Doctrine and Faith
THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
READINGS OF THE DAY: Is 8:23-9:3; Ps 26 (27); 1 Cor
1:10-13,17; and Mt 4:12-23
The Gospel
of Matthew begins the account of Jesus' public life (cf. 4:12-23) by reporting
a seemingly simple fact, but which in reality constituted a great surprise, if
not a scandal, for the religious expectations of the time: "Jesus withdrew
to Galilee and went to live in Capernaum" (vv. 12-13). It was logical to
expect that the messianic announcement would come from the heart of Judaism,
that is, from Jerusalem, but instead it came from a region generally despised
because it was contaminated by paganism ("Galilee of the Gentiles").
But precisely what is surprising for Matthew is the fulfillment of an ancient
prophecy contained in the book of Isaiah (cf. 8:23b-9, 1-3).
The
territory occupied by the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali was located in the far
north of Palestine, near Sea of Tiberias: Galilee, also called "the
district of the Gentiles." Isaiah's oracle was probably pronounced shortly
after the Assyrian king Tiglath Pileser III occupied the northern regions of
the kingdom of Israel in 732 BC. These were very harsh times. The darkness and
the gloom express the anguish of a lost people; the heavy yoke, the rod upon
their shoulders, and the rod of the oppressor evoke the plight of an oppressed
people. It is therefore to a lost and oppressed people that the prophet
addresses, reminding them of the certainty of liberation. Whatever happens,
there is always, the certainty that the Lord is with his people. And in a poverty
so absolute that the prophet speaks of oppression as if it were already a past
event: "In Naphtali he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of
Naphtali" (v. 23). The subject is the Lord, and oppression is his
punishment, a consequence of the people's idolatry.
A situation,
however, not definitive, since the prophet continues, announcing the passage
from humiliation to glory, from darkness to light: the contrast is stark and
the transition is sudden, like when a wayfarer lost in the darkness suddenly emerges
into the light. The joy is uncontainable, so much so that the word occurs four
times in a single verse, and the prophet's emotion is expressed with two images
and a memory: the joy of a bountiful harvest and the division of the spoils -
one peasant, the other warrior - and the allusion to the "time of
Midian" that evokes Gideon, who with a handful of men crushed the
arrogance of the Midianites (cf. Judg. 6-7). The lesson is clear: it is the
Lord who saves his people, not the strength of armies. The essential thing is
therefore always one thing: trust in God. Just as in the time of Midian:
"The Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord," the Book
of Judges recounts, "and the Lord delivered them into the hands of Midian"
(Judges 6:1). But liberation is also in His hands, and His hands are stronger
than our sin.
The ancient
prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, therefore, in Jesus' choice to begin his
mission from the geographical and religious periphery of Judaism, thus breaking
with every form of particularism. His message - a habitual, repeated message
(“from that Jesus began to preach," v. 17) - is summarized in an extremely
concise formula: the arrival of the kingdom ("the kingdom of God is at
hand," v. 17) and the moral imperative that it entails
("repent"). The episode of the calling of the first disciples is set
on the shore of the lake, where Jesus was walking and where the men were intent
on their work. God's call reaches men in their ordinary surroundings, in their
workplace: no sacred setting, but the scenery of the lake and the backdrop of
the harsh daily life. Let's try to highlight the essential features of this
story, which are four.
First: the
centrality of Jesus. His is the initiative ("he saw [...], said to them
[...], called them," vv. 18, 19, 21): it is not man who
self-generates a disciple, but Jesus who transforms man into a disciple. The
disciple, then, is not called to take possession of a doctrine, nor even
primarily to live a life project, but to solidarize with a person ("Come
after me," v. 19): attachment to the person of Jesus comes first.
Second:
discipleship requires a profound detachment. James and John, Peter and Andrew
leave their nets, the boat, and their father; they leave their trade and their
family. The trade represents security and social identity, the father
represents their roots: it is therefore a radical detachment.
Third:
starting from Jesus' call, discipleship is expressed with two movements -
leaving and following - that indicate a shift in the center of life. Jesus'
call does not place us in a state, but on a path.
Fourth:
there are two coordinates of the disciple: communion with Christ ("follow
me") and a race toward the world ("I will make you fishers of
men"). The second follows the first: Jesus does not place his disciples in
a separate, sectarian space; he sets them on the paths of men.
Happy
Sunday!
†John I.
Okoye
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