Gospel Reflection Sunday January 28th 2024 – Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time

By Fr Brian Maher OMI

Gospel Reflection for Sunday January 28th 2024 | 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In Luke’s Gospel we hear the story of the Roman Centurian who pleads with Jesus to heal his gravely ill servant. Not being a Jew, he does not consider himself worthy of asking Jesus to do this for him, so he sends some Jewish friends to make the appeal on his behalf. In talking to Jesus the Centurian acknowledges the power of Jesus, comparing it to the power he has as a Roman Centurian, “ For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” (Luke 7:1-10)

What the Centurian is in fact doing is stating the most common understanding of ‘authority’, the type of ‘authority’ defined in most dictionaries as, “a power or right, usually because of rank or office, to issue commands and to punish for violations. This type of authority is about control, power, obedience and ultimately, fear. The Centurian presumes that Jesus, because of his power to heal the sick, exercises the same kind of authority over his own followers. In this he is, of course, wrong.

Anybody who takes even a cursory glance at the Gospels will see that whatever style of authority Jesus had, it did not centre around control, power or obedience. Indeed, it would seem that Jesus’ understanding of authority rejected these concepts.

Today’s Gospel is, I think, hugely important because in it we meet the ordinary men and women who went to hear him. These people were not necessarily his followers and probably came out of a sense of curiosity more than anything else. However, it is clear that they noticed something about the way Jesus taught and spoke that was ‘unusual’ – certainly unusual enough for them to comment to one another about it.

They refer to what they noticed as ‘authority’, but “not as the teachers of the law.” It “amazes” them so much that they think they are hearing a “new teaching”. 

There is something hidden in this word ‘authority’ which I feel cries out to be understood by us. These ordinary men and women listening to Jesus are not talking to one another about the content of his message. What they are noticing is something about the man himself. They can’t quite put their finger on it, but he is not like others who teach and preach the word of God (Pharisees, Sadducees, Scribes, etc). “Who is this man…” they ask, “…who speaks with an authority greater even than their own leaders and priests?”

As happens so frequently in the Gospels, we find ourselves returning again and again to the person of Jesus rather than some abstract message he teaches. Their question to one another is, “who is this man” rather than “what is he saying.”

In itself this is important, but there is another step we must take, a vital step which leads us into the hidden life of God. It is a journey we can make only through, with and in the person of Jesus. As we say each time we celebrate the Eucharist, “through him, with him and in him….”

For us Christians, Jesus is not just a great man or a visionary prophet, he is the revelation of the Father. In other words, when we see and hear Jesus we are seeing and hearing God. (Try closing your eyes and repeating that last sentence a few times. See if you can experience the awe and majesty of the life of Love into which Jesus invites us). But don’t take my word for it. Jesus said it himself, “He who sees me sees the one who sent me…” (John 12:44). Can anything be clearer than that?

The people who walked through the Old Testament as messengers from God (Abraham, Moses, through the great Kings and Prophets to John the Baptist) told us what God was like in so far as any human words can describe the nature of God. And although restricted to inadequate human words their message was extraordinarily consistent. They described a God of Love, who created everything that exists purely out of love; they describe a God of mercy, always willing to forgive the faults of his people; they describe a God who is close, who ‘walks’ with his people through good times and bad times; they describe a God who, like a mother, holds us in her arms; above all, they describe a Covenant God, who faithfully keeps the promises he made to his people. The greatest of these promises was never to leave his people alone. He would come to them and be with them always.

The Gospels are the account of how God fulfilled this last of his promises, coming to his people, living and dying with them, then rising from the dead to be with them forever. What makes Jesus different to every other person we meet in the Bible is that Jesus does not just ‘tell us’ about the God who loves us, but he actually ‘shows us’ this God in his very person.

If we can truly believe what Jesus said to us – “He who sees me sees the one who sent me…” – then in everything Jesus said and did, in everything Jesus was, we are seeing God. And just look at the things Jesus said to us:

“I no longer call you servants; I call you friends.”

“Come to me, all of you who are overburdened with cares and anxieties, and I will give you rest.”

“has no one condemned you? Neither do I…”

“I came that you may have life, and have it to the full”

“a peace that the world cannot give; this is my gift to you.”

“See, I wash your feet…I leave you an example that you must follow in my name.”

“Do not be afraid.”

I am with you always, even to the end of time.”

If we can believe what Jesus said to us, then each one of those statements (and so many more) is spoken to us by God. .

Our God calls us ‘friends’; will give us rest; does not condemn us; came that we might have life; leaves us a peace that the world cannot give us; washes our feet; tells us not to be afraid; will be with us until the end of time. WOW!!!

No wonder they were ‘amazed’ at what he said and did. No wonder “news about him spread quickly…”

So, I ask myself, what went wrong? Just a few short years later, these same people who were amazed at the authority he had, and sensed within him something ‘new’, rejected him and his message, allowing him to be unjustly condemned and killed.

There were, of course, political, social, theological and personal reasons why all of this happened, none of which are pertinent here.

At heart, however, what I think happened was that the God Jesus showed them was so completely different to the God they were expecting, that they simply failed to recognise him/her as God.

They expected a God who would free them from the grinding occupation of Rome. The God Jesus showed them said, “love your enemies”. The expected justice in the form of judgement and punishment for their enemies. The God Jesus showed them said, “do good to those who hate you. They expected a God who would look after them and their interests. Jesus showed them a God who welcomed everyone – sick, well, rich, poor, sinner, saint, all equal in God’s Kingdom.

They had expectations of what God would do for them and what God’s Kingdom would look like which did not match the God Jesus was showing them or the Kingdom he said was coming. They did what most people do when their expectations are not met – they rejected both the message and the person who brought it.

They wanted and expected a certain kind of ‘authority’ from God – a God who would come in power; a God who would punish their enemies; a God who would be exclusively for them.

What Jesus showed them was a God who washed their feet, kneeling before them like a servant. They simply could not, would not, accept a God whose authority was in service of others rather than control of others.

… And I ask myself, what about us? What are our expectations of God and his Kingdom? When the Kingdom is fully realised what will it look like? Who will be in it?

When God and Jesus come again, what will their coming look like? Will their authority be made visible in power, judgement, punishment, retribution, obedience, law? Or will their authority be made visible in forgiveness, service, humility, tolerance, friendship, peace?

All of these are important questions. The danger is always that the Kingdom of God is with us and we don’t recognise it because we are looking for something else or we are expecting something else.

It is Jesus who reveals God to us. Any expectations we have of God and his Kingdom must always be consistent with the God Jesus showed us.

I have a feeling that doing that will lead to many surprises!

f you have any comments, questions or thoughts on this scripture reflection, please feel welcome to email me at b.maher@oblates.ie