GOSPEL READING:
Luke 4:21-3021 And he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. 22 And all spoke well of him, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth; and they said, "Is this not Joseph's son?" 23 And he said to them, "Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, `Physician, heal yourself; what we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here also in your own country.'" 24 And he said, "Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his own country. 25 But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when there came a great famine over all the land; 26 and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha; and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian." 28 When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. 29 And they rose up and put him out of the city, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw him down headlong. 30 But passing through the midst of them he went away.
Meditation: Do you believe that God wants to act with power
in your life today? Power to set you free from sin and hurtful
desires, fear and oppression. Throughout the Scriptures we see God
performing mighty acts to save his people from death and destruction
- from Noah's ark that spared his family from the flood of
wickedness that had spread across the land to Moses and the
Israelites who crossed through the parting waters of the Red Sea as
they fled the armies of Pharoah their slave Master and oppressor.
Throughout the Gospel accounts Jesus praised individuals who put
their faith in God as they remembered the great and wonderful
deeds he had performed time and again. Jesus even praised
outsiders - non-Jews and pagans from other lands who had heard
about the mighty deeds of the God of Israel. One example Jesus
mentioned was Naaman the pagan army commander from Syria who was
afflicted with leprosy - a debilitating skin disease that slowly
ate away the flesh (2 Kings 5:1-15). Naaman's slave-girl was a
young Jewish woman who had faith in God and compassion for Naaman
her master. She urged him to seek healing from Elisha, the great
prophet of Israel.When Naaman went to the land of Israel to seek a
cure for his leprosy, the prophet Elisha instructed him to bathe
seven times in the Jordan river. Namaan was indignant at first,
but then repented and followed the prophet's instructions. In
doing so he was immediately restored in body and spirit.
Healing the leprosy of soul and body
What is the significance of Naaman's healing for us? Ephrem the
Syrian (306-373 AD), an early Christian teacher from Edessa, tells
us that Naaman's miraculous healing at the River Jordan,
prefigures the mystery of the healing which is freely granted to
all nations of the earth by our Lord Jesus through the regenerating
waters of baptism and renewal in the Holy Spirit (Titus
3:5).
"Therefore Naaman was sent to the Jordan as to the remedy capable to heal a human being. Indeed, sin is the leprosy of the soul, which is not perceived by the senses, but intelligence has the proof of it, and human nature must be delivered from this disease by Christ's power which is hidden in baptism. It was necessary that Naaman, in order to be purified from two diseases, that of the soul and that of the body, might represent in his own person the purification of all the nations through the bath of regeneration, whose beginning was in the river Jordan, the mother and originator of baptism." (commentary ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 5.10-1)
Jesus told Nicodemus, "unless one is born of water and the
Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God" (John 3:5). The Lord
Jesus wants to renew in each one of us the gift of faith and the
regenerating power of baptism and the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5) which
cleanses us of the leprosy of sin and makes us "newborn" sons and
daughters of God.
Confronting the sin of indifference and unbelief
When Jesus first proclaimed the good news of God's kingdom to his
own townspeople at Nazareth (Luke 4:23-27), he did not hesitate to
confront them with their sin of indifference and unbelief. He
startled his listeners in the synagogue at Nazareth with a seeming
rebuke that no prophet or servant of God could receive honor among
his own people. He then angered them when he complimented Gentiles
(non-Jews) who had shown more faith in God than the "chosen ones"
of Israel. Some who despised the Gentiles (non-Jews) even spoke of
them as "fuel for the fires of hell." Jesus' praise for
"outsiders" offended the ears of his own people because they were
blind-sighted to God's merciful plan of redemption for all the
nations. The word of rebuke spoken by Jesus was met with
indignation and hostility. The Nazarenes forcibly threw him out of
their town and would have done him physical harm had he not
stopped them.
We all stand in need of God's grace and merciful help every day
and every moment of our lives. Scripture tells us that "the
steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to
an end; they are new every morning" (Lamentations 3:22-23). God
gives grace to the humble who seek him with expectant faith and
with a repentant heart that wants to be made whole and clean
again.
The Lord Jesus will set us free from every sinful habit and every
harmful way of relating to our neighbor, if we allow him to
cleanse and heal us. If we want to walk in freedom and grow in
love and holiness, then we must humbly renounce our sinful ways
and submit to Christ's instruction and healing discipline in our
lives. Scripture tells us that the Lord disciplines us for our
good that we may share his holiness (Hebrews 12:10). Do you
want the Lord Jesus to set you free and make you whole again? Ask
him to show you the way to walk in his healing love and truth.
Lord Jesus, teach me to love your ways that I may be quick to renounce sin and wilfulness in my life. Make me whole and clean again that I may delight to do your will.
Psalm 71:1-6,15,17
1 In you, O LORD, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame!
2 In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; incline your ear to me, and save me!
3 Be to me a rock of refuge, a strong fortress, to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.
4 Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man.
5 For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O LORD, from my youth.
6 Upon you I have leaned from my birth; you are he who took me from my mother's womb. My praise is continually of you.
15 My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all the day, for their number is past my knowledge.
17 O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.
Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: Could anyone refuse to love our God?, by Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"These words having been read to the assembled people, all eyes
focused on Jesus, wondering perhaps how he could read without
having been taught. The Israelites used to say that the prophecies
concerning Christ were fulfilled, either in the persons of some of
their more glorious kings or at least in the holy prophets. They
did not correctly understand what was written about him, so they
missed the true direction and traveled down another path. He
carefully guards against error by saying, 'This day is this
prophecy fulfilled in your ears,' that they might not again
misinterpret the present prophecy. He expressly set himself before
them in these words, as the person spoken of in the prophecy. It
was he who preached the kingdom of heaven to the heathen. They
were poor, having nothing - not God, not law, not prophets.
Rather, he preached it to all who were without spiritual riches.
He set the captives free; having overthrown the apostate tyrant
Satan, he shed the divine and spiritual light on those whose heart
was darkened. This is why he said, 'I come as a light in this
world ' (John 12:46).' It was he who took the chains of sin off of
those whose heart was crushed by them. He clearly showed that
there is a life to come, and sinners denounced in just judgment.
Finally, it was he who preached the acceptable year of the Lord,
the year in which the Savior's proclamation was made. By the
acceptable year I think is meant his first coming, and by the day
of restitution the day of judgment. (excerpt from COMMENTARY
ON LUKE, HOMILY 12)
