Messengers of the king: a reflection for Day 2 of Lent

 


“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go on your way; I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves.” (Luke 10.2-3)

     Jesus and the disciples continue to journey towards Jerusalem.  Jesus has been identified as the Messiah, God’s anointed king (Lk. 9.20).  The (true) king of Israel now conducts a “royal tour”, seemingly intent on visiting every village between Capernaum and the capital.  Jesus, who is doomed to die in Jerusalem, is concerned to “gather in the harvest”, i.e. to prepare the people of God against the day of judgment which looms on the horizon (cf. Lk. 10.12-14).  Jesus is on a prophetic mission, which resembles that of Elijah (cp. Lk. 9.61-62 with 1 Kings 19.19-21).  Once again, he enrolls his followers – 72 this time – to participate in his work of healing and proclaiming the kingdom.  The role of the disciples is to literally “prepare” each village for the arrival of the king (Lk. 9.51-52; 10.1).  In this way, their work resembles that of John the Baptist (cf. Lk. 3.7-9, 15-17).  We are not shown how this work of preparation facilitated Jesus’ visits to Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum (10.13-15), but we are left with the distinct impression that these Galilean villages were largely unresponsive to Jesus’ presence.  The towns of Galilee seem to suffer from the same “blindness” as Jerusalem (cf. Lk. 19.41-44).  Interestingly, the Samaritan village who refused to welcome Jesus does not receive a warning of judgment, while the villages populated by those who considered themselves to be the true people of God have prophetic “Woes” uttered against them (cp. Lk. 9.51-56 with 10.13-15).

     Jesus’ generation is the “generation of destiny” (cf. Lk. 9.41; 11.50-51; 17.25; 21.32), which will witness God’s decisive act of salvation and judgment, and whose response to Jesus and his kingdom-message will determine whether their nation is rescued…or destroyed.  Jesus doesn’t have much good to say about his generation – he condemns it as being “faithless and perverse” (9.41) as well as “evil” (11.29).  Jesus’ generation stands condemned because it refuses to repent, in spite of the fact that great signs and wonders have been performed before its very eyes (Lk. 11.29-32; cf. 10.13-15, 23-24).  Jesus compares himself to the prophet Jonah, who had been a “sign” in his own day to the people of Nineveh, who had repented when Jonah had preached to them (11.29-30, 32)!  Indeed, Jesus says that if the “deeds of power” done in Chorazin and Bethsaida had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented in the manner of the Ninevites – “in sackcloth and ashes” (Lk. 10.13; cf. Jonah 3.5-9).  Jesus is calling his generation, as John had, to truly be the people of God (cf. Lk. 3.7-9; Mt. 5.13-16), to be a “light to the nations” (cf. Lk. 2.25-35; Ex. 19.5-6).  As far as Jesus is concerned, his generation has failed to live out this vocation.  Jesus is calling his generation to repent, but repent of what exactly?  More on that tomorrow…

     As followers of the crucified Lord, we are also sent to proclaim the “once and future” kingdom of God.  Our mission is to invite people to embrace the Creator’s vision of the human life, as lived by the Word who became flesh.  This is the way to life, and we are called to both proclaim and embody it.  Amen.

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