REFLECTIONS TODAY Jesus has in mind the benefit to his apostles when they travel by pairs. Aside from the practical help from a companion, such arrangement has a deep significance. Traveling alone could give a wrong notion to the apostle that the mission he is pursuing is a personal project. He...
REFLECTIONS TODAY His townsmen in Nazareth are astounded by the wisdom of Jesus when he teaches in their synagogue. They have also previously heard stories about Jesus’ miraculous deeds. And so they wonder, “Where did this man get all this?” There was no rabbinical school in Nazareth. Any...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The Israelites believe that their first-born sons belong to the Lord who spared their lives even as he slew the first-born of the Egyptians (Ex 13:15). God instructed Moses: “Consecrate to me every first-born that opens the womb among the Israelites” (Ex 13:2). The Jews carry...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The unclean spirit that infests the man admits to Jesus that they are many and so are called Legion. Their intention is to wreak havoc in the man. The man is being drowned in a cacophony of voices and doldrums of pain, and seemingly his only respite comes in hurting himself. When...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Then they came to Capernaum, and on the Sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and taught. The people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit; he cried out, “What have...
REFLECTIONS TODAY In the muzzling of the storm, comparison to the God of Israel who is the Lord of history and nature cannot be avoided. There are cosmic overtones in the account. Jesus “rebukes” the wind as he would the demons; the wind and sea are “living forces” that are subdued by Jesus...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The two parables—the Seed that grows by itself and the Mustard Seed—show the innate power of the Word that Jesus sows in the hearts of people. The seed of the Word will grow and produce fruits independent of the efforts of human beings because it has an inner power, being the...
People in Jesus’ time used the oil lamp to keep and control fire as a source of light. Olives provided the main source of oil. In telling the parable of the lamp, Jesus refers to the oil lamp in everyday use. Excavations in Palestine reveal an abundance of such lamps. The oil lamp is an easily...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The “parable” is rooted in the Hebrew mashal which encompasses a variety of meaning. Mashal can mean a saying, a proverb, a riddle, or a story like what we find in most of Jesus’ parables. The riddle of Samson—“Out of the eater came forth food, and out of the strong came...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The number “seventy ” is to be understood symbolically, just like the number twelve. The Twelve represents the reconstitution of the twelve tribes of Israel. The Seventy may allude to the “seventy elders” who accompany Moses up to the holy mountain of God (Ex 24:1). They...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Paul would see the appearance of Jesus to him as a call or commissioning. His description of it evokes God’s call of Jeremiah: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born, I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you” (1:5). Paul uses the...
REFLECTIONS TODAY After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the Gospel of God: “This is the time of fulfillment. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel.” As he passed by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets...
