A Model Response

Gospel: Luke 4: 38-44

Following the events in the synagogues, Jesus then goes to Simon Peter's house where he heals his mother-in-law of an ailment.  Her response to the healing becomes the model against which all other responses to healing are examined.  Peter's mother-in-law simply rises from her sick bed and serves others.  She does not go about "witnessing" or "testifying", telling others about her healing.  She simply gets to the work of serving others.  

From there, Jesus goes out to towns and villages throughout Galilee healing people of their infirmities, liberating people from their demons, and feeding people at table.  In these journeys we will encounter many people who encounter Jesus, most are nameless like Peter's mother-in-law.  In every encounter Jesus tells people who are healed not to talk about it to anyone.  Jesus invites them to follow him in the way of service - all things found in this healing at Peter's house.  

These encounters throughout the Gospels invite us to reflect on our own encounters with Jesus and with others.  Have we followed the model of discipleship in this unnamed woman, or are we like so many in the Gospels who do not listen to Jesus, creating frenzied crowds rather than authentic responses of humble service to others?  Each passage of the Gospels, each encounter with another person, invites us to this reflection and response.   

Demons Among Us

Gospel: Luke 4: 31-37

Jesus goes from the synagogue of Nazareth to the synagogue in Capernaum where again he is invited to teach.  While there in the synagogue a man possessed by a demon is present, and no one in the congregation is surprised.  He is a fixture in the community.  At one point they may have been concerned for him, but over time with the apparent inability to heal him everyone simply took his condition for granted.  The man and his demons were a fixture in the community.

Their shock comes when Jesus delivers the man from his demons.  The man had been in this state for so long that everyone just thought he could not be helped, and here Jesus comes and does so.  It may be that many in the past tried to help this man but were unable to do so.  Whatever approach they took to do so simply did not work.  It may be that some refused to help the man - that he was "too far gone" in order to restore him to full health.  The approach of Jesus was immediate and effective.  

How often do we accept as given the conditions of people oppressed by various demons in their lives!  How often do we consign people to their fate, saying they are "too far gone" and incapable of being helped!  Jesus sees no person as beyond help or care.  This scene in the synagogue will be replayed time and again with people of many conditions in many places.  Many will tell him not to help certain people, others will be written off by the crowd or the disciples.  But Jesus will ignore them all and find a way to help those in need. 

Rejected by His Own

Gospel: Luke 4: 16-30

Each Gospel writer begins the story of Jesus' public ministry in a different setting.  In today's Gospel portion Luke situates Jesus' inaugural event of ministry in his home town synagogue where Jesus is invited to share a reading and preach, indicating Jesus' status as a rabbi.  The synagogue was full, people who knew Jesus and eager to see what he would read and on what topic he would preach.  This setting is full of anticipatory promise.

Jesus chooses to read not from the Torah but from the prophet Isaiah, and he chooses to preach not on Jewish life and the keeping of the law but on how God is for all people of all races, classes, genders, and religions.  The reaction to Jesus' reading and preaching is swift and violent.  The entire town drags him to the edge of a cliff, intent on killing him.  Imagine - all these people you know, with whom you grew up and worked - all of them now seeking to kill you because you state that God is not their exclusive property.

While each Gospel situates Jesus' entrance into public ministry in different places, they all note in different ways that opposition to Jesus came from the very beginning.  "He came unto his own, and his own received him not."  The message of God being for all people remains as unpopular today as it was in Jesus' day.  Even those who sing the hymn "All are Welcome" do not really believe or practice it.  But the words and deeds of Jesus continue to inspire some to live that ideal, a place at the table for all.