Week 27 of the Church year
പുതുഞായറിനു ശേഷം നാലാം ഞായർ
Jesus turns towards Jerusalem, knowing what is waiting for him. On the way three people offer to follow him, and each one meets a hard answer.
Jesus sets out resolutely for Jerusalem. A Samaritan village will not receive him, and James and John want to call down fire; he rebukes them. Three people want to follow him, and he tells each what it will cost.
This is the last Sunday before the Ascension, which falls on Thursday. Luke speaks of the days drawing near for Jesus to be “taken up”.
Following Jesus is not a plan for later. It starts by not looking back.
ഈ ഞായറാഴ്ചയുടെ വായനകൾ
Do not let your hearts be troubled; I am the way, the truth and the life.
Your grief will turn into joy, like a mother’s after childbirth.
Keep the Passover in the month you came out of Egypt.
Joshua builds an altar and reads the whole law to all the people.
Enlarge your tent; with everlasting love I will have compassion on you.
Christ suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.
The heroes of faith, who did not receive what was promised in their lifetime.
Jesus sets his face to Jerusalem: no one who looks back is fit for the kingdom. This is the Gospel of the day.
Open in five scenesIsrael keeps the Passover, and Joshua reads the whole law to the people. Isaiah tells Jerusalem to enlarge her tent. Hebrews remembers those who suffered for their faith and did not see the promise in their lifetime.
References follow the official lectionary of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. Your parish may read them in a different order.
Pick a scene to see what happens in it and what is easy to miss.
As the days draw near for him to be taken up, Jesus firmly sets his face to go to Jerusalem.
“Taken up” is the same word Luke uses for the Ascension (Acts 1:2). Luke sees the cross, resurrection and Ascension as one road.
He sends messengers ahead into a Samaritan village to prepare for him, but the people will not receive him, because he is heading for Jerusalem.
Samaritans and Jews disagreed about where God should be worshipped (John 4:20). Jerusalem was the sore point.
James and John ask: Lord, shall we call down fire from heaven to destroy them? He turns and rebukes them, and they go on to another village.
Elijah once called down fire (2 Kings 1:10). Jesus refuses to follow that example. Mark says he nicknamed these brothers “sons of thunder” (Mark 3:17).
Someone says: I will follow you wherever you go. Jesus answers: foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.
Jesus has just been turned away from a village. He means it literally.
Another asks to bury his father first; let the dead bury their dead, Jesus says, and go and proclaim the kingdom. Another wants to say goodbye at home. No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom.
A ploughman who looks back cuts a crooked furrow. Jesus is talking about where your attention is.
The verse to keep
“യേശു അവനോടു: കലപ്പെക്കു കൈ വെച്ച ശേഷം പുറകോട്ടു നോക്കുന്നവൻ ആരും ദൈവരാജ്യത്തിന്നു കൊള്ളാകുന്നവനല്ല എന്നു പറഞ്ഞു.”But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for God’s Kingdom.”
James and Johnയാക്കോബും യോഹന്നാനും
Brothers among the twelve, quick-tempered enough to want fire from heaven.
James, son of Zebedee · John, son of Zebedee
James is Jacob, “he grasps the heel”; John, “the Lord is gracious”
The would-be followersഅനുഗമിപ്പാൻ ഒരുങ്ങിയവർ
Three people who want to follow Jesus, each with a condition.
“—”
കലപ്പയിൽ കൈ വെച്ചവർ
Jesus’ answers to the three would-be followers sound harsh. Is it wrong to want to bury your father, or say goodbye to your family? Jesus is not against love for family. He is talking about the moment when following him becomes something for later, once other things are settled.
He has just set his face towards Jerusalem. He knows what is waiting there, and he does not look back. The people who offer to follow him want to, but each has a condition: wherever you go, but first let me. Jesus says the kingdom cannot be the second thing on the list.
Most of us have a “first let me”. First let me finish my studies, get settled, sort out the house. These are good things. But there is no ideal moment to start following Jesus, and this Gospel says the moment is now. Put your hand to the plough, and keep your eyes on the furrow ahead.
കുടുംബമായി സംസാരിക്കാം
What “first let me” is stopping you from doing something you know God wants?
Two minutes after the audio. Everyone gets a turn, and nobody is interrupted.Do one thing this week you have been putting off for God: a reconciliation, a visit, a prayer habit.
Lord Jesus, you set your face to Jerusalem and did not turn back. Give us the courage to follow you now, not later, and keep our eyes on the road ahead. Amen.
The whole year
Every Sunday of the Church year, season by season: readings, the Gospel and a question for the family.
Sunday 6 of 7 in Kyomtho