Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)

For: Sunday, January 31, 2010

4th Sunday in Ordinary Time

From: Luke 4:21-30

Jesus Preaches in Nazareth
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[21] And He began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in
your hearing. [22] And all spoke well of Him, and wondered at the gracious words
which proceeded out of His mouth; and they said, "Is not this Joseph's son?"
[23] And He said to them, "Doubtless you will quote to Me this proverb, 'Physi-
cian, heal yourself; what we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here also in
your own country.'" [24] And He said, "Truly, I say to you, no prophet is accep-
table in his own country. [25] But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in
Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six
months, when there came a great famine over all the land; [26] and Elijah was
sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who
was a widow. [27] And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet
Elisha; and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian." [28]
When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. [29] And they
rose up and put Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow on the hill on which
their city was built, that they might throw Him down headlong. [30] But passing
through the midst of them He went away.

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Commentary:

21. Christ's words in verse 21 show us the authenticity with which He preached
and explained the Scriptures: "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hea-
ring." Jesus teaches that this prophecy, like the other main prophecies in the Old
Testament, refers to Him and finds its fulfillment in Him (cf. Luke 24:44ff). Thus,
the Old Testament can be rightly understood only in the light of the New--as the
risen Christ showed the Apostles when He opened their minds to understand the
Scriptures (cf. Luke 24:45), an understanding which the Holy Spirit perfected on
the day of Pentecost (cf. Acts 2:4).

22-29. At first the people of Nazareth listened readily to the wisdom of Jesus'
words. But they were very superficial; in their narrow-minded pride they felt hurt
that Jesus, their fellow-townsman, had not worked in Nazareth the wonders He
had worked elsewhere. They presume they have a special entitlement and they
insolently demand that He perform miracles to satisfy their vanity, not to change
their hearts. In view of their attitude, Jesus performs no miracle (His normal res-
ponse to lack of faith: cf., for example, His meeting with Herod in Luke 23:7-11);
He actually reproaches them, using two examples taken from the Old Testa-
ment (cf. 1 Kings 17:9 and 2 Kings 5:14), which show that one needs to be well-
disposed if miracles are to lead to faith. His attitude so wounds their pride that
they are ready to kill Him. This whole episode is a good lesson about understan-
ding Jesus. We can understand Him only if we are humble and are genuinely
resolved to make ourselves available to Him.

30. Jesus does not take flight but withdraws majestically, leaving the crowd para-
lyzed. As on other occasions men do Him no harm; it was by God's decree that
He died on a cross (cf. John 18:32) when His hour had come.

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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries".  Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.  We encourage readers to purchase
The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.

"Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ."  --  St Jerome

"The Father uttered one Word; that Word is His Son, and He utters Him forever
in everlasting silence: and in silence the soul has to hear it.
   --  St John of the Cross