Tuesday of 22nd Week in Ordinary Time
AUTHORITY OF JESUS
Divine wisdom is a gift from the Spirit. The Spirit gives us discernment. Wisdom does not come from the human reasoning of gnosis and initiation in mystery religions. We should be spiritual people, men and women of the Spirit.
The people and Jesus’ own disciples were often struck by the authority of Jesus. Here was someone higher than a mere human being. There was authority in his teaching – he had something to say that challenged men and confronted them with themselves and with God. He had authority over the law, which he wanted to trim from its man-made trappings. By his authority he overcame the powers of evil and sin. He claimed to judge people. He used his authority for the good of people – it was a power of salvation. Yet it was a power that came in humility and weakness, an authority of service that brought faith, that gave hope, that expressed and created love. And when the time came, he used it to lay down his life and to take it up again, to pass it on to his disciples, and then to leave.
First Reading: 1 Corinthians 2:10-16
We, of course, have plenty of wisdom to pass on to you once you get your feet on firm spiritual ground, but it’s not popular wisdom, the fashionable wisdom of high-priced experts that will be out-of-date in a year or so. God’s wisdom is something mysterious that goes deep into the interior of his purposes. You don’t find it lying around on the surface. It’s not the latest message, but more like the oldest—what God determined as the way to bring out his best in us, long before we ever arrived on the scene. The experts of our day haven’t a clue about what this eternal plan is. If they had, they wouldn’t have killed the Master of the God-designed life on a cross. That’s why we have this Scripture text:
No one’s ever seen or heard anything like this,
Never so much as imagined anything quite like it—
What God has arranged for those who love him.
But you’ve seen and heard it because God by his Spirit has brought it all out into the open before you.
The Spirit, not content to flit around on the surface, dives into the depths of God, and brings out what God planned all along. Who ever knows what you’re thinking and planning except you yourself? The same with God—except that he not only knows what he’s thinking, but he lets us in on it. God offers a full report on the gifts of life and salvation that he is giving us. We don’t have to rely on the world’s guesses and opinions. We didn’t learn this by reading books or going to school; we learned it from God, who taught us person-to-person through Jesus, and we’re passing it on to you in the same firsthand, personal way.
The unspiritual self, just as it is by nature, can’t receive the gifts of God’s Spirit. There’s no capacity for them. They seem like so much silliness. Spirit can be known only by spirit—God’s Spirit and our spirits in open communion. Spiritually alive, we have access to everything God’s Spirit is doing, and can’t be judged by unspiritual critics. Isaiah’s question, “Is there anyone around who knows God’s Spirit, anyone who knows what he is doing?” has been answered: Christ knows, and we have Christ’s Spirit.
Gospel: Luke 4:31-37
He went down to Capernaum, a village in Galilee. He was teaching the people on the Sabbath. They were surprised and impressed—his teaching was so forthright, so confident, so authoritative, not the quibbling and quoting they were used to.
In the meeting place that day there was a man demonically disturbed. He screamed, “Ho! What business do you have here with us, Jesus? Nazarene! I know what you’re up to. You’re the Holy One of God and you’ve come to destroy us!”
Jesus shut him up: “Quiet! Get out of him!” The demonic spirit threw the man down in front of them all and left. The demon didn’t hurt him.
That set everyone back on their heels, whispering and wondering, “What’s going on here? Someone whose words make things happen? Someone who orders demonic spirits to get out and they go?” Jesus was the talk of the town.
Prayer
Lord our God,
we say that authority means service,
but we experience that it is very hard
to make this beautiful principle work.
Keep always before our eyes
the example of your Son Jesus Christ.
His authority was healing and saving,
respectful of people and yet committing us
to get out of our mediocrity.
May all authority among us
be humble, dedicated, self-effacing,
willing to serve to the end,
and patterned after that of Jesus,
your Son and our Lord for ever. Amen.
Reflection:
30 August 2022
Luke 4:31-37
“What is there about his Word?”
By the time Luke wrote his Gospel, the concern of Luke’s community was no longer to convert Israel but to live faithfully as disciples of Jesus in a Roman world that was largely hostile to them. From his narration of the incident at Nazareth where Jesus was rejected by his own people, Luke attempts to remind his community about their responsibility to carry out the mission of Jesus- to proclaim the merciful and liberating love of God – not only to the Jews but to all the people.
Jesus had moved to Capernaum, which became his base from where he did much of his missionary work. Unlike in Nazareth, in Capernaum people were receptive and open to the message of mercy and liberation.
As it happened in Nazareth, on a Sabbath, Jesus teaches in the Synagogue in Capernaum. While in his hometown, Jesus gladly announced the fulfilment of the prophesy of Isaiah, but the people preferred to remain in their old ways. The liberation and new life announced in Nazareth is being actualized in Capernaum.
The healing of the man possessed with an unclean demon in the synagogue is also a sign of driving out the evil powers from the community. The possessed man recognises the identity of Jesus and begins to shout – “You are the Holy one of God.” Appreciation and recognition are indeed a matter of joy, but Jesus would not even allow the evil powers to speak.
The devil knows how to seduce the weak and if it is allowed to continue to speak, its honey-coated words could easily entice the people of God. Luke gives an important lesson to his community in their mission: do not entertain the arguments of the devil. Shut them up before they could persuade you to their side. This is a great lesson for us today as well. Be cautious when we crave for appreciation and recognition from the world. It could be a deception of the devil.
Luke introduces the weapon to fight the powers of the devil – “The Word of God.” The people of the Synagogue were amazed and they say to one another: “What is there about his Word? He gives orders to unclean spirits with authority and power, and they go away.” And this continues to be the source of life and strength for the Community of believers – Jesus – the Word of God.