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4th Sunday Ordinary Time - 30/1/2022
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Being a Prophet in a hostile culture
In both the first reading and the Gospel, we are shown, in Jeremiah and Jesus, God’s prophets (prophetes in Greek means mouthpiece), chosen, consecrated, and sent to their brothers and sisters as emissaries of the Word of God. The prophet Jeremiah (600-550 BC) never held back in describing the persecution he suffered. Here in the first sentences of his book, Jeremiah describes how God called him, bolstered up his Faith and courage, and predicted the opposition he would endure. Speaking to Jeremiah, God makes four assertions: “I formed you” (as a potter forms clay), “I knew you” (referring to the intimate relationship between God and Jeremiah), “I dedicated you” (consecrating Jeremiah to do God’s work), and “I appointed you” (to a mission as His prophet to Israel). At the start of Jeremiah’s ministry, Yahweh warns the young prophet not to be intimidated by those to whom he prophesies (Jer 1:4-5, 17-19). “They will fight against you,” Yahweh warns, “but will not prevail over you, for I am with you to deliver you.” During his lifetime, Jeremiah was considered a total failure, but in later times he has been recognized as one of Israel’s greatest prophets. Jeremiah is a wonderful example of “the triumph of failure.”
Today’s Gospel story is another example of why the prophets did not jump for joy at their career prospects. In the space of five verses, we see the people of Nazareth turn from amazement to fury. Like the other prophets of the past, Jesus directly called upon people to relinquish their selfishness, their faithlessness, their lack of justice and mercy (Mic 6:6-8), and their sinfulness. In response to his townsmen’s skepticism, Jesus referred to the Biblical stories of how God blessed two Gentiles, while rejecting the many Jews in similar situations. The reason for this was that these Gentiles were more open to the prophets than the Jewish people who were wicked and unrepentant. First, Jesus reminded them of the Gentile widow of Zarephath, a village on the coast of present-day Lebanon, near Sidon (1 Kings 17:7-24). The Prophet Elijah worked two miracles in her life. Her flour and oil lasted for a year during the great famine and her son who died was brought back to life. Then Jesus recalled for his listeners of the story of Naaman, the Syrian Military General (II Kgs 7:3-10). Naaman had contracted leprosy. At Elisha’s word, Naaman bathed seven times in the Jordan, after which he was healed of his deadly disease.
Jesus tells them that neither Elijah and Elisha, great prophets, could work their miracles in Israel, but went elsewhere to do them. “No prophet is accepted in his own native place,” he says. Suddenly Jesus whom they knew as a carpenter is claiming to be one of the prophets! They challenged his Messianic claim, asking, “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?” They could not understand how a mere carpenter could be the Messiah who would liberate them from Roman rule and reestablish the Davidic kingdom. The phrase, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ means “Do not be like a bad physician, who professes medical knowledge to his patients but does not know how to treat himself.” They pull him out to a cliff to throw him off, planning to annihilate such a blasphemer. He escaped somehow but now the ball was in motion. This scene—and it is the first one described in his public ministry—forecasts his remaining life. First loved and accepted, then rejected and led to his shameful death.
Speaking God’s truth by word or by deed is a risky business even today. Thousands of Christians have been killed this past year in Moslem countries and Communist nations. Christians are subjected to the white martyrdom of mental torture and ridicule in advanced countries, including the U.S., by the agnostic and atheistic media corporations, and liberal politicians and judges, who constantly harass and insult Christians with unprecedented vengeance.
Perhaps we have experienced the pain of rejection, betrayal, abandonment, violated trust, neglect, or abuse. What about rejection by those closest to us? Often our friends, families, or childhood companions fail to listen to us, refuse our advice, and reject the words of grace, love, and encouragement that we offer to them because they are unable to see us as God’s appointed instruments, the agents of God’s healing and saving grace. Perhaps we ourselves are guilty of such rejection. How often have we discounted people through prejudice? We must realize that God’s power is always available to transform even the most unlikely people and that His power may come to us through unlikely instruments. Live your prophetic calling with courage!