3^rd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

 

Readings: Isaiah 8:23-9:3

                 1Corinthians 1:10-13, 17

                 Matthew 4:12-17 (or 4:12-23)

 

 

“Change your ways; the kingdom of Heaven is near.”

 

 

Our gospel of today has three points to give: first, it tells us that a prophecy is fulfilled; second, it figures out that Jesus is the great light; third, it proclaims that the kingdom of God is at hand. The first two can be said as minor messages, while the third is the major message of today's gospel.

 

1. Capernaum is a town by the lake of Galilee. While Jesus grows up in Nazareth, we see that he does not take Nazareth as the starting point of his public ministry. As we are told, after John's arrest, he takes refuge in Galilee and there begins the proclamation of his message. One probable reason for this is that he knows pretty well that no prophet is accepted in his own country (cf Lk 2:24). Another reason is perhaps his eagerness to be with another kind of poor people. After spending years in the humble life as a carpenter, he chooses now to wear the shoes of a fisherman, not so much in order to learn fishing himself as it is to teach these humble fishers of Galilee to catch men (cf Mk 1:16-20). There are two good reasons why he leaves Nazareth and goes to Galilee. Over and above these reasons is the most profound one: it is a fulfillment of scripture!

 

Once more, the gospel tells us that the New Testament is the fulfillment of the Old. This has been one of the important concerns of the evangelist. Every time there is an opportunity to show that a New Testament points back to the Old, the evangelist does not neglect nor hesitate to note it down. The citing of Jesus' withdrawal to Capernaum in the territory of Zebulon and Naphtali as a fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy follows the same pattern of quoting the Old Testament regarding the place of Jesus' birth. Bethlehem, the place where the child is born, is a fulfillment of what the prophet wrote (cf Mt 2:4-6). This consistent pattern teaches us one important truth: Jesus is the center of everything that is written.

 

2.   In this prophecy - and thus in its fulfillment – Jesus figured out as a great light seen by the people who lived in darkness, and as a light that shines upon those who dwell in the land and shadow of death. This prophecy of Isaiah, written long ago, is confirmed with practically the same expression in the Benedictus of Zechariah (cf Lk 1:68-79) and in the Nunc Dimitiis of Simeon (Lk 2:29-32). But what is more significant here is the fact that Jesus takes upon himself this very signification. He states it so clearly: "l am the light of the world; anyone who follows me will not be walking in the dark, he will have the light life." (Jn8:12)

 

3. The shining of this great light signal that the Kingdom of Heaven is near. But what do we mean when we say ‘kingdom of Heaven is near?’ Or better, what does the evangelist mean when he uses such phrase - "kingdom of heaven?”

 

Most often, what immediately gets into our minds when we meet the word "heaven" is the thought of a "place" somewhere up above there where God and his angels reside. This understanding is true and we believe it as part of our catholic dogma. But this is not always the case .every time we get across with the word "heaven" in the Bible. The Jews reserves their highest respect to God, so that as much as possible they refrain from writing the word "God" to avoid pronouncing it. This is the reason why they use other words as substitute for it, such as: “The Glory,” "The Power,” "The Almighty," "Heaven." Such is the case of our gospel today. The word heaven is used to substitute for God. Thus, the kingdom of heaven simply means the kingdom of God. (Added this is Matthew's concern over his audience. He is just cautious not offend nor discriminate the economically well-off members of the congregation.)

 

The kingdom of God in the gospels is an inspiration taken from the prophet Isaiah. In fact, when they talk about the fulfillment of the kingdom of God, they refer to the prophecy of Isaiah being fulfilled (cf Lk 4:14.21; Mk 1:14-20). Thus, we can understand the gospels better by understanding Isaiah.

 

Isaiah's kingdom of God means reign of God. Kingdom means reign. And it means reign because to reign is to rule; and to rule is just what the kingdom (and kingship) is all about. God reigns (rules) because hr is here, he is in our midst (cf Is 52:7); Thus, the phrase “the kingdom of God is at hand" is just another way of saying "the reign of God is in our midst.” But what is more striking about the reign of God are the features which Isaiah cites as accompanying it: the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk, the dumb speak (cf Is 35:5-7); the dead live, their bodies rise (cf Is 25:8); the poor rejoice (cf Is 29:18-21); the oppressed go free (cf Is 58:6); good tidings preached to the poor, liberty given to captives, and the year of the Lord's favor is proclaimed (cf Is 61:1-2).

 

A closer look at the kingdom of heaven in today's gospel is, therefore, not so much to mean the glory after death that we shall enjoy somewhere up there, as it is to mean the building of God's kingdom on earth. It refers to the concrete dispensation of justice, to situations and opportunities that foster total liberation and development. In a much understandable language, it means rice to the hungry, settlement to the dislocated, housing to the homeless, land to the landless, jobs to the unemployed…In this way, the reign of God becomes the presence of that light which shines in the shadow of death and that light which guides every man of goodwill into the road of peace.

 

This is why "changing one’s ways" necessarily goes with the reign of God. The gospel is quite precise and clear. As Jesus proclaims the reign of God, he too begins his public ministry with the gospel of repentance: “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Conversion goes with and is inseparable from the reign of God. The moment we proclaim the gospel of salvation, we also proclaim the gospel of conversion. This is one meaning of the good news. He who hears it and believes in it must experience a true sense of conversion. It is by sin that man is enslaved; it is from sin that he must be liberated. The gospel's metanoia is that conversion which truly abhors the different levels of sin and its effects. It is that conversion which starts from within and overflows externally. It is that conversion which changes the person and the world. It is that conversion which creates a new-self and a new-earth.

 

“Change your ways, the kingdom of Heaven is near.”