Scripture scholars recognize that by the end of the 5th century B.C.E. the prophets of Israel strangely fell silent…God seemed to have stopped raising up mouthpieces to speak his words to his people. And then Jesus comes along and not only spoke with authority and cast our demons but what he said touched the people deeply. His words rang true to their inner hearts, just as Jeremiah, one of the later prophets, had predicted.
Jesus spoke with the power of the Lord! Something that had long disappeared from the land of Israel…the prophetic voice that had gone silent was speaking once again but more powerfully than ever before. In today’s Gospel it is pointed out he was from Nazareth! The demon was trying to put down Jesus by calling out his “backwater” home town… recalling Nathanial’s words from John’s Gospel, ”could anything good ever come from Nazareth?” But finally, the unclean spirit recognizes Jesus as “The Holy One of God”! And the people are astonished by Jesus’ authority with which he taught and that even unclean spirits obeyed him!
But the religious leaders and the elders of the people would become fearful of Jesus and the power he exercised in word and deed. What they couldn’t see is what the “unclean spirit” was able to see, Jesus’ oneness with God! His power was from his identity as “The Holy One of God”!
Who are the prophetic voices we listen to today? And what are they calling us to?
Are you being called to be prophetic in word and action? Through our baptism each one of us has been anointed to be a prophet, to live prophetic lives, lives that challenge the injustices of the world, lives that challenge racism and bigotry and misogyny, lives that heal and bring wholeness to the wounded and suffering of the world. You and I, we are called to be prophets who speak out and act out on behalf of the immigrant and the refugee, to be builders of peace and makers of justice! This is our prophetic call received at our baptism and sealed in the power of the Holy Spirit! Now is the time to live our discipleship, to claim our prophetic role in building up the Reign of God, to live and to love as the children of God whom we truly are!
God’s Blessings,
Fr Tim
Jesus spoke with the power of the Lord! Something that had long disappeared from the land of Israel…the prophetic voice that had gone silent was speaking once again but more powerfully than ever before. In today’s Gospel it is pointed out he was from Nazareth! The demon was trying to put down Jesus by calling out his “backwater” home town… recalling Nathanial’s words from John’s Gospel, ”could anything good ever come from Nazareth?” But finally, the unclean spirit recognizes Jesus as “The Holy One of God”! And the people are astonished by Jesus’ authority with which he taught and that even unclean spirits obeyed him!
But the religious leaders and the elders of the people would become fearful of Jesus and the power he exercised in word and deed. What they couldn’t see is what the “unclean spirit” was able to see, Jesus’ oneness with God! His power was from his identity as “The Holy One of God”!
Who are the prophetic voices we listen to today? And what are they calling us to?
Are you being called to be prophetic in word and action? Through our baptism each one of us has been anointed to be a prophet, to live prophetic lives, lives that challenge the injustices of the world, lives that challenge racism and bigotry and misogyny, lives that heal and bring wholeness to the wounded and suffering of the world. You and I, we are called to be prophets who speak out and act out on behalf of the immigrant and the refugee, to be builders of peace and makers of justice! This is our prophetic call received at our baptism and sealed in the power of the Holy Spirit! Now is the time to live our discipleship, to claim our prophetic role in building up the Reign of God, to live and to love as the children of God whom we truly are!
God’s Blessings,
Fr Tim
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