Daily Gospel: Abandoned Adoption

30 January 2022 Luke 4:21-30

Sunday of the 4th Week in Ordinary Time 

ABANDONED ADOPTION

I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land (Luke 4:25).

Word of God today pictures the images of two prophetic figures rejected by their own people; Jeremiah and Jesus. The reason for their rejection experience is the outcome of their faithfulness to their prophetic mission.

A prophet is a spokesperson of God completely set-apart his life for God as a servant of God. Therefore, no individual or people own the prophet. He is not supposed to speak or work according to the whims and fancies of people.

As part of their prophetic mission both Jeremiah and Jesus had to speak truths which were not pleasing to their contemporaries which provoked jealousy, indignation and anger in them. The displeasing message both tried to convey was that sometimes God favors pagans over chosen people (sinners over righteous).

JEREMIAH: Jeremiah lived at the time when Jerusalem was threatened to be occupied by Babylonians. As the spokesperson of God, he counsels King Zedekiah of Judah to take/accept the yoke of Babylonian exile, because that would be the only way to survive. No miraculous rescue from God. People shall be purified by the bitterness of exile. For this he was accused as “Pro-Babylonian”, arrested him and threw him into cistern because the king could not imagine God allowing his people to be humbled by “uncircumcised pagans”

JESUS: Jesus observes people of Nazareth trying to monopolize his prophetic mission by demanding him to perform miracles in Nazareth because of their proximity with Jesus, v.23. Again, no individual or group owns the prophet as he is the servant of God. He is not supposed to work according to whims and fancies of the people Jesus quotes two instances from OT where God favors pagans over His own people.   (1) Syrian leper Naaman: Only Naaman the pagan was cleansed by Prophet Elisha, although there were hundreds of lepers in Israel. (2) Widow of Zarephath: Prophet Elijah was sent to the widow of Zarephath, although there were hundreds of widows in Israel. The realization that Jesus could not be domesticated and his prophetic mission not monopolized they reject him.

These three examples from OT where God favors a pagan over His own people; (1) Jeremiah’s prophecy Babylonian exile, (2) Healing of Naaman the Syrian Leper and (3) Feeding of the widow of Zarepath; gives us few lessons. We should understand it in the context of our adoption as sons/daughters of Christ. St. Paul reminds us about our adoption which we received at baptism, “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to son-ship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will” (Ep. 1:4-5). The election of Israel prefigures our adoption.

1. Adoption is not favoritism: We have a special place in the ‘heart of God’ as adopted children of God, but it does not mean that God has no care for other people and other generations. God cares about everyone.

2. Adoption attaches a mission: For Israel election was not a privilege to be enjoyed personally. It was with a clear divine vision to save the world through them. Similarly, our adoption has a mission attached to it, i.e., to flavor the world by being the salt of the earth or to brighten the world by being the light of the world through a life of Christian witnessing.

3. Adoption is not to feel superior: Experience of being ‘chosen’ leads religious elites of Jewish society (Pharisees, Sadducees) feel superior over the rest of the world and social inferiors of their own society. They are elected not because they deserve it. People of Nazareth also felt superior because of their proximity with Jesus. God owes no special favor to His people and everything they receive from God is a pure gift. No one has any exclusive right to God’s gifts. The gift of our adoption is not what we deserve, but purely a gift.  Amen.

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