The Holy Martyr Aretas and those with him (523)
Read
Philippians 3:1-8; Luke 7:17-30
Today’s gospel gives us a good example of how Jesus calls people to the gospel with gentleness. When the disciples of John ask him whether he is the Messiah, Jesus could have said something like, “Are you stupid? Haven’t you read the scriptures? Of course, I’m the Messiah, you idiots!” Instead, he shows them that he is the Messiah (the anointed Son of God who brings healing to Israel) by curing the sick, driving out evil spirits, and giving sight to the blind. Only after showing them who he does Jesus tell the disciples of John to convey to their master what they have seen and heard. And after this, he concludes with a puzzling line: “Blessed is anyone who takes no offence at me.” Jesus wants nothing other than for people to head his call to repentance.
While John the Baptist is a model for Christian evangelization, no one is a better model for spreading the gospel than Jesus himself. The end of today’s gospel gives us another hint of that, since even tax collectors encounter and acknowledge God’s justice as they listen to Jesus: they know their alienation from God, and thus are open to a real reconciliation with him, unlike those who think they are righteous and in no need of repentance. When we get the chance to talk to other people about Jesus, people who may be alienated from God, let’s speak of our faith as good news, as something that has revealed God’s gentleness to us in the midst of our sins, and made us more gentle as a result, even as we strive to be worthy of God’s righteousness.