Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
The nation is in turmoil. There is division, there is anger, there are protests, there are counter-protests, there is violence, there are deaths. Where do we go from here? How do we return to respect, civility and trust? What can lead us to a just and peaceful society? Perhaps, today’s scripture readings have the answer.
The Remnant
The Prophet Zephaniah was a prophet during the reign of king Josiah (640-609 BC). He was contemporary of the Prophet Jeremiah. The context of his ministry was the social, moral, and idolatrous corruption lingering in the kingdom. There were widespread social injustices, the poor were trampled upon by the economic oppression of corrupt officials, and idolatry and apathy toward God’s law was rampant. There was total disregard for justice and truth.
It is in this context that Zephaniah says, “I will leave a remnant in your midst” (3:13). Who are the remnant people? Zephaniah calls them, “a people humble and lowly” (3:12). The remnant people have certain qualities. They are a people of character. Zephaniah says that the remnant seek justice and humility. They take refuge in the Lord. They do no wrong, speak no lies, and not have a deceitful tongue (Zeph 3: 12-13). In other words, the remnant were God’s people, who, centering their lives on the God’s law, would live a life or of humility, righteousness, and truth.
A New Remnant
The society of Jesus’ time was not very different from the time of Zephaniah. The Empire was sustained by absolute power, unmitigated intolerance, and brutal violence. Even the religious establishment was tainted with legalism and hypocrisy. Jesus was aware of the injustice, the corruption, the apathy, and the hypocrisy that plagued both religion and society. In this context, he could have gone in any direction. But Jesus did something in line with Zephaniah’s prophecy. He proposed a transformative ethic for living. Jesus offered a counter-cultural model for just and peaceful living. He said: “Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are those who they who mourn. Blessed are the meek. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Blessed are the merciful. Blessed are the clean of heart. Blessed are the peacemakers. Blessed are the persecuted.”
Jesus did not preach the Beatitudes to the wind. He called ordinary people to join hands with him. In today’s gospel, Matthew says, “When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him” (1:1). The crowds were at the foot of the mountain. The disciples came to Jesus and he taught them.
In other words, Jesus was forming “a remnant” for his time. Only, they are called disciples. To them he taught his new ethic, his new way for creating just and peaceful communities. It was based on simplicity, humility, meekness, mercy, righteousness, and peacemaking. It would not be easy. They could and would be persecuted. But it is the cost of discipleship. In fact, there is a blessedness in it all.
The Call
Today’s gospel reading, and for that matter, all the three scripture readings do not merely teach us something. They are a clamoring call to us.
There are two things to consider as we hear the call. First, in last week’s Gospel, we heard Jesus call his first four disciples. 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 simple fisherfolk. As Paul says in today’s second reading, “God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something” (1 Cor 1:27-29). God calls the weak, the simple, the humble, and the lowly. God can do more with them than the powerful, the arrogant, and the boastful.
Second, in today’s gospel reading, there were two groups of people. There was the crowd that was at the foot of the mountain and there were the disciples who went up the mountain to Jesus. Based on Jesus’ call of his apostle, perhaps we could say that it was the weak, the simple, the humble, and the lowly who went up in the first place. The powerful, the arrogant, the boastful, and those steeped in self-sufficiency stayed at the foot of the mountain. Either we are the crowds at the foot of the mountain, or we are disciples on the top of the mountain with Jesus. Either we are the remnant or we belong to the world. Either we follow the ethic Jesus proposes or we are master of our own making.
I want to end with Paul’s words, “Consider your own calling, brothers and sisters… (1 Cor 1:26). Indeed, let us consider our call. Amen.
- Fr. Satish Joseph