26th Week in Ordinary Time

October 6 2001 Saturday

    Luke 10:17-24 The Return of the Seventy (Two)

We have here sayings of Jesus that Luke, in his theological narration about Christian mission, incorporates in his material as occassioned by the amazement-filled report of the returning Seventy (Two).

This passage can be divided into smaller sections thus:

10:17: The Report of the Seventy (Two)
10:18: The Fall of Satan
10:19-20: The Real Cause For Rejoicing
10:21: Jesus' ThanksGiving
10:22: The Father And The Son
10:23-24: What They See and Hear

To the disciples' report about the subjection of demons to them, Jesus informs them that he has seen the defeat of Satan (18), and that he has given his disciples authority over his cohorts (19), but that all this is secondary to the fact that the disciples have taken the place of Satan in heaven. This knowledge moves Jesus to heave a thanksgiving to the Father who has revealed (positive for "has not hidden") these things to those who, are small and weak. And in an aside Jesus turns to the reader or listener and informs them of the tight bond of intimacy that joins him, the Father and the disciples, the ones whom the Son has chosen to reveal Him (22). And finally he turns to the disciples themselves, and tells them the value of what they have seen and heard (23-24)

Seen from the perspective of an experience as "sent" the passage can be understood as the theological basis for every gain that is made on the mission field. What the returning disciples experienced was the breaking forth of the rule of God, what the prophets and kings of the past have desired to see. They've experienced it as the subjection of demons to their authority, but actually the experience points to their names "being written in the heavens." Satan has been displaced from the place where he exercised his rule. The disciples have proleptically taken his place. But this is just a foretaste of what is yet to come, since full victory will be had only after the Lord's Passover has been completed. So at that hour (Note the Johanine sound!) Jesus rejoices with the disciples, a rejoicing that he expresses in prayer.

    Verses 22-24 are sayings that should be memorized and taken note of. Verse 22 is an aside that prepares for verses 23-24. All victory in the Christian mission is victory from the Father who hands all to Christ who, in His turn, is recognized only by those whom He has called. Verses 23-24 is Jesus' word to his disciples, a secret that he shares with them: they have seen the reign of God break forth.

October 5, 2001 Friday

    Luke 10:13-16 Prophetic Woes

Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum are Galilaean towns were Jesus has worked healing and miracles. But these same towns have not been responsive to Jesus. The "Woe" that Jesus pronounces over them should be rather translated in such a way that it would sound as a prophetic lament, not "It will not go well with you," as is translated in NAB. In the prophets of the Old Testament, "Woe" is a cry of concern at a catastrope that they see is coming. When Jesus pronounces his woes over those three Galilaean towns, it was to express sadness at something that he knew will inevitalbly befall them.

Tyre and Sidon are great neighboring seaport towns that are not of the Israelite nation. When Jesus, in comparing Tyre and Sidon with the towns that he has visited, he says "If they had heard... they would be in sackcloth now" Again Jesus indirectlyl puts Gentiles into a better light than the towns he had visited. Even Caphernaum which has been a witness to the miracles he performed there did not respond appropriately. It will not be exalted but will find itself in Hades, the place of the Dead.

"He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent Me (Luke 10:16)

   In this statement is illustrated how tight the identification is between the Seventy-two, Jesus and God (The One Who Sent Me) The emissaries that have been sent is an extension of Jesus, just as Jesus is an extension of God. Those that wil no receive them will treated worse than Sodom.

   What we have here is a powerful indictment of a negative response to the message that the Seventy-two bring. It is an indictment that will have its effect felt in those places where Jesus has spent a lot of his time.ministering to the sick.,/p>

   The "Woe" of Jesus is his lamentation over something that should have been. But the refusal of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Caphernaum have been such that whether Jesus likes it or not, the punishment will come upon them, as it came for Sodom.

October 4, 2001 Thursday

    Luke 10:1-12 The Sending Of The Seventy (Two)

The narrative speaks of the Seventy that Jesus sends to go ahead of him in the towns and places he intends to visit. It is a group distinct from the Twelve, and the command given to them is longer than what was given to the Twelve (Compare with Luke 9:1-6). . Verses 10:2-12 shares similarities with Matthew 9:37-38;10:7-16.

   The sending of the Seventy (Two) can be found in Luke alone. As in the previous case of the Ten Leper, Luke makes use of recollections of Jesus sending out emissaries or advance parties as a narrative framework within which he locates the theological basis of his experience of the vibrant missionary Church during his time (The letters of Paul and Acts witness to the exuberance and vivaciousness of Christian missionary activities). The number Seventy (Two) is more theological rather than historical. The number corresponds to the number of nations as found in Genesis 10:2-32

    [Note: The number varies: there are seventy in the Massoretic, but seventy-two in the LXX. This fluctuation is also seen in the manuscript tradition in this passage of Luke. Even an exegete has observed that the canons of Textual Criticism cannot be applied with success to this problem of Seventy/Seventy-Two).

Perhaps even the Q sayings that Luke has put together in this composition are the same ones that were carried by the early missionaries in their forays around and across Palestine and the Mediterranean. As appearing in Luke, the sayings (vv. 2-12) look like guidelines or short directives for action:

10:2 : The Saying About The Harvest.
10:3: Saying About Lambs Sent Among Wolves
10:4: What Not To Bring; Decorum On The Way
10:5-11: What To Do When Welcomed Or Not Welcomed
10:12: The Fate Of Those Who Would Refuse.

The first guideline is about prayer with a specific content: that the Master of the Vineyard send more laborers for the harvest. "Harvest" points to the coming of the Lord who will gather the nations under the one rule of God. This eschatological nuance is strongly confirmed by "on that day" in verse 12 and the sayings in verses 13-15 which fit seamlessly with this current section.

The second guideline (v. 3) is more a reminder about the difficulty of the missions. The missionary will be like a lamb before a pack of wolves. Perhaps this passage is best read in conjunction with texts like 2 Cor. 11:24-28:

Five times I have received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I have been beaten with rods; once I was stoned. Three times I have been shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brethren; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure upon me of my anxiety for all the churches.

The third guideline resembles the command given to the Twelve except for the last part about not greeting anyone on the road. The missionary must not tarry along the way; he must head to his destination straightaway. The fourth is again a more detailed prescription (almost rubrical) for the way one should behave when welcomed in a house. The command: "Do not go from house to house" does not have an equivalent in Matthew. The fate of the town that does not welcome the missionary will be worse than what befell Sodom. And the justification is given in a subsequent passage: "He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me." (v. 16) Finally, the Seventy (Two) are sent in pairs because apart from the psychological support that can be given by another, a testimony must be corroborated by another.

October 3, 2001 Wednesday

    Luke 9:57-62 The Lord's Either/Or

In view of the coming reign of God, all that constitutes a man's security will have to go to second place. A similar passage is also found in Matthew ( Matt 8:19-22). There, however, only two men are involved one of which is a scribe while the other is already a disciple. In Luke, the sayings are placed within the context of the journey to Jerusalem, symbol of the journey all disciples have to take. Further, the saying about the plow (v. 62) is found in Luke alone.

These sayings put into clear relief the previous call narratives. When the Lord called the fishermen, for example, it was for them to join him in a mission where no rest is guaranteed, and where family life will be set aside. The manner by which the Twelve and the Seventy are sent -- without procured support -- is the manner of those who proclaim the Good News of the reign of God. "No cloak, no stick, no money bag..." (cf. 10:4;9:3)

"No one who puts his hand to the plow
and looks back
is fit for the kingdom of God."

   One who plows cannot move in one direction while looking at the opposite direction. Some commentators have tried to understand this verse by comparing it with Lot's wife. That is not necessary. Any farmer knows that to operate the plow, one must not be distracted. Perhaps this image of a farmer plowing is to be put into contrast (here unexplicitated) with the act of reaping and harvesting (cf. 10:2 where the sending of the Seventy is connected to the harvest. In Palestine, plowing the fields already imply sowing.). The ministry for the kingdom requires that those who plow God's field concentrate on their work.

   These sayings of the Lord highlight the radicality of the call to the kingdom of God. Either one gives 100% of himself to it, or one cannot be part of it.

October 2, 2001, Feast of the Guardian Angels

      Matthew 18:1-5.10 Do Not Despise These Little Ones   Luke 9:51-56

The reading for today is Matthew 18:1-5.10. The occasion of the narrative is provoked by a question, this time coming from the Lord. The context is provided by the regular instructions the Lord gives to his disciples. There are three statements worth looking into:

Matthew 18:3 And said: amen I say to you, unless you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

First condition for entering the kingdom is conversion and become children. The first qualification of the greatest in the kingdom of God must be the openness of the child. The is trusting by nature.

Matthew 18:4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, he is the greater in the kingdom of heaven.

Here, the virtue of humility is added. The humility of a child is the humility of one who has no say about him/herself. They cannot make decisions on their own. Again the nuance of economic and political helplessness is put forward. In the kingdom of God, God must be allowed to rule; all the citizens of that kingdom shall live only by the Word of God.

Matthew 18:5 And he that shall receive one such little child in my name, receiveth me.

Thirdly, the reception accorded to a child is the way one accepts Jesus, with respect for weakness.

The reading leaves out vv. 6-9 for the reason that these verses contain guidelines regarding scandal and causing little ones to fall away. The last verse however is important because it sums all that Jesus has to say about children.

Matthew 18:10 See that you despise not one of these little ones: for I say to you, that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.

   The reading for the Feast of the Guardian angels has been chosen precisely because of this verse. Children are special in Divine Providence. If a disciple becomes like them, then they too -- no matter how old -- enters that special place in God's heart and receives the attention that they need. We have spoken about angels elsewhere and need not be repeated here. Children are not to be despised in the value system of the Lord, for in that value system, all have equal dignity, whether big or small, male or female.

October 1, 2001 Monday

   Luke 9:47-50 The Greatest

The statement about accepting the child will repeated by Jesus two times: 9:48; 18:17; It is worth noting that the word paidioV is never used as a subject. They do not act on their own. They can however be received, and their littleness is presented as an example for whoever wishes to enter the kingdom of heaven.

The question of greatness is handled again by Jesus in another place: "Let the greatest among you be as the youngest and the leader as the one who serves." (Luke 22:26). We find in these two related texts the theme of the Great Reversal applied into the affairs of the disciples.

"Whoever receives a child like this, receives me." The immediate conclusion that one draws from this is the identification of Jesus with those who cannot act on their own. Is this connected to this saying about his 'betrayal' into the powers of men? It is seems so, since the nuance of a betrayal, of being handed over to somebody else is that of utter helpless, much similar to that of a child. But there is more: receiving the child, is receiving Jesus; and receiving Jesus, in turn, is receiving the One who sent him.

Power and authority is no longer based on personal strength, but on helplessness. Jesus' victory is placed within the perspective of his impending betrayal, where he himself will be rendered powerless. To accept an image of helplessness is receiving Jesus even in that moment of helplessness as he is betrayed, something that to men who were probably contemplating a new order where they can be "bosses" should rethink.

The section will be followed up later by a request for a violent act. But even this will be refused by Jesus.

    That this reading should be offered during the feast of St. Therese of Lisieux and his "Little Way." is a reminder that a politics of power cannot be used as a norm within Jesus' community. St. Therese's Little Way, is precisely the way by which a child, with all his simplicity and weaknesses, take on the demands of discipleship according to the powers they are capable of exercising.

   The second prediction of the passion emphasizes how Jesus will be handed over to the powers of man. He will be receiving the actions of men, not initiating actions. Ultimately, to be a child is to surrender one's own designs to God, allowing Him to do with it what he warns.

   It would be truly sad if the God who will reverse the fates of the powerful and weak should reverse it to the great disadvantage of those who call themselves the followers of God. Luke, in underlining this wish of Jesus is actually preparing the author to understand how true disciples would be: like St. Paul, they should know how to be weak so that they can be strong.