Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time Luke 4,21-30

Accept the prophets of Jesus (Luke 4:21-30)
Jesus continues to send prophets today.

Anyone who watches or reads a detective story knows that the investigator asks questions of himself and others if he wants to solve the case. Often the question is: Did he have enemies? Everyone has enemies. They don’t always have to be people. A man’s enemy is also what can spoil his life and make him unhappy. Bernhard Mathews points out seven such enemies of man: boredom, worry, feelings of inferiority, indecisiveness, fear, hypersensitivity, and small-mindedness. How beautiful our life would be if we could get rid of these enemies! They are always creeping around us, threatening the old and the young, the healthy and the sick. Even if nations were at peace with each other, there could be no truce with these enemies of humanity. We must fight them to our last breath. This is what today’s Gospel reminds us of.

Jesus, addressing his countrymen who did not accept him as a prophet, says: “No prophet is rare in his own country” (Lk 4:24).

In the synagogue of Nazareth, Jesus is already speaking as a prophet. He provokes the natives with his behavior. When he says that the words of the prophet Isaiah – which he has just read – have been fulfilled in him, the natives do not accept him. They immediately remark, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” (Luke 4:22)? In other words: What can he new tell us? Then Jesus answers them by pointing out the well-known incident of how the prophet Elijah was not accepted by the nation, only by the Gentiles, the widow of Zarephath, and Naaman the Syrian. The thought may occur to us whether Jesus was doing the right thing. Should he not have first won the fellow citizens to his side by acceptable words and then, later on, gradually explained things to them? Was not Jesus Himself to blame that the natives were carried away with anger? We may observe that the preaching of the apostles is in the spirit of Jesus. Peter the apostle in the temple declares: “God… glorified his Servant Jesus, whom ye delivered up and denied before Pilate… You denied the Holy and Righteous One, and demanded that the murderer be released to you.” (Acts 3:14-15). In this way, he indicates that we must not succumb to false diplomacy, for it can lead to a dead end. It is necessary to stand on the side of truth. St. Paul did this when he first quoted the pagan writers to the Athenians at the Areopagus, but then he must begin to speak directly about Jesus, the resurrection of the body, and the Last Judgment. No amount of inculturation will keep us from telling the truth.
The prophets in the Old Testament already knew this. Jeremiah hears God: “… you shall go wherever I send you, and you shall say whatever I command you. Fear them not, for I am with you…” (Jer. 1:7-8). Something similar happened to Jesus in Nazareth. That’s why Jesus later weeps over Jerusalem.
It is important to remember that the people in Nazareth were no worse than anywhere else in the world. When Jesus quoted the prophet Isaiah to them, all of his fellow citizens were happy to hear the good news that answered their wish. Consider the paradox: Jesus announces a “year of grace,” and the natives respond by wanting to kill their native who told them the news. Jesus God brings forgiveness and love, and for the people, he receives hatred, anger, and ultimately death.

The Church continues what Jesus taught and commanded the Church not only to teach baptize but to teach to observe all that He commanded (cf. Matt. 28:19-20). The mission of the Church has been, is, and will be to speak the truth, to defend and stand up for the rights that the world tramples on, silences, in the whole breadth of life: from those who cannot be born, are no longer wanted or obstructed, to the aged, the infirm, or those condemned to death.

Encountering this, one moves very quickly from love to hate. This was the case in Nazareth as well. Some want him to heal their sick, and others hate him because he speaks the truth. So it is today. Many expect help from the Church that the Church cannot and must not give them. When she does not do as they wish, they turn against her as enemies. But there is only one truth. Truth is not the result of a survey. Do we not have a similar relationship to Christ and the Church? When they please us, we are satisfied, but when they enter into our conscience, when they call our attention to something, and when they rightly demand something of us, we no longer have a kind heart, but a heart full of hatred, malice, sin. Jesus in Nazareth was led to the “mountaintop meeting… and from there they wanted to throw him down.” (Lk. 4:29), but he did not change his attitude to the truth; he did not recant what he had said. It is only on the slope of another mountain that Jesus allows Himself, because He willed it, to be crucified so that until the end of time, man will be aware of the truth of Jesus. Let us not condemn the inhabitants of Nazareth. On the contrary, let us learn to follow Christ and radically keep the words of the Gospel, for we have believed in Christ, who not only died for his convictions but as the God-man proved the one and eternal truth.

A prophet is created twice by God. The first time – like every human being – in the womb. The second time, God pours His Spirit on him and makes him an instrument of His activity. The prospect of such action is so complex that most prophets are unwilling to undertake this mission, except when directly addressed by God Himself. The mission of the prophet hinders many sons and daughters of this world. God’s truth is forgotten in the world, the sense of right and wrong, truth and falsity, is lost, and God, through the prophets, calls for a change of life. He does this in two ways. First, He sends prophets to admonish and warn. The role of the prophets did not end with the death of the apostles. Prophets are still present in the Church today. Both true and false. We can trace this in the history of the Church. Many have returned to the Church, left sin behind, and found their way back to God through visionaries, such as St. Francis, St. Dominic, and others in the Middle Ages. Under their guidance, many took up the prophet’s mission and became followers, and today we see vocations both in Franciscan or Dominican spirituality. The prophet must reckon with an essential factor: the human heart. It can love but also hate. The prophet must consider not only the cry of “hosanna” but much more often with the cry of “crucify him.” The Old Testament prophets and St. John the Baptist, especially Jesus himself, were convinced of this. After Christ, the apostles – except St. John – all died martyr’s deaths and millions of other prophets after them. The tragedy of the prophet is equally the tragedy of his hearers. The second is much more difficult. When he accomplishes his mission, the prophet receives a reward from his Lord for a job well done. Those who reject the prophet because of the prophet’s mission must expect punishment from the one who sent the prophet. If God does not reach people through prophets, there are still apocalypses left to God. History speaks not only of the Flood, Sodom, Gomorrah, or Babylon but also of wars, cataclysms, diseases… These are mainly illnesses, sudden death, and experiences of various kinds personally. History repeats itself. The exhortations of today’s prophets have no more significant influence in changing human hearts. The world is dull and unwilling to listen to the voices of the prophets. Let us ask whether God has not the right to intervene with a new apocalypse? If wisdom and love do not prevail on earth, stupidity and hatred will.

Fortunately, those who open their hearts to the voice of the prophets and fill them with love need not fear the apocalyptic voices. Their hearts will not be destroyed. That they take part in the mission of the prophets is their guarantee of eternal reward. The prophet points the way out of a difficult situation based on truth. Even though evil seeks to destroy wisdom, evil will be destroyed. St. Luke points to Jesus as the Savior of the world.
Prophets today are often parents to children, brother to brother, sister to sister. Still, in society, it is mainly the Church, the Holy Father, the Bishop, those who speak the truth, even when it is inconvenient, when it is not understood, not accepted, offended, reaching for honor, reputation and life. We can find prophets in culture, sports, behind the chair, and music.
Fanny Crosby composed more than 6,000 songs, the composer of devotional songs. Although illness robbed her of her eyesight at the age of six, she never suffered. A preacher once compassionately remarked of her: “I think it is a great pity the Creator did not give you sight when He sent you so many other gifts.” She promptly replied: “You know, if I could make one wish at birth, I would wish that I had been born blind!” “Why?” The shocked clergyman asked. “Because when I get to heaven, the first face my eyes fall on will be the face of my Savior!”
Fanny wasn’t unhappy that she couldn’t see. She was a prophet to many. Many have good eyesight but have forgotten the sight of the soul. She had fulfilled her mission. She gave out love, joy, hope, and peace through her songs and maintained her sincere relationship with God. We have eyes. What is our relationship with God?
We need to establish, maintain our genuine relationship with God, be faithful to the mission God has entrusted to us, and fulfill our mission in the environment where we have our mission. It is also fitting that we want to hear in truth the voice of the prophets through which the Lord guides, teaches, and forms us.

Bernard Matthews, in his book, let’s go to the lion. Writes:
“Thousands of people come to an arena or football stadium to watch a few players. Some jump out of their seats, eager to intervene in the game. But they have to stay nicely in their hearts; entry is forbidden. They can only clap or whistle if they are allowed to. History resembles a playground. A small group is doing something, and many are just watching… We must all live truth and love. We must not be silent when evil is done; sin is committed. Let us remain Christ’s. Let us be with Christ. Let us pray for perseverance in good.