This is now the third Sunday in Ordinary Time and the last time we heard about the life of our Lord Jesus Christ was when he was a 12-year-old boy who lost himself in the Temple of Jerusalem talking to the teachers and scribes of the law. Twenty-one years later, we see the return of the Lord, this time we are seeing the beginning of his Galilean ministry. Today’s gospel reading comes from the Evangelist Luke in Luke 1:1-4, 4;14-21.
“1 Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the events that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning and ministers of the word have handed them down to us, 3 I too have decided, after investigating everything accurately anew, to write it down in an orderly sequence for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may realize the certainty of the teachings you have received.
“14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news of him spread[a] throughout the whole region. 15 He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all. 16 He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read 17 and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:
“18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
19 and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.”
“20 Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. 21 He said to them, “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.””
* * *
The new Liturgy of the Catholic Church focuses on the writings of St. Luke the Evangelist. St. Luke was a follower of St. Paul and both of them never met our Lord Jesus Christ in the New Testament. However, St. Paul was still called Saul of Tarsus when he met the Lord Jesus on the road to Damascus, where he was converted into becoming one of Christianity’s strongest teachers. He was on track with St. Peter who was close to our Lord, and followed him. But St. Paul would often clash with St. Peter on early Christian doctrines but would always adhere to St. Peter.
Today’s Gospel reading is broken into two parts, the first one was the prologue and since it is short, allow me to reprint it: “Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the events that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning and ministers of the word have handed them down to us, 3 I too have decided, after investigating everything accurately anew, to write it down in an orderly sequence for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may realize the certainty of the teachings you have received.”
So clearly St. Luke gave a very incisive documentary of the first stories that he heard through St. Paul about our Lord Jesus Christ. In the next verse, St. Luke talks about the beginning of the Galilean Ministry. Here, St. Luke doesn’t waste time and talks about how Jesus began his ministry.
Here you will see that Jesus returned to his native Nazareth, but rather than waste time going straight home, he went to the synagogue to do God’s mission for him. Jesus knew that most of the people were in prayer or hearing the words of the prophets. As St. Luke pointed out, Jesus was given the scroll of the Prophet Isiah and read what St. Luke wrote in his gospel today. Then he handed the scroll back to the attendants and said to the crowd in the synagogue: “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” How could someone the people of Nazareth knew was the son of a carpenter would claim that this scripture passage is fulfilled in their hearing? The beginning of his ministry starts in some kind of turmoil.
* * *
For email responses to this article, write to vsbobita@gmail.com. His columns can be accessed through www.philstar.com.