AUTHORITY OF JESUS

TWENTY- SECOND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

August 31, Tuesday

 

      Don’t you worry when the end time will come, Paul tell his Thessa­lonians. There is nothing to fear, just be always ready for the Lord’s coming.

      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 Thessalonians 5:1-6,9-11

I don’t think, friends, that I need to deal with the question of when all this is going to happen. You know as well as I that the day of the Master’s coming can’t be posted on our calendars. He won’t call ahead and make an appointment any more than a burglar would. About the time everybody’s walking around complacently, congratulating each other—“We’ve sure got it made! Now we can take it easy!”—suddenly everything will fall apart. It’s going to come as suddenly and inescapably as birth pangs to a pregnant woman.

But friends, you’re not in the dark, so how could you be taken off guard by any of this? You’re sons of Light, daughters of Day. We live under wide open skies and know where we stand. So let’s not sleepwalk through life like those others. Let’s keep our eyes open and be smart.

God didn’t set us up for an angry rejection but for salvation by our Master, Jesus Christ. He died for us, a death that triggered life. Whether we’re awake with the living or asleep with the dead, we’re alive with him! So speak encouraging words to one another. Build up hope so you’ll all be together in this, no one left out, no one left behind. I know you’re already doing this; just keep on doing it.

 

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: 

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 Jesus 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 representation of driving out the evil powers from the community. The possessed man recognizes 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 leave people.” And this continues to be the source of life and strength for the Community of believers – Jesus – the Word of God.

Video available on Youtube: What is there about his Word?