Today Sunday readings reflection 01-26-14: The Good news that Jesus preaches is that people have to repent and change themselves as the kingdom of God is near. It is the good news of hope, peace, promise, truth and salvation that is contained in the kingdom. Jesus comes to his people as the herald or the messenger of good news. His message of the kingdom has certainty and assurance; it has total authority and power because it comes from the source which is God himself. The Scriptures indicate that the kingdom of God existed at the foundation of the world. It is the authority of God over everything that he created for John tells us that everything was created in and through Jesus. The mission of Jesus now is to re-establish this divine kingdom. There is the immediacy and the urgency in his proclamation as he says it is here and now. The listener has to respond to it immediately without delay. At the same time Jesus emphatically tells us that he is the good news and we have the obligation to listen to him. Already at his Baptism the Father had made it clear that he was his beloved son and we ought to listen to him. Now Jesus himself preaches this kingdom for all and invites them to respond to him. To be in the kingdom, then, is not to be in a particular place, either in this life or the next. Rather it is to be living one’s life, wherever we are, under the loving power of God. It is to be in a relationship of loving submission to one’s God and Lord and to be in an environment where values like truth, love, compassion, justice, freedom, community, and peace prevail. As Jesus began his public ministry his first act was to gather some disciples or co-workers who would share his work and his mission. Jesus recruited Simon, who is called Peter, his brother Andrew, James and John, the sons of Zebedee. When Jesus called them their response was immediate. They left everything, their fishing nets, their parents and family and followed Jesus to beDisciples of Christ.The story of the calling of the first disciples showed their immediate and unconditional response to the summons of Jesus. The initiative for the call comes from Jesus but their response was total. Even though they had no previous knowledge of Jesus, they dropped what they were doing, left all their possessions and their dear ones to be with Jesus. This calling his first disciples indicates the beginning of the time of the church. On the surface level this may not makeany sense to an outsider. However, it emphasizes that there was something almost indefinable about the person of Jesus that drew these first followers like a very strong magnet. They left everything, put their total trust in Jesus, leaving behind their means of livelihoodand not knowing where all this would lead. Jesus on his part had already taken this step in leaving Nazareth, his family and his livelihood as a carpenter for the sake of his mission.These chosen people now share the ministry in which Jesus was engaged and is summarized as teaching, preaching and healing those who were sick in the context of the kingdom.The Evangelist tells us that from then on, Jesus travelled throughout Galilee, teaching in the synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people. His mission was universal. It is thepreaching and the healing work that reveals the efficaciousness of the salvation that began in Jesus.
Posted on: Sun, 26 Jan 2014 01:37:20 +0000