主題：如入寶山空手回
本主日的福音，承接上一個主日的故事。話說耶穌在加里肋亞一帶展開福傳工作，十分成功。於是他回到自己的家鄉納匝肋，在安息日進入會堂，拿起依撒意亞先知書第61章，誦讀了有關默西亞的預言。然後施施然坐下講道。耶穌說「今天應驗了」，即是宣佈他就是眾人期待已久的默西亞。「向窮人傳報福音，向俘虜宣告釋放，向盲者宣告復明」等是耶穌作為默西亞的政綱。本主日的福音，寫出群眾聽了耶穌的宣言之後，作出了甚麼反應。
依撒意亞先知書第61章是這樣說的：『上主的神臨於我身上，因為他給我傅了油。』現在耶穌說：「你們剛才聽過的這段聖經，今天應驗了。」即是說：「我就是您們等候已久，天主所揀選的默西亞。」固然，猶太人在羅馬殖民統治下受了很多苦，他們極其渴望，天主派遣默西亞來解放他們。可是在納匝肋的鄉親父老心目中，耶穌祗不過是他們所熟識的，從小看著他長大的木匠若瑟的兒子。
耶穌早已預料到他們的反應，他知道猶太人是個實事求是的民族，凡事講求真憑實據。耶穌引用在二千年前中東的俗語，「醫生，醫治你自己吧！」，可能與我們今天所說的「能醫不自醫」有類似的貶義。言下之意，就是要求耶穌拿出証據，好叫眾人信服他是默西亞。那麼，耶穌明知納匝肋城居民的要求，但為甚麼他在自己的家鄉不施行神蹟，令自己的鄉親父老口服心服，從而獲得天主的慈悲呢？
其實，納匝肋城居民的要求是本末倒置了。不祗他們，很多人，包括我們在內，都很容易犯上同一個本末倒置的毛病。神蹟不是用來加強信德，而是以信德引發神蹟的。因為，為那不信的人，例如在福音中經常與耶穌為敵的法利塞人，無論耶穌行多少神蹟，他們仍然挑剔，仍然不滿。所以是不能用神蹟來加強信德的。相反，信靠天主有最好的安排，對天主保持開放，天主就會按我們的需要，賜予我們意想不到的恩寵。我們稱這些意想不到的恩寵「神蹟」。納匝肋居民就是不信服若瑟的兒子是默西亞，他們就是缺少了出現神蹟的基本要素，因此，耶穌反而不能在自己的家鄉行神蹟。
木匠的兒子自稱默西亞也罷，不行神蹟也罷，斷不會因此而要把耶穌推下山崖殺死他。是甚麼引發納匝肋居民，有如此激烈的反應呢？問題出於耶穌就第二句俗語「沒有一個先知在本鄉受悅納的」所舉的例子。倘若耶穌簡單地說了那俗語，想表示他是一位先知，而沒有舉出那兩個例子，是沒有問題的。有本領的話，自然會有一群信服他的人跟隨他。問題出在那兩個眾所周知的例子，它們觸及了猶太人的死穴。猶太人自視很高，因為他們是「天主特選的民族，天主的產業。是王家司祭，聖潔的國民。」而這兩個例子，正正發生在以色列的昏君統治時代，人民的心遠離了天主，天主的恩寵祗好流溢到外邦人之中。
以色列王阿哈布，娶了外族公主為妻，並在撒瑪黎雅建築了一座廟宇，供奉邪神巴耳。於是天主派厄里亞先知宣報旱災，並在旱災期間，留在一個外邦人的寡婦家中，並復活了寡婦的兒子（列上17章）。阿哈布死後，他的兒子阿哈齊雅做了兩年君王便死了，由他的兄弟耶曷蘭繼位；而厄里亞亦把先知的職務，傳給他的弟子厄里叟。敘利亞的軍長納阿曼患有痲瘋病，知道以色列有先知可以治好他，遂南下求醫。當以色列王耶曷蘭以為敘利亞想藉詞發兵攻打以色列，不知如何是好的時候，厄里叟挺身而出，為君王解圍，治好納阿曼。可惜，厄里叟的僕人貪心，瞞著厄里叟，要了納阿曼的禮物，結果染上痲瘋病，並傳給後代子孫，直到永遠（列下5章）。在這兩個例子之中，外邦人接受天主的邀請，自然得到天主的照顧；作為選民的以色列，離棄天主，受到懲罰是應得的。在納匝肋居民聽來，十分刺耳。因為人最難堪，最難接受的，就是別人指出自己的錯，自己的毛病。最後，他們竟然想把耶穌推下山崖，這相當於用石頭砸死他，表示他們認為耶穌說了褻瀆神聖的話。可是，耶穌沒有一句話是褻瀆神聖的。所以，納匝肋居民是老羞成怒，要殺死耶穌而後快。最後，耶穌從他們當中，走了。天主走了。納匝肋的居民竟然把天主趕走了。他們出於對耶穌的成見，拒絕接受他是默西亞，雖然沒有遭受任何懲罰，卻喪失了獲得天主恩寵的機會。本來是近水樓台，結果如入寶山空手而回。誠為可惜。
耶穌在自己家鄉的事蹟，值得我們細心反省。首先，耶穌的任務，不是來討好世人，而是引領世人悔改，接受天父的慈悲。所以，耶穌沒有迴避，但仍非常客氣地，間接指出自己親友的毛病。作為基督徒的我們，會不會為了避免尷尬，而沒有勇氣說真話，例如為受欺侮、受誣蔑的人辯護呢？其次，納匝肋城的居民，因成見而把天主趕走。作為基督徒的我們，能察覺到自己對所認識，所接觸到的人所懷有的成見嗎？我們可有作出努力，認識在他們身上的天主肖像嗎？在被剝削，沒有尊嚴的在職貧窮工人、少數族裔、領取綜援的人士身上，認出耶穌基督來呢？
耶穌在納匝肋長大，自小在會堂接受宗教教育。按路加福音的記載，十二歲那年，耶穌三日留在聖殿與經師對答，顯示出他非凡的聰敏和智慧。十三歲那年在納匝肋會堂參加「成人禮」，有資格在安息日聚會中讀經，甚至講道。納匝肋城的居民都欣賞他在安息日，在會堂內所說動聽的話。大概半年前，當轟動一時的洗者若翰在約旦河施洗的時候，這個繼承父業的木匠也跟其他對天國充滿理想的猶太人一起，跑去約旦河趁熱鬧，接受了洗禮。回來竟然自稱默西亞。「若瑟的兒子」又能憑甚麼做默西亞呢？
天主保祐。
Fourth Ordinary Sunday (Year C)
Theme: Leaving a treasure mountain emptyhanded
The gospel story today is a continuation of that of last Sunday. Jesus' evangelization was successful in Galilee. He turned to his home town Nazareth. On Sabbath, he went to the local synagogue, took up Isaiah 61 and read the prophecy about the Messiah. Then he sat down calmly and started preaching. Jesus said, "Today, the prophecy has been fulfilled." That is to say, he claimed that he was the Messiah they had been waiting for a long time. "Preaching the good news to the poor, release to the captives and restoring sight to the blind" etc. was the agenda of Jesus as the Messiah. The story today talks about the reaction of the folk to the manifesto of Jesus.
Isaiah 61 says, "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me." Now that Jesus said, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." That is to say, "I am your long awaited Messiah chosen by God." Of course, the Jews had suffered a lot under the Roman colonial rule. They desperately looked to God to send the Messiah to liberate them. But in the hearts of the elders and folks of Nazareth, Jesus was nobody but Joseph, the carpenter's son whom they had seen growing up.
Jesus had anticipated their response. He knew that Jews were a pragmatic people. They demanded signs and evidence. The Middle East idiom Jesus quoted, "Physician, heal yourself" might have a derogative meaning similar to our idiom "A physician cannot heal himself." That is to say, they wanted Jesus to show signs to convince them that he was the Messiah. Now that Jesus knew their demand, but why didn't he work a miracle to convince them beyond doubt so that they might obtain the mercy of God?
In fact, the demand of the Nazarethians had put the cart before the horse. Not only do they, many people including us, easily commit this wrongheaded fallacy. We cannot strengthen faith with miracles. Rather we trigger miracles with faith. It is because for those who don't believe, such as those Pharisees who were Jesus' nemesis in the gospels, they would continue to criticize and be dissatisfied no matter how many miracles Jesus had performed. Thus, we do not strengthen faith with miracles. On the contrary, trust that God has the best providence in store for us and keep our hearts open to Him. God will surprise us with undreamed of graces to meet our needs. We call these undreamed of graces miracles. The Nazarethians did not believe the son of Joseph to be the Messiah. They lacked the basic element for the outcome of miracles. Therefore, Jesus could not perform miracles in his home town.
It was alright for the son of a carpenter to claim Messiahship. It was alright even not to work miracles. These two reasons would not be strong enough to throw Jesus down the cliff. So, what triggered such a strong reaction among the folk? The culprits were the two examples Jesus gave along the idiom "no prophet is acceptable in his own country." Had Jesus simply quoted the idiom to show his claim to be a prophet without the two examples, there would not have been such a big stir. If you were capable, you would attract a huge following. The problem lay with the two well-known stories which touched the Achilles heels of the Jews who had a big ego. They looked at themselves as "God's chosen people, the inheritance of God, royal priests and a holy nation". But these two examples happened during their inglorious times when both kings and the commoners were idolatrous. Thus God's grace had no choice but to overflow to Gentiles.
Ahab, king of Israel married the Sidonian princess and built a temple in Samaria to worship Baal. God sent Elijah to announce a drought and famine during which Elijah stayed with a Gentile widow and raised her dead son (1 Kings 17). After the death of Ahab, his son Ahaziah reigned for only two years and died. His brother Jeroham became king. Meanwhile, Elijah had passed on his prophetic ministry to his disciple Elisha. Naaman the Syrian commander of army was a leper. He knew that Israel had a prophet who could cure him. So, he went south to seek healing. King Jeroham thought it an excuse for Syrians to invade and panicked. Elisha came forward to cure Naaman. It was a pity that the servant of Elisha was greedy. He took gifts from Naaman without Elisha's permission. Consequently, the leprosy of Naaman cleaved to him and his descendants forever (2 Kings 5). In these two examples, Gentiles accepted God's invitation and naturally obtained God's favour. As the Chosen People, Israelites rejected God and justly received punishments. In the ears of the Nazarethians, the two examples were harsh and embarrassing. What is most unacceptable is for somebody to point out your faults in your face. Lastly, they wanted to throw Jesus off a cliff to kill him. It was equivalent to stoning him. It shows that they thought Jesus' words were blasphemous. But Jesus had not said anything blasphemous at all. Therefore, the Nazarethians wanted to kill Jesus because their sensibility was offended. At last, passing through them, Jesus walked away. God walked away. The Nazarethians drove God away! Out of prejudice, they rejected the Messiah. Although they were not punished, they lost the opportunity to receive God's grace. They would have taken advantage of their proximity. Yet, they left a treasure mountain emptyhanded. What a pity.
The story of Jesus in his own home town is worth careful reflection. First of all, the mission of Jesus is not to please people but to lead them to repentance so as to receive the mercy of the Father. Therefore, Jesus did not evade but very courteously and indirectly pointed out their mistakes. As Catholics, in order to evade embarrassment, have we not the courage to speak out the truth, e.g. to defend those bullied or wrongly accused? Secondly, the Nazarethians drove God away out of prejudice. As Catholics, do we harbour prejudice against people we know, people we meet? Do we put in efforts to recognize the image of God in them? Can we recognize Jesus among those who are exploited or have their dignity trampled such as the working poor, the ethnic minorities and those recipients of CSSA?
Jesus was raised up in Nazareth. Since boyhood, he had received religious formation in the synagogue. According to Luke, at 12, Jesus spent three days in the Temple, debating with the scribes, showing that he had excellent intelligence and wisdom. At 13, he must have gone through the rite of passage and become qualified to read scriptures in the synagogue on Sabbaths, perhaps even to comment on the text. The folks must have "wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth". About half a year ago, the mission of John the Baptist had caused a sensation. This carpenter who had inherited his father's trade joined the other Jewish dreamers of the Kingdom of Heaven to hit the road to River Jordan. After baptism, he returned to claim Messiahship. With what could this Joseph's son claim to be the Messiah?
God bless.
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