“Return of the LORD”: The context of the weekday Gospel readings for the months of October and November 2017
Divine
itinerary. From October 3 – November 24, the weekday Gospel readings all come from chapters 9-19 of the
Gospel of St. Luke. These chapters are called Luke’s “travel narrative”.
In chapter 9, Jesus “sets his face”
towards Jerusalem and in chapter 19, his “triumphal entry” into the city (Palm
Sunday) is acclaimed by large crowds of pilgrims who had come to Jerusalem to
celebrate the Passover.
On the “way”. Throughout these chapters, Jesus is
(literally) “on the way” to Jerusalem. That
is to say, he is journeying along the
road. For Luke, this is a metaphor
for the Christian life – disciples of Jesus are travelling “the way” of
obedience to Christ and are responding to his call to serve him and to be transformed
to resemble him more and more as they follow him on the path of faithfulness. In fact, in Volume 2 of Luke’s work – the book
of the Acts of the Apostles – the early
Christians are simply described as being those of “the way” (e.g. Ac. 9.2;
22.4; 24.14, 22).
This is
what’s going on. Luke’s “travel
narrative” is chock-full of biblical symbolism. Just as Yahweh
had journeyed with the Israelites through the desert at the time of the Exodus
from Egypt, so now Jesus journeys from
the northern regions of the Promised Land (Galilee) to the capital in the south.[1] As Jesus advances towards Jerusalem, he finds
himself accompanied by throngs of pilgrims making their way to the Temple to
celebrate Israel’s “national holiday” (i.e. Passover,
the celebration of freedom from slavery in Egypt). In fact, during his Transfiguration, and right
before he “set his face” towards Jerusalem, Jesus had discussed his “exodos”
with Moses and Elijah (Lk. 9.31; this Greek word is translated as “departure”
in the NRSV). After Jesus enters Jerusalem,
he weeps and exclaims:
“If you …had only recognized on
this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your
eyes. Indeed, the days will come upon
you, when your enemies …will crush you to the ground, you and your children
within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because
you did not recognize the time of your
visitation from God” (19.41-44; cf. 17.20-37; 21.5-28).
Living the
story. Jesus, as Messiah, is
Israel-in-person; he is also, as
stupefying as it seems, Yahweh-in-person.
Throughout his life, Jesus is re-enacting the entire story of
Yahweh and Israel. The clues are
everywhere in the narrative of Luke’s Gospel: the story begins with an elderly
couple – an old priest named Zechariah and his sterile wife Elisabeth who
receive the promise of a son – who does that remind us of? Abraham
and Sarah! (of course!); the promised son – John – goes into the desert and
begins to baptize people and proclaim the prophetic message: “Prepare the WAY
of Yahweh” – God is coming back to his people; get ready – repent! After his baptism
by John in the Jordan River (= crossing the Red Sea), Jesus goes where – into the
desert (of course!) – to be “tempted”
for how many days – 40 (of course! The
Israelites had spent 40 years in the
wilderness). Jesus chooses how many
apostles – 12 (of course! Ancient Israel
had been organized into 12 tribes). And as he is on the WAY to Jerusalem, Jesus
tells story after story about a landowner
or a king who goes away and leaves his servants with jobs to do; then he
comes back and judges his servants according to their un/faithfulness in
carrying out the tasks that had been assigned to them (e.g. Lk. 12.35-48; 19.11-27;
20.9-19). In and as Jesus, Yahweh is returning to his “home” – the Jerusalem
Temple, but once he arrives, Jesus will – like the prophet Jeremiah centuries
before – pronounce judgment upon the nation and its leaders, who have become corrupted
by violence and greed (Lk. 19.45-48; 21.5-28).
As the prophet Malachi had said:
“the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The
messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the
Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day
of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?” (3.1-2)
On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus repeatedly warns that
destruction is coming upon the city (13.1-5, 31-35; 17.20-37; 19.41-44). God is returning to his people, but they are
not ready. What God’s people thought they wanted has finally happened
– but once Yahweh shows up, he is rejected. It’s the final twist in this pivotal chapter
in the often tragic story of Yahweh and his purposes to save his world.
October (chapters 9-13). So, Luke’s
travel narrative is full of suspense;
we feel like a showdown is coming as Jesus gets closer and closer to his goal –
Jerusalem. With each step, we understand
more and more that we are heading towards a confrontation, not only with Israel’s
religious leaders and Rome’s political ones, but also with “him who has
authority to cast into Hell” (12.5). As
Jesus approaches this ultimate battle, he explains what discipleship is all
about; he teaches his disciples about the cost involved in following him. He sends out his followers to announce words
of hope as well as words of warning. God
is returning; make sure you respond correctly!
Don’t get caught napping! Watch!
Be ready! Understand that you are
living at the most crucial time in the history of the world! But through it all, those who follow Jesus
into the heart of the storm can rest assured that their heavenly Father is
watching over them and will carry them through whatever lies ahead.
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