Luke 4: 16-30

22nd Week in Ordinary Time Year 2
1 Corinthians 2:1-5
Luke 4: 16-30

A. Text/Context

• It is a usual religious ritual for the Jews to go to the temple on a Sabbath and listen to the words in the scripture and it was the turn of Jesus to read the scroll in the synagogue
• And the people who heard were astonished with the beautiful words coming out from his mouth
• Because the passage that he reads talks about himself, so the speaker himself is the subject of the story and that makes it very beautiful to listen
• He said to the congregation that today this passage is fulfilled. Who can say this but a prophet only who knows the events unfolding before his eyes
• But at the same time the people are asking: Isn’t he the son of Joseph and Mary? And so while they were impressed of Jesus they also doubted a lot because what can a son of a carpenter do?
• They know Jesus. Where did he get all this wisdom? And he is just the son of a laborer!
• Physician cure yourself, but we know very well that even a doctor cannot cure his own self, he also needs a doctor
• Therefore Jesus needs their faith too so he can also do miracles in Nazareth but Jesus knew that they do not believe in him
• Without faith no miracles can happen. He is rejected. No prophet is accepted in his own native place
• The pride of the people was hurt when he said that a woman of Zarephath a non-Jew was saved from famine by Elijah. And a leper Naaman was cleansed by Elisha was also a non-Jew
• It appears that God does not like them anymore and so they were mad at Jesus because they think they are a special people how can God reject them
• And they all wanted to kill Jesus by throwing him on a cliff

B. Human Situation

• The situation that we have in the gospel today is actually putting people in a box
• We have our own biases on people whom we already knew very well. So that if he or she does something new we will not believe
• In other words, if somebody is notorious of his reputation as dishonest in a community even if he does an honest job, we will not believe
• The gospel today is reminding us not to do so, instead we are exhorted today to give people a chance to renew themselves because a profound change can take effect if there is support from others
• If our neighbor is a thief, it does not conclude that he is a thief forever.
• Change, conversion is always possible and the growth of his new life of conversion will even be more enriched if we support them in their renewal of life

C. Challenge

• So today we are challenged to exert good influence to others by our good counsel, our words of wisdom, and most of all, through our own good examples that we do worthy things to be emulated by others
• By the good work we do, those who live crooked lives will realize that a new life with God is always possible, instead of looking at other people with distrust and pessimism that they will always remain the same
• As St. Paul said in the 1st reading that we may not be persuasive in our words to convert others but we must be demonstrative in spirit and power through our examples and others will follow
• Let us not be influenced by the unpleasant things around us, especially the biases, the prejudice; rather let us make ourselves silent examples for others to get converted
• The grace of God will always change the person to be better. Our prejudice can only hinder their spiritual growth