What is the problem with the statement, "Is he the son of Joseph?"(Luke 4:22)? In fact, why the Nazarene synagogue congregation became so angry and spiteful to Jesus, upon that statement?
To entertain these question, we need to examine our ego.
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In my blog article, “First Stumbling Block on the Path of Epiphanies – Based on Cycle C Gospel Reflections Until the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time”(January 31, 2016), I wrote that the first stumbling block was cast into the way of Jesus’ epiphanies, during his first teaching at the synagogue in his hometown, Nazareth, based on the Gospel reading for the 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C. What is the “stumbling block”? What do I mean by “the way of Jesus’ epiphanies”?
To entertain these question, we need to examine our ego.
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In my blog article, “First Stumbling Block on the Path of Epiphanies – Based on Cycle C Gospel Reflections Until the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time”(January 31, 2016), I wrote that the first stumbling block was cast into the way of Jesus’ epiphanies, during his first teaching at the synagogue in his hometown, Nazareth, based on the Gospel reading for the 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C. What is the “stumbling block”? What do I mean by “the way of Jesus’ epiphanies”?
First, let me explain about the way of Jesus’
epiphanies.
One of my exegeses of the New Testament,
including the Gospels, focuses on the progression of divine manifestations
through Jesus by the power of the Father in heaven and then through the actions
of Jesus by the power of Jesus himself, as it is the power of the Father in
heaven, poured into him upon his baptism.
In this context, as I also explained in my aforementioned blog article,
epiphany means a manifestation of the invisible God and divinity to human
senses, such as vision and hearing.
The word, “epiphany” is consisted of two
Greek words. Its prefix, “epi”
suggests “above”, and the rest, “phainein”
means “to manifest”, “to appear”. The word, “phenotype”, and the word,
“phenomena”, are also derived from the Greek word, “phainein”, as these words are related to something observable or
recognizable, because of manifestation or appearance – coming above the surface
of invisibility. Therefore, epiphany can be any phenomena, in which the
invisible God makes Godself manifested in a way to be perceived and recognized
by human senses, especially in vision. It is actually “theophany”, which
literally means God (theo) is
manifesting (phainein), above (epi) the surface of invisibility.
Epiphany is not limited to what the
Feast of Epiphany celebrates, the Magi’s homage to Jesus, when he was around 2
years old, recognizing him as the King.
In fact, epiphany begins with the Nativity of the Lord, the Word in
flesh, coming out of the immaculate body of Mary, as it was the very first
moment when the invisible God was seen by humans. Following this initial epiphany, there is the
Presentation of the Lord as the second epiphany, followed by the visitation of
the Magi as the third epiphany, which is followed by the Baptism of the Lord,
the fourth epiphany. All four Gospel
stories are built upon these first four epiphanies – though Mark’s Gospel
begins with the third epiphany: the Baptism of the Lord.
In this sense, the Advent Season
reflects the preparation for the very first epiphany: the Nativity of the Lord,
and the Christmas Season reflects the first four epiphanies. Then, the fourth
epiphany, which is the very first miracle that Jesus made: turning water into
the choicest wine during the wedding banquet at Cana, is reflected in the
Gospel reading for the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time on Cycle C. In the Gospel
narratives for both the Third Sunday and the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time on
Cycle C, the epiphanic event of Jesus is the initiation of his teaching.
According to Luke 4, Jesus initiated his
teaching of the Word at the synagogue of his home town, Nazareth. He opened the
scroll of Isaiah’s prophecy and revealed the meaning of its portion on the
Messianic mission of bringing the glad tidings (Good News) to the poor (Anawin). As Jesus proclaimed that
Isaiah’s prophecy of the glad tidings for the poor was being fulfilled in the
words spoken by him, it became epiphany.
It is because the divinity in the Word the scroll manifested loud and
clear in Jesus’ “dabar”(spoken
words).
Ever since the Nativity, which is the very
first epiphany, series of epiphanies were reflected through the Sunday Gospel
readings during Christmas Season, the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, and the
Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. These readings point to how the works of the
Messiah will lead to salvation. Up to this point, there was no disruption in
this evolving flow of salvific epiphanies. However, in the Gospel reading for
the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Luke 4:21-30), when the congregation in the
Nazarene synagogue who heard Jesus’ teaching said, “Is he the son of Joseph?” (Luke 4:22), their receptivity to
epiphany suddenly changed 180 degreesb– from awesome amazement into angry
aversion. The situation resulted in
expulsion of Jesus. In fact, what made
the synagogue congregation so hateful against Jesus instantly was the way Jesus
himself responded to the “Is he the son
of Joseph?” statement.
In response to, “Is he the son of Joseph?”(Luke 4:22), Jesus replied:
“Surely you will quote me this proverb, ‘ Physician,
cure yourself’, and say, ‘Do here in your native place the things that we heard
were done in Capernaum’. Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own
native place. Indeed,, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days
of Elijah when the sky was closed for three and a half years and a severe
famine spread over the entire land. It was none of these that Elijah was sent,
but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon. Again, there were many lepers
in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet; yet not one of them was
cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian”
(Luke 4:23-27).
This response of Jesus to the
congregation’s “crab mentality” statement, which arose from the congregation
points out the spiritual blindness and deafness to the epiphany that Jesus just
made through his teaching, reminding how God’s chosen people, during the time
of the Old Testament, also were blind and deaf to divine scheme evident in the
mentioned acts of prophets, such as Elijah and Elisha. It also reminded the
congregation that the Gentiles may be better in regard to recognizing epiphany
in Jesus’ actions, as in the case with a widow in Zarephath in Sidon (1 Kings
17:7-24)and in the case with Naaman of Syria (2 Kings 5).
In his response, Jesus was telling the
synagogue congregation that they are just as spiritually blind and deaf as
their ancestors of the time of the Old Testament, the generations that were
unable to appreciate their prophets, such as Elijah and his successor, Elisha. In
fact, ones who were able to recognize the divine in these prophets’ acts were
Gentiles, such as the widow In Zeraphath and Naaman of Syria. Hearing this
response from Jesus, the congregation grew so furious toward Jesus as they must
have felt that Jesus regarded them worse
than the Gentiles.
What is the problem here?
First, what is the matter with the
statement, “Is he the son of Joseph?” Second, why the congregation reacted with
strong aversion to Jesus as he responded to their statement about him as the
son of Joseph?
In the latter portion of the Gospel
reading for the Third Sunday, Luke 4:14-21, Jesus conducted his very first
teaching, upon opening the scroll of Isaiah’s prophecy and proclaimed its
prophecy on the glad tidings being fulfilled as the congregation heard him
speak. Following this Lucan Gospel
narrative, on the Fourth Sunday, in Luke 4:21-30, the synagogue crowd were so
amazed at Jesus teaching but then casted the statement, “Is he the son of Joseph?”(Luke 4:22).
Imagine, if nobody in the congregation
had ever said, “Is he the son of Joseph?”.
Perhaps, then, they would have remained astonished by Jesus’ teaching and
began to appreciate his presence as a new prophet. It was when God’s first chosen people, the
Israelites, had not had any prophet for about 400 years ever since Malachi.
They would have thanked God for sending such an amazing prophet-teacher to
their synagogue in Nazareth. However, as
soon as they saw Jesus as the son of Joseph, they probably could have thought
that the son of Joseph had no business in preaching in the synagogue as he is
mere an ordinary man, like anyone else in the congregation. In their mentality,
only a trained rabbi could preach in the synagogue as Jesus did. Their initial
expectation and impression on Jesus as an amazing new rabbi-prophet turned out
be a bubble to be busted with the statement, “Is he the son of Joseph?” Thus, this issue reflects a typical problem of
our tendency to make assumption in a way
to foster self-serving interest. This problem often leads to our
close-mindedness.
The statement, “Is he the son of Joseph?” also reflects crab mentality of the
congregation. Until they realized that
Jesus was just the son of ordinary man, Joseph, like anyone else in the
congregation, they seemed to have thought of Jesus as a very special
rabbi-prophet to fulfill Isaiah’s prophecy made more than 600 years before.
However, as soon as they recognized Jesus as an ordinary man, they must have
felt rather annoyed, because of their crab mentality, which is a form of
jealousy. Of course, psychologically,
jealously comes out of insecure self – namely, narcissism.
In terms of the synagogue congregation’s
angry and aversive reaction to Jesus comment on them in response to the “Is he the son of Joseph?” statement, the
problem is their pride, which makes them think of themselves superior to the
Gentiles. Hearing from an ordinary man,
the son of Joseph, who has no “credential” to preach, telling them that the
Gentiles are better than they, their pride sure makes them angry at Jesus.
It is evident that the self-centeredness
of the congregation made them blind and deaf to the divine manifestation –
epiphany – in Jesus’ teaching on the Word from the scroll in the synagogue. Not only their spiritual ignorance, their
attachment to ego also leads to their vain pride and makes them easily hurt and
become angry at those who challenge their assumption and pride. That is why the congregation grew in anger
and spitefulness, expelling Jesus out of Nazareth.
It was out of their own spiritual ignorance
that the Nazarenes rejected Jesus and the epiphany in his rabbinic teaching. Beneath their ignorance, it was their
narcissism that prompted them to become angry and hateful toward Jesus when
they recognized him as just the son of Joseph and as they felt they were put
down lower than the Gentile by Jesus’s response to the “Is he the son of Joseph?” statement.
The statement, “Is he the son of Joseph?, represents the Nazarenes’ closed-mindedness, cognitive stiffness, which leads
to their confirmation bias. Because of this psychological problem, the
Nazarenes failed to recognize epiphany in Jesus’ amazing teaching on the Word
of God from the scroll of Isaiah’s prophecy, as he was just the son of Joseph
in their eyes. Their confirmation bias prevented them from recognizing Jesus
beyond the son of Joseph, thus, keeping them blind to the epiphanic truth that
he is the Word, which is God (John 1:1), in visible flesh (John 1:14), though
Mary, Joseph, shepherds at the Nativity scene, the Magi, Anna and Simeon, John
the Baptist, and, perhaps, the servers
of the wedding banquet at Cana were able to experience epiphanies. Unlike the
Nazarenes, they were able to recognize divine manifestation in rather
unexpected places, such as in the stable in Bethlehem in a little baby, Jess,
of a poor peasant couple, Mary and Joseph, because they were all poor in spirit
(Matthew 5:3), meaning that they were humble.
As we are poor in spirit – humble, being
Anawin, to whom God has promised to
bring glad tidings (Isaiah 61:1, we are free from what our ego may clouds our
vision and hearing. Thus, we are open to whatever the way God manifests Godself.
In other words, we are able to recognize epiphany as it happens, regardless of
our own ego-driven assumptions and expectations. In such a state, free from ego’s influence,
being poor in spirit, then, we are free from confirmation bias, which makes our
cognition limited only to experience that fits our own ego-driven assumptions
and expectations, while rejecting otherwise.
Because the Nazarenes in the synagogue
were plagued with confirmation bias, due to their strong self-centered
attachment to their own ego, their spiritual vision and hearing were
immediately blocked when the statement,
“Is he the son of Joseph?” was cast
out. Thus, it became a stumbling block
laid on the path of epiphany of Jesus.
The statement, “Is he the son of Joseph?”, reflects the Nazarene synagogue
congregation’s confirmation bias, which we all possess, due to our ego. The bias rejects the epiphanic reality that
Isaiah’s prophecy on glad tidings for Anawin
(Isaiah 61:1), was fulfilled in the proclamation made by the son of Joseph,
because in their bias-infested rigid mind, the son of Joseph “should not” be a
rabbi, who is qualified to teach the Word in the synagogue. To this problem, Jesus alluded to the same
kind of spiritual ignorance as that of their ancestors during the time of the
Old Testament. Then, because of their hubris, the Nazarene congregation’s pride
of vanity was hurt, and they reacted to Jesus with anger and hatred.
In fact, this psychospiritual problem –
hubris due to the pride of vanity – later contributes to the conspiracy to have
Jesus killed, as reflected during Lent.
What the Fourth Sunday Gospel narrative
(Luke 4:21-30) can remind us, is how dangerous our ego can be – unless it is
disciplined by the Holy Spirit and its fruits, especially self-control
(Galatians 5:23). Otherwise, we tend to fall into the spiritual blindness and
deafness – the spiritual ignorance, to become unable to recognize epiphany that
Jesus brings. Spiritually undisciplined
ego tends to result in our confirmation bias and pride of vanity. The pride,
then, makes us angry and spiteful toward those who confront our ego problems,
such as our bias and the pride of vanity itself.
In order for us to appreciate epiphany,
we need to remain humble – not hubristic, as hubris, which is a problem of our
ego, keeps us blind and deaf to divine manifestation.
Besides our pride of vanity, our ego makes our senses skewed to
assumptions in favor of our narcissistic disposition. By keeping our confirmation bias in check
through the spiritual discipline, we can accept a messianic rabbi even he comes
as the son of Joseph.
The path of epiphanies that Jesus makes is also the glad tidings, prophesized in the Book (scroll) of Isaiah 61, and the light of salvation, as reflected in Psalm 27:1. Let us ensure that nothing obstructs this path of epiphanies, as we discipline our ego, keeping us from developing confirmation bias and hubris.
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