Today is holy to the Lord, your God ~ A Reflection on the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)

Neh 8:2-4a, 5-6, 8-10

Ps 19:8. 9, 10, 15, Jn 6:63c

1 Cor 12:12-30

Lk 1:1-4; 4:14-21

In the First Reading from the prophet Nehemiah, we find that the Israelites have just returned to Jerusalem from their long captivity in Babylon.  During this time, many had lost knowledge and understanding of their religious writings, so Ezra the priest gathered the people together and began to read from the scrolls and to teach them about the Law of Moses.  Ezra explained that this day was to be a holy one to the Lord and there should be no grieving or sorrow among the people.  Instead there would be rejoicing and feasting because the word of God had returned to the people.

In a similar manner, Luke's Gospel tells of Jesus bringing a joyful and hopeful word to the people listening to him read in the synagogue of Nazareth.  He had taken up the Isaiah scroll and began this passage:

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
To bring glad tidings to the poor,
...liberty to the captives...sight to the blind...
to let the oppressed go free... etc."

And to the wonder and consternation of his listeners, He said:  "Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing."

If we read further in Luke's Gospel, we learn that instead of reacting with joy at the words of Jesus, the people rebuked him for claiming something beyond His station in life, that of the son of a carpenter of Nazareth.  How could God have these plans for Jesus?  And so they tried to throw Him from the hill on which Nazareth was built; but Jesus passed through the crowd without being harmed.

In contrast to the people of Israel in Ezra's time who were so filled with joy and so receptive at having the Law of Moses read and explained to them after such a long time, the people of Nazareth in Jesus' time had become deaf and blind to the meanings of the Word they were to live by.  They were not looking for someone like Jesus who lived and worked among them to fulfill the prophecies about the Messiah.  To them, Jesus was not the hero and savior they were looking for.




 ~ Image Source: Fulfilled Prophecy by Adina Henderson