3rd Sunday Ordinary Time Cycle C January 24, 2010                                
Nehemiah 8: 2-10, 1Corinthians 12:12-14, 27,
Luke 1:1-4, 4:14-
21                                                                                                                        
Can you imagine if we gathered for something like a sporting event, and
before the contest began we knew the
outcome?                                                                
Sometimes when I watch a golf tournament on the Golf Channel, say on a
Friday night, and it’s a tape delayed event that took place during the day, it
would take all the excitement out of watching if I went to the Internet
beforehand, say onto ESPN.com, and brought up all the golf scores from
that tournament before I started watching it. It almost defeats the purpose
of the excitement in watching, when the unknown becomes known prior to
participating in some event.                                                                         
Welcome to Jesus’ world…somewhat.                                                         
Jesus opens up the scroll of Isaiah in the synagogue at home in Nazareth.
He opens it up, finds a verse, reads it, and says “that’s me!” The unknown
becomes known prior to Jesus living out Isaiah’s
words.                                                         
But even though Jesus has the Spirit of the Lord upon him – like we do. And
even though Jesus has been anointed – like we have in baptism and
confirmation. And even though Jesus knows that he is to bring glad tidings
to the poor – like we are to do (we did that so well last week in the
collection for Haiti). And even though Jesus knows that he will bring liberty,
recovery, and freedom to those who are captive, blind, and oppressed –
like we are.                                                                                          
Even though Jesus knows the words that he reads from Isaiah are written
about him centuries before the Annunciation, the question is still to be
asked is, “Does Jesus take all the excitement out of his own future by
knowing all the details of what’s going to happen to him before an event in
his ministry takes place?” For our part, how much of our excitement in life
would be lost if we already knew all the details of our future events prior to
their happening? My guess is that with some events we would probably be
scared if we knew all the details.                                                                        
For instance with Jesus; when Jesus called Judas at the beginning of his
ministry, does he know at that point that Judas will betray him down the
road? Probably not! If Jesus did know, would it not have been more loving
for Jesus to not call Judas as a disciple so that Judas could avoid betraying
the Good Teacher?                                 
Or how about the Cross? Does Jesus know at this point, in the synagogue
at Nazareth, just after the start of his ministry, that his ministry is going to
lead him to the most brutal form of death imaginable? And before he even
picks up the cross, add to it a crown of thorns. Being spit at and mocked.
Scourged. Punched and kicked.                          
A theological case can be made Jesus probably knew all about such future
treatment while in the synagogue in Nazareth as he read the scroll. And a
case can be made that he probably didn’t know, which I like to lean toward.
And not because if Jesus could somehow see his future he would avoid it.
No. Instead, in the fullness of his humanity there remained this very human
element of not knowing all the details that will surround his future. The sort
of unknown excitement that exists before a game 7 of the World Series, not
knowing who the champion is going to be, but hoping that our team will
win.                                                                                        
That’s the scene of this Gospel and these readings as Jesus begins his
ministry, and how the readings connect to our lives in and through Christ.
That there is an unknown excitement for our future. We do know some of
details, like Jesus knew some of his. We know we’re going to die. We know
we’re going to meet God. We know that God is going to raise us to glory
because we love Him. But we don’t know what it all looks like. And we can’t
even begin to imagine the incredible happiness that awaits us in that future
relationship with Christ.                                                                
The beauty of today’s readings is that Jesus is fully divine. That he is God
become us. And the beauty of these readings is that as Jesus begins dig his
heels into his ministry, he is also fully human. That he has walked the whole
plank of human issues, emotions, hurts, and suffering for us, as he
continues to walk with us. And Jesus’ walking the plank was done in the
same way that we walk the plank; not knowing every single detail of our
return to God. That’s what it means for Jesus to be fully human; that he
experienced what we experience. It’s the only reason we can place all of
our trust in Him. He’s been there, and he’s paved the way for each one of
us.                                                         
As the 2nd reading from St. Paul says, “Now you are Christ’s body.” Only
because first, Christ’s body was us. The body that suffered, died, and was
raised, was us. And it is us in the
future.                                                                                         
In the meantime, the Spirit of the Lord is upon us. Because he has anointed
us. To bring glad tidings to the poor. When these words are taken seriously,
who knows what events lie in the future. Who knows how any given event
will play out! There’s an unknown excitement to the future because of Isaiah’
s words.                                         
But we do know how this game finishes. Thanks be to God!