He Opened the Scroll: Reflections on the Readings for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

Nehemiah 8:2-4a, 5-6, 8-10
Psalm 19
1 Cor 12:12-30
Luke 1:1-4, 4:14-21

Reading aloud the Lord’s words to the people was standard for the leaders of Israel. The Word of the Lord was made to be spoken and heard. Think of Jesus’s commission at the end of the gospel of Matthew: “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the close of the age.’” (Mt 28:18-20)

Jesus did not command that any of His teachings be written, and it was approximately two decades after His Ascension that the first gospel was written. His teachings were passed along by tradition and word of mouth. Paul told his protégé, Timothy, “to attend to public reading of Scripture, to preaching, to teaching.” (1 Tim 4:13)

The reading and proclaiming scripture, especially the law and the prophets, was a major part of Jewish worship and provides the foundation for the Liturgy of the Word, which makes up the first part of the mass. It is a major focus of today’s readings.

The readings begin with Ezra, the priest, bringing the law before the assembly. At this time, The Law, or the Pentateuch (The Torah) was the principle scripture. It was part of Moses’s ratification of the covenant to the people: “Taking the book of the covenant, he read it aloud to the people, who answered, “All that the LORD has said, we will hear and do.” Then he took the blood and splashed it on the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which the LORD has made with you according to all these words.” (Exodus 24:7-8)

At major events when Israel turned back to God, reading from the book of the law was a major part of the act of repentance. And so it is the case in today’s readings when the people returned to Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile. Notice also that Ezra interpreted what he was reading so that the people would understand. The importance of explaining scripture cannot be underestimated. Jesus did it to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Philip met with the Ethiopian eunuch who was reading Isaiah and asked him if he understood what he was reading, to which the eunuch replied, “How can I unless someone guides me?” Philip then explained the good news of Jesus to the eunuch who immediately asked to be baptized. (Acts 8:26-40)

These and several other examples set the stage for the readings at every mass and provide the basis for the homilies which are intended to teach and explain. And, since this is all part of God’s plan of salvation being revealed to us, it is part of the Good News of Jesus. Therefore, as the first reading says, “today is holy to our LORD. Do not be saddened this day, for rejoicing in the LORD must be your strength!" These words apply to our worship at mass as well.

The responsorial psalm blends right in with the proclaiming of the Word of the Lord. The refrain, “Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life,” relate to Ezra’s command to be joyful in the Word of the Lord. “The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart.” God’s words are enlightening, trustworthy, just, and, most importantly, true. It is therefore very appropriate that we respond to the declaration “The Word of the Lord” with “THANKS be to God!”

Paul’s teaching in the second reading from the first letter to the Corinthians picks up from where we left off last week. After teaching about the gifts of the Holy Spirit, Paul goes on to show how we all have different gifts and functions using the parts of the body as an analogy. But this analogy is more than just a comparison; it is a description of the Church, the body of Christ. It is a lesson on unity as well.

This is another case where, for the sake of brevity, a major section of the passage is allowed to be omitted during mass. However, this does not diminish the importance of that section as it details not just the differences but also the importance of each part of the body, and hence the importance of each of us as members of Christ’s body, a lesson often overlooked today. “If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if one part is honored, all the parts share its joy.” When the Church is persecuted, wherever it may be, the whole Church suffers. We cannot think that it is just happening somewhere else (who knows when it may get here – and in some cases it has) and so ignore it. If you are not familiar with John Donne’s poem, “No Man is an Island,” I suggest you read it. Remember, one of the characteristics of the Church that we profess every mass in the Creed, is that it is “one.”

The gospel reading starts with Luke asserting the basis for his writing and then jumps to an incident concerning Jesus in the synagogue in Nazareth, where he grew up. We have already heard most of the intervening chapters as they were well covered during Advent and the Christmas season.

Now we follow Jesus after His temptation by the devil, having already begun His public ministry: “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news of him spread throughout the whole region. He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all.”

As we already discussed, reading from Scripture was a significant part of Jewish worship, just as it is for us. In this case, in Jesus’s home synagogue, it is His turn to read, this time from the prophet Isaiah, foretelling of the coming of the Messiah. He opened the scroll and read:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.

Now the focus of attention, Jesus declared: "Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing."

For those who claim Jesus never declared Himself to be God, this episode is a major chink in that argument. Those in the assembly recognized this. The part of the episode that is not read tells us that they were so upset that they wanted to kill Him: “They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong. But he passed through the midst of them and went away.” (Luke 4:29-30) As we discussed in last week’s reflection, His hour had not yet come.

The passage from Isaiah again becomes significant in Jesus’s declaration about Himself. Recall when He is questioned by the disciples of the imprisoned John the Baptist: “John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?’” ... “And he said to them in reply, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.” (Luke 7:20, 22) (Cf. Isaiah 42:6-8, 61:1-2)

As in many other places in the New Testament, Jesus proclaims Himself through His witness; His actions, miracles, and signs. Actions speak louder than words.