D. Chrupcala – The servant of Yhwh has come to heal human blindness. Unlike the other Synoptics, Luke begins Jesus' public mission in Nazareth at the Sabbath gathering in the local synagogue. For the third evangelist this episode is a sort of programme for the remainder of the Gospel: it foreshadows the future opening of Jesus' preaching to different classes of people in need of salvation,.the refusal by Israel to accept God's emissary.
classes of people in need of salvation,.the refusal by Israel to accept God's emissary. The inhabitants of Nazareth – representatives of all Israel – are the first to listen to the solemn proclamation of the good news of Isaiah 61 and equally are the first to reject it, even trying in the end to kill their fellow villager. They are astonished,incredulous and outraged at the words spoken by him. The negative reaction of the Nazarenes is provoked by the messianic claims of Jesus , but above all by his manner of conducting the mission : they are jealous of their rights, which he did not take into account by preaching to others and making a name elsewhere.In responseto this implied accusation, Jesus appeals to two episodesof the life of the prophets Elijah and Elisha (2Kgs 5)- who worked beyond the context of Israel and, moreover , for the benefit of the Gentiles - with the clear purpose to justify the universal task of his ministry. If this does not speak of a projet to start the mission directed towards the pagans, certainly in these words one detects an allusion to his future preaching of the Gospel to the Gentiles and to their entrance into the messianic community. In this universal view, Jesus missionary manifesto must be understood also as enclosed in the Isaianic vaticinium read and commented by Jesus in the synagogue of Nazareth. The text of Is.61,1-2 , outlines the mission of the Lord's Anointed . Fundamentally it consists of evangelising the poor ( who embody all those who need salvation) and of announcing freedom to prisoners ( those waiting for the pardoning of sins), and the miracle working ( the healing of the blind and the liberation from demonic powers). The healings of the blind , read in their context, transcend a purely phisical aspect and illustrate the necessity to “see” the works of Jesus in order to discern in them the action of the messianic agent of salvation. As a result, taking into account the figurative value of the Lukan quotation of Is. 61,1-2 , it is opportune to give a metaphorical meaning to the opening of blind eyes. The blind are all the listeners of Jesus, present and future , to whom are given as of now the possibility (“the year of the Lord's favour “) to change their unfavourableb fate by accepting with faith the envoy of God. - The townspeople of Nazareth could not see in Jesus the expected Messiah , because they refused to believe in the prophetic word that was interpreted by him. According to their point of view, the promise of God contained in Is. 61 with its triumphalistic and 'nationalistic' tone, was destined exclusively to the escatological future of Israel. Stuck with their own convictions, they were not disposed to accept the enlightening exegesis of Jesus who was extending God's Mercy to all in need of redemption.
D. Chrupcala – The servant of Yhwh has come to heal human blindness.
RispondiEliminaUnlike the other Synoptics, Luke begins Jesus' public mission in Nazareth at the Sabbath gathering in the local synagogue. For the third evangelist this episode is a sort of programme for the remainder of the Gospel: it foreshadows the future opening of Jesus' preaching to different classes of people in need of salvation,.the refusal by Israel to accept God's emissary.
classes of people in need of salvation,.the refusal by Israel to accept God's emissary. The inhabitants of Nazareth – representatives of all Israel – are the first to listen to the solemn proclamation of the good news of Isaiah 61 and equally are the first to reject it, even trying in the end to kill their fellow villager. They are astonished,incredulous and outraged at the words spoken by him.
RispondiEliminaThe negative reaction of the Nazarenes is provoked by the messianic claims of Jesus , but above all by his manner of conducting the mission : they are jealous of their rights, which he did not take into account by preaching to others
and making a name elsewhere.In responseto this implied accusation, Jesus appeals to two episodesof the life of the prophets Elijah and Elisha (2Kgs 5)- who worked beyond the context of Israel and, moreover , for the benefit of the Gentiles - with the clear purpose to justify the universal task of his ministry.
If this does not speak of a projet to start the mission directed towards the pagans, certainly in these words one detects an allusion to his future preaching of the Gospel to the Gentiles and to their entrance into the messianic community.
In this universal view, Jesus missionary manifesto must be understood also as enclosed in the Isaianic vaticinium read and commented by Jesus in the synagogue of Nazareth.
The text of Is.61,1-2 , outlines the mission of the Lord's Anointed .
Fundamentally it consists of evangelising the poor ( who embody all those who need salvation) and of announcing freedom to prisoners ( those waiting for the pardoning of sins), and the miracle working ( the healing of the blind and the liberation from demonic powers).
The healings of the blind , read in their context, transcend a purely phisical aspect and illustrate the necessity to “see” the works of Jesus in order to discern in them the action of the messianic agent of salvation. As a result, taking into account the figurative value of the Lukan quotation of Is. 61,1-2 , it is opportune to give a metaphorical meaning to the opening of blind eyes.
The blind are all the listeners of Jesus, present and future , to whom are given as of now the possibility (“the year of the Lord's favour “) to change their unfavourableb fate by accepting with faith the envoy of God.
- The townspeople of Nazareth could not see in Jesus the expected Messiah , because they refused to believe in the prophetic word that was interpreted by him.
According to their point of view, the promise of God contained in Is. 61 with its triumphalistic and 'nationalistic' tone, was destined exclusively to the escatological future of Israel. Stuck with their own convictions, they were not disposed to accept the enlightening exegesis of Jesus who was extending God's Mercy to all in need of redemption.