First Reading
As the LORD spoke to me, the spirit entered into me
and set me on my feet,
and I heard the one who was speaking say to me:
Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites,
rebels who have rebelled against me;
they and their ancestors have revolted against me to this very day.
Hard of face and obstinate of heart
are they to whom I am sending you.
But you shall say to them: Thus says the LORD GOD!
And whether they heed or resist—for they are a rebellious house—
they shall know that a prophet has been among them.
Gospel
Jesus departed from there and came to his native place, accompanied by his disciples.
When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue,
and many who heard him were astonished.
They said, "Where did this man get all this?
What kind of wisdom has been given him?
What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands!
Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary,
and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon?
And are not his sisters here with us?"
And they took offense at him.
Jesus said to them,
"A prophet is not without honor except in his native place
and among his own kin and in his own house."
So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there,
apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them.
He was amazed at their lack of faith.
"And whether they heed or resist—for they are a rebellious house—
ReplyDeletethey shall know that a prophet has been among them."
It's interesting... First, I thought, 'Did God the Father include this in the Jewish scriptures for His Son's benefit? Because that would be cool.'
Secondly, "whether they heed or resist," they are still aware of something true. I think this is more interesting. No matter the acceptance level of the people, they will "know" something--they will know a prophet has been among them.
We'd have to ask 'what is a prophet?' I would say a prophet is a representative of the divine will. Now, my question is, if I were a member of the rebellious Israelites and I witnessed Ezekiel walk into town and speak on behalf of the great I AM, what would cause me to resist or ignore God's message (especially when I KNOW the one sending it IS A PROPHET)?
It makes me think of many times where some incontrovertible truth is preached in society only to have it compromised, justified, neglected, etc., most of which fall somewhere either in honoring the sacred or the dignity of the human person.
I believe that in these circumstances, even when the dignity of the human person is most severely compromised, those who wish to get around the rules, so to speak, cannot deny the fact that there is a very real natural moral law that they are twisting in order to justify their imperfect wills. Often times their justifications can only exist in cases which base much of their argumentation in natural moral law systems. (e.g. Having the right to choose (abortion, euthanasia, sterilization) presupposes that there are naturally bestowed rights, which implies a bestower and a receiver. The bestower must be greater than the receiver... See: Aquinas)
Now, it's very interesting that God calls them out and tells Ez that they will not listen, but they will know that you speak the truth.
I keep coming back to the experience of the one who has their own constructs of the world and can't bring themselves to surrender to the Word of God, which they KNOW is true according to scripture.
Am I reading into it too much?
EZ, I think you're on to something. I was thinking along similar lines: We hear that the people "took offense" at Jesus, Who was "amazed at their lack of faith." Is it possible that they "knew that a prophet had been among them," and rejected Him in spite of that knowledge? You're right in pointing out that people do similar things all the time. Haven't we all done it in our own hearts?
ReplyDeleteThe other thing I've been thinking about is this line, "they shall know that a prophet has been among them," or as we read in 2 Kings 5:8, "When Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his garments, he sent word to the king: 'Why have you torn your garments? Let him come to me and find out that there is a prophet in Israel.'"
I think Eric's right that a prophet speaks God's will, but what does that LOOK like? What is it that wows people? And how can I do that? (Because, let's remember, we've all been baptized into the prophetic office.) I'd be tempted to try to organize some formula about how a prophet goes about his work, how he doesn't care about public opinion or something like that. But at the end of the day, his power comes from the Word of God which he speaks. No matter how eloquent or fiery or otherwise awesome, a man without God's word is just a man. I think the key to being a good prophet are things we've known since we were wee children:
(1) Scripture. We've got to immerse ourselves in it. You can't share the Word of God if you don't know it.
(2) Prayer. You can't share God's will if you're not close to His heart.
At the end of the day, there are no sexy shortcuts...
An interesting thing we talked about last night on the Gospel is how we put restraints on the Lord. Sometimes we are no different from these people who grew up with Jesus and had such a lack of faith, even though they were astonished at his teaching. We grow up with the Lord, we have experienced a certain way that the Lord has worked in our life and sometimes that is the only way in which we believe the Lord can work for us. He still cured a few sick there. Do we have even that much faith in Him? We have to remember to wake up every morning open to the Lord, asking and searching for a new perspective of Him.
ReplyDeleteAS for being prophets, we need to speak truth to people's lives. I cannot be dismayed at Aaron's looks, I need to go boldly forth and say to you, "Aaron if you continue doing ___ you will die." We have the burden of others' sanctity on us. Like Ezekiel's watchman on the wall prophecy, as prophets we are all responsible for the city's safety. If we see the enemy coming and we don't blow the horn...IT IS OUR FAULT! And like Aaron said the tools to our prophetic gifts are prayer and scripture. In order to convict others we need to be convicted ourselves. Of course we should also be using the Holy Spirit's gift of prophecy when we can because that is what I think is closest to the actual writings of the Prophets. Jesus was the best prophet if you think about it, because every word He spoke was from God.
One last thing -- the second reading is a really famous one and there is a lot to meditate on about the condition of our hearts and our humility. The second reading is 2 Corinthians 12: 7-10, where we hear the famous quote from God into St. Paul's own prayer life (awesome to think about, isn't it?) "My grace is sufficient for you because my power is made perfect in weakness". That verse needs a minute or two, or a whole life time to set in, but it should really really encourage us to go forth in our spirituality. It is saying, you know the things that you normally worry about in social settings? Well, don't because those are going to be the best parts about you when you proclaim the Gospel with your life. Mike Arnold talked about a wife giving birth, how she is so weak and helpless, but at that moment the miracle of life happens and one of the most powerful gifts of love gives fruit. Jesus on the cross. And also, Phil Hoffman pointed something interesting out in the verse beforehand that says, "Though, if I wish to boast, I shall not be a fool, for I shall be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me." Phil then went on to make the point that we all only try to get others to see the best of us. Job applications, we place the best pictures in the most prominent places (FAcebook), girls wear make-up,etc. I thought this was a good reminder to be found truly free in ourselves this week...
Nice. As prophecy goes, it seems as though it could be further defined as proclaiming truths unnaturally known to a person but made known or acquired supernaturally via grace. Scripture and prayer are definite starting points for this, but I would also throw in virtuous living.
ReplyDeleteNothing wrong with developing habits of right actions properly ordered under the summum bonum.
Nick- I'm glad the gift of prophecy was brought up. Does that extend from our office of prophet by way of baptism or is it something else entirely?
ReplyDeleteI think it does extend but not directly. I am talking completely from point of view but it at least is related by association of the two. I mean, they are associated because they are a part of each other, right? If being a prophet means being a representative of the divine will, using the gift of prophecy is one of the ways the divine will is expressed. So I would label it a tool of the prophet, I guess.
ReplyDelete