June 25, 2010
Sunday Scripture
Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
BY FATHER DONALD DILGER
Jesus knew and spoke of what was to happen to him in Jerusalem. Nevertheless, Luke speaks of Jesus’ determination to fulfill his destiny, or as Luke called it earlier, “his exodus in Jerusalem.” Strangely, they were going up to Jerusalem through Samaria, the direct and shortest route. Because of strong animosity between Jews and Samaritans, the Jews of Galilee in the north usually crossed the Sea of Galilee or the Jordan River and then proceeded south to Jerusalem on the east bank of the Jordan. Just as Jesus disregarded other taboos to reach across boundaries set by human prejudice, so also in this case.
The Samaritans were not as accommodating about ignoring old prejudices. Jesus had sent some disciples ahead, probably to see about room and board for the night. These disciples entered a certain town. When the locals found out that Jesus and Company were en route to Jerusalem, they refused to let Jesus stay in their town. John and James, two feisty teenagers, had a suggestion. They said to Jesus, “Do you want us to call down fire from heaven to burn them up?” The foundation for this question is 2 Kings 1, where the prophet Elijah called down fire from heaven to consume the troops sent by King Ahaziah to arrest him. Elijah achieved this feat twice, roasting 102 of the king’s men. Jesus was not the roasting kind of person. He rebuked the two disciples for their attempt at violence.
The rest of today’s gospel is concerned with the call to follow Jesus, probably in a way that is not suited to every person. Luke may be thinking Christian missionaries who had to leave everything behind to do their work. By three examples Luke makes it clear that not all are called to this kind of discipleship. A man approaches Jesus and says, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ The Lucan Jesus states clearly the difficulties a Christian missionary experienced, “Foxes have dens and birds . . . have nests, but the Son of man (Jesus) has nowhere to lay his head.” The enthusiastic applicant had invited himself instead of being called. Luke does not say whether or not the man was ready.
This time Jesus does the inviting. “To another he said, ‘Follow me.” The invitee objected. He had an elderly father. He said, “Let me first go and bury my father.” Meaning:
“I’ll catch up with you, Jesus, when I have taken care of family matters.” To lay a parent to rest was a great act of filial love, the last good deed one could do for parents. But Jesus replies, “Let the dead bury the dead, but you go proclaim the kingdom of God.” Seems excessively harsh! We know that Jesus also approved of the commandment, “Honor your father and your mother.” What’s going on in Luke’s mind as he catechizes his parish? This does not seem an acceptable catechesis.
The same can be said for the last of Luke’s three examples. As in the first example, the man is not called by Jesus but volunteers, ‘I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say goodbye to my family at home.” Jesus replies, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” Luke again reaches back into the Old Testament, as he did above in James’ and John’s response to rejection by the Samaritans. That example came from the life of Elijah. This example comes from the life of Elijah’s successor, Elisha. When Elijah invited Elisha to follow him, the latter replied, “Let me kiss my father and mother. Then I will follow you.” Elijah was not pleased.
Often in Scripture exaggeration is used to make a point. The point here is that following Jesus, whether in mission work or simply living a Christian life publicly demands our full attention. Jesus also tells us to honor our parents. Therefore we do not exclude our families in following Jesus. We incorporate them into our Christian life. Jesus was quite capable of using proverbs, stories, and even exaggeration to get our attention.
Reference to this reading was made above. Here we can add Elijah’s response to Elisha’s wish to kiss his parents goodbye. The old prophet says, “Go, but remember what I have done to you.” He had thrown his own cloak around young Elisha, thus choosing him as his successor. Then Elisha did something that could not have pleased his father. He killed the two oxen with which he was plowing, (like dumping the farm tractor into the lake before leaving for the seminary). Using the yokes of the oxen for fuel, he boiled their meat and fed the farmhands. Is this instruction for us or entertainment?
Paul had been preaching freedom to his Gentile converts from observance of the laws of the Torah (or at least some of them). Some used this as “an opportunity for the flesh. The ugliness of fallen humanity asserted itself. Paul reminds them, “The whole Torah is fulfilled in one statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” What they were doing to each other, “biting and devouring one another,” was not love of neighbor, but love of sin. If they were truly led by the Spirit, they would not need the laws of the Torah.