now announces that this long-awaited time of salvation has arrived. What had been promised through the prophets is being fulfilled in him. Jesus is not merely announcing the Jubilee; he is declaring that he himself is the one through whom God’s definitive salvation has come.
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.
Opening Prayer: Lord God, send and pour forth your Spirit upon me. Anoint me with the oil of gladness so that I may proclaim the Gospel of your Kingdom and your salvation to all those I meet through my words and actions today.
1. The Gospel of Salvation: Today, we begin to read from the Gospel according to Luke at daily mass. This Gospel will bring us to the season of Advent. Each of the four Gospels presents a unique, but complementary portrait of the mystery of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Matthew’s Gospel presents Jesus as the New Moses and as the one who fulfills the Old Testament prophecies, especially those about the Kingdom of God. Mark identifies Jesus as the suffering Messiah and Son of God, who calls his disciples to follow him on the way to Jerusalem. Luke emphasizes Jesus as the Universal Savior and his concern for the poor, the humble, the outcast, and the lowly. Throughout Luke’s Gospel, we hear Jesus’ message of mercy and salvation. We are privileged today to hear how Jesus preached in the synagogues of Galilee and the synagogue of his hometown of Nazareth. We can sit with the crowd and hear Jesus proclaim God’s word from the prophet Isaiah. We have a similar experience at every Mass. We sometimes hear a passage from the Old Testament and then from the Gospel, and we can hear, “Today, this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”
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