In sequence to the last
two Sundays’ Gospel readings (Luke 9:18-24; 9:51-62), the Gospel reading of the
14th Sunday of Year C (Luke10:1-12,17-20) addresses necessary
conditions for the Christian discipleship.
In Luke 9:18-24 (12th Sunday) and 9:51-62 (13th
Sunday), Jesus was talking more about what Dietrich Bonhoeffer calls “cost of
the discipleship: self-denial similar to Buddhist teaching of anatta,
embracing a prospect of martyrdom, giving up our desire for a secured life and
worldly assurance and the ability to respond to the Lord’s call immediately.
Now, through the first
part of the Gospel message for the 14th Sunday, Luke10:1-12,
Jesus have found and chosen 72 followers, worthy of being sent on mission, and giving
an instruction before sending them off.
“The harvest
is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.
so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.
Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves.
Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way.
Into
whatever house you enter, first say,
‘Peace to this household.’
‘Peace to this household.’
If
a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him;
but if not, it will return to you.
but if not, it will return to you.
Stay
in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you,
for the laborer deserves his payment.
for the laborer deserves his payment.
Do
not move about from one house to another.
Whatever town you enter and they welcome you,
eat what is set before you, cure the sick in it and say to them,
‘The kingdom of God is at hand for you.’
Whatever town you enter and they welcome you,
eat what is set before you, cure the sick in it and say to them,
‘The kingdom of God is at hand for you.’
Whatever town you enter and they do not receive you,
go out into the streets and say, ‘The dust of your town that clings to our feet,
even that we shake off against you.’ Yet know this: the kingdom of God is at hand. I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom on that day than for that town.” (Luke 10:2-12).
The
harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to
send out laborers for his harvest. (Luke 10:2) The harvest of the Lord means the harvest of
souls. This is a metaphor for the
ministry work on Christ’s mission – the harvest for salvation. And, this work for salvation is too great to
have enough workers – ministers.
These words of Jesus on the great harvest of the
souls but not having enough worker reflects these words of Paul, “For we are God's fellow workers; you are
God's field, God's building” (1 Corinthians 3:9) and invoke an image of
Isaiah 5:1-7 and Matthew 20:1-16.
Being disciples of Christ and being counted as
worthy to be sent on his mission, indeed, a great honor, though it sure comes
with significant “cost” on us, to be his disciple and to carry on his
mission. It is because being trusted by
the Lord to partake in his salvific work for the harvest of souls.
That is why the 72 disciples were rejoicing when
they returned from the mission, as the second part of the 14th
Sunday Gospel reading (Luke 10: 17-20) describes. The disciples were in joy because of their
amazement of the Lord’s salvific power affecting the people they ministered
to. In response to their joy, Jesus
said, “Behold, I have given you the power
to ‘tread upon serpents’ and scorpions and
upon the full force of the enemy and nothing will harm you. Nevertheless, do
not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your
names are written in heaven”(Luke 20: 19-20) to eschatologically allude to
the effects of serving on Christ’s salvific mission as his disciples upon our
fate in the Last Judgement . Because of
their participation on Christ’s salvific mission, these disciples will rejoice
their ultimate reward – the heavenly reward – their names being written in the
Book of Life (Revelation 20:11-15).
Getting our names written in the Book of Life is the
ultimate “wage” for being co-workers of God’s vineyard, as being co-workers of
God’s vineyard means embracing all the costs of the discipleship and partaking
in Lord’s mission.
This kind of joy over such a heavenly reward is
echoed in the First Reading (Isaiah 66: 10-14c). God certainly acknowledge our dedicated work on Lord’s mission sure
comes with heavy costs on us. That is
why the merciful and loving God wants to care for us like a nursing mother. That is why God say, “As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you……. You will see
and your heart shall exult, and your bodies shall flourish like the grass; the
Lord’s power shall be revealed to his servants”(Isaiah 66:13-14).
According to the Book of Revelation, the New Paradise (New
Jerusalem, New Heaven, New Eden) will appear upon the Last Judgement, with parousia. As the 14th Sunday’s
Gospel reading describes, Jesus implies that bearing the costs of the
discipleship and partake in his mission can lead to our names being written in
the Book of Life. Having our names in the Book of Life is the way to enter into
the New Paradise, as the Book of Revelation describes.
The First reading of the 14th Sunday describes an image of restored Jerusalem after the Babylonian destruction. And, this invokes an image of the New Paradise in the Book of Revelation. For example, compare, “I will spread prosperity over her like a river, like an overflowing torrent, the wealth of nations”(Isaiah 66:12) to “Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever”(Revelation 22:1-5). Not to mention, an image of a river is also found in Ezekiel 47:1-12, the river of healing and restoration.
The First reading of the 14th Sunday describes an image of restored Jerusalem after the Babylonian destruction. And, this invokes an image of the New Paradise in the Book of Revelation. For example, compare, “I will spread prosperity over her like a river, like an overflowing torrent, the wealth of nations”(Isaiah 66:12) to “Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever”(Revelation 22:1-5). Not to mention, an image of a river is also found in Ezekiel 47:1-12, the river of healing and restoration.
The very joy we will receive as a result of paying
the costs of the discipleship and accomplishing Christ’s mission is seeing God’s
face (Revelation 22:4) on the banks of the river of life, as God restores our
life into the very kind of eternal heavenly life, as He has promised.
Being a true Christian means to intuitively
understands the heavenly joy that only comes through paying the full costs of
the discipleship and successfully partaking in the harvest of souls in God’s
vineyard. After all, “… many
are called, but few are chosen”(Matthew 22:14). Many are called
by Christ to be his disciples. But, as in Jesus’ parable of the royal wedding
banquet (Matthew 22:1-14) and Revelation 20:11-15 on the Book of Life describe,
not everyone is entitled to this joy because we must earn our way to be chosen –
to be chosen to have our names in the Book of Life. This truth also corresponds
to James’ words, “faith without work is
dead”(James 2:17), because faith itself cannot get our names in the Book of
Life but, as indicated by the 14th Sunday’s Gospel narrative, it is our
work of the Lord’s mission – our harvesting work in the God’s vineyard. In order for us to be chosen to work, we must pay the "cost of the discipleship" first.
No comments:
Post a Comment