Word to the Wise
Saturday, September 28, 2024 - Saturday in the 25th Week in Ordinary Time
[Eccl/Qoh 11:9-12:8 and Luke 9:43b-45]While they were all amazed at his every deed, Jesus said to his disciples, "Pay attention to what I am telling you. The Son of Man is to be handed over to men." But they did not understand this saying; its meaning was hidden from them so that they should not understand it, and they were afraid to ask him about this saying. [Luke]
SEPTEMBER 28 [St. Lawrence Ruiz and Companions, martyrs in Japan]
To understand the three predictions of his death and resurrection in the Gospel According to Luke, it is important to remember for whom he was writing his gospel - Christian missionaries under persecution. Chapter nine of this gospel contains two of the three predictions, along with the story of the transfiguration in which Moses and Elijah appear with Jesus and discuss with him his "exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem." [9:31] Just before this account, Jesus warns the disciples "if anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." The disciples in all cases cannot understand this. In today's passage, the disciples and the crowd are simply amazed at Jesus' power and the miracles he was working. The passion warnings seem strange to them. Their meaning is "hidden."
The story of Jesus is not just about his teachings and good deeds. It is also about the way in which people react to his ministry. How could these teachings and healings end up on a cross? Luke seems to read the cross back into a point before the crucifixion, perhaps as a reminder that persecution and suffering - the fate of Jesus - will be part of their vocation. In the end, faithful discipleship will mean sharing in the glory of the resurrection, but the disciples in the story would not know this until the passion and resurrection occurred. The gospel presents the whole picture, which, in the story, was hidden from the disciples. We have the whole picture. What is our reaction to Jesus' life, death and resurrection? Can we see ourselves in this picture? We have to if we want to be his disciples. AMEN