Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
There is something interesting about the way today’s gospel reading describes the beginning of Jesus’s public ministry - the incredible geographical details. Five locations are mentioned – Nazareth, Capernaum, the Sea of Galilee, Zebulun and Naphtali. "At the news of John’s arrest, Jesus left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum, a coastal town of the Sea of Galilee in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali" (Mt 4:12-13).
Why is this geographical detail important? It important because today’s first reading from Isaiah also begins with two of the same names – Zebulun and Naphtali. Isaiah says, “The Lord degraded the land of Zebulun of Naphtali” (Is 8:23). The region of Zebulun and Naphtali were the two Northern most regions of Israel. Isaiah was referring to the Assyrian invasion of Israel, the Northern Kingdom in 722 BC. Zebulun and Naphtali were the first regions to be destroyed. It is to these two regions that Isaiah refers when he says, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light” (Is 9:1). Matthew picks up on this theme as he says, “He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali…” (Mt 4:12).
About 700 years after Isaiah’s prophecy, Matthew quotes Isaiah’s prophecy saying: “…the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death light has arisen’ (Mt 4:16). Jesus could have begun his ministry anywhere in Palestine, but he chose regions where people first experienced anguish and darkness. We are not merely taking symbolism here. This is a real intervention of God in human history. Jesus, God in flesh, began his ministry in the darkest and anguished places, and called his first disciples there.
Today’s Zebulun and Naphtali
I said earlier that Matthew’s mention of geographical names is not mere symbolism. They are real places and situations in which God intervened in human history. Zebuluns and Naphtali’s exist today - in the poverty and misery of the world, in the oppressed and exploited people of the world, in abortion clinics, in refugee camps, in immigrant detention camps, in starving populations, in war torn regions, in brothels, in drug houses. Zebulun and Naphtali represent the anguish and darkness of systemic racism, of economic inequalities, the failure of those in power to resolve real human concerns, the failure of even the Church to include those on the peripheries.
The beginning of Jesus’ ministry became typical of the rest of his ministry. As he sat with tax-collectors, prostitutes, and sinners; as he crossed into forbidden Samaritan territories; as he touched lepers, healed blind beggars, give hope to hungry people, lifted up the neglected poor, went after the one stray sheep, Isaiah’s prophecy became a historical reality – “The people who lived in darkness have seen a great light” (Is 9:1).
The Zebulun’s and Naphtali’s of Our Lives
Nazareth and Capernaum, Zebulun and Naphtali are geographical regions, but today they also symbolize every human life. Even a superficial look into our lives reveals a kaleidoscope of anguish and joy, darkness and light, sin and sanctity, good and evil. Our lives have Bethlehems and Nazareths, but we also have our Zebuluns and Naphtalis.
Even as we try to be good and faithful Christians, what might be the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali in our lives? While we stand in the light, does darkness too lurk in our lives? Pride, jealousy, greed, fury, hatred, selfishness, unforgiveness, lust, pornography, addictions, egoism, dishonesty, lies, racism, classism, sectarianism, hypocrisy – these are real forces of darkness in human lives.
Jesus came into the world to dispel darkness. Today, the scripture readings are challenging us to allow Jesus to walk into our anguish and darkness and shed his light.
Joining with Jesus
There is yet another important detail about Jesus’ ministry in today’s gospel that we cannot ignore. Jesus chose four unschooled ordinary people as his first followers. They were not from the temple in Jerusalem, nor from the synagogues in Nazareth or Capernaum, nor from among religious or national leaders, nor from among the social elites, nor seemingly pious people. They were fisherfolk.
Why did Jesus choose the people he did? He was looking for people who would not count the cost. He needed people who were humble, open, and willing to learn. He needed people whose religiosity did not come in the way of genuine faith, whose schooling did not come in the way of servanthood, and whose prejudices did not become a stumbling block to embrace people in anguish and darkness. He needed people who would sit at the dinner table with tax-collectors, sinners, and prostitutes without judgment and condemnation. He needed people who would be at home with people in the peripheries – the lepers, the blind beggars, the lame, the Samaritans, the orphan and widow.
Today, I am not going to ask the moot question, would Christ choose me? I don’t know. The question is whether I am willing to follow. I must be willing to follow him where he goes – to the Zebuluns and Naphtalis of our own lives, of our times, and of our world. The question is whether I am willing to allow Christ to transform me into the kind of disciples he seeks. Can we leave our boats? Can we leave out nets? Can we leave ourselves for him?
Fr. Satish Joseph