Instead of the 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time, this weekend we will be celebrating the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord—also known as the Feast of Candle Mass. This fact causes us to miss what we would have read on ordinary Sunday, the synagogue's response to Jesus' programmatic speech. After reading the quote from Isaiah that Jesus had read with all intention, after omitting a verse where the day of God's vengeance against the enemies of Israel was announced, after a dialogue with the assembly in which Jesus says that he is not surprised that he is not a prophet in his land—Jesus will suffer the first attempt against his life: “When everyone in the synagogue heard this, they became furious and, rising up, threw him out of the town and took him to a precipice of the mountain on which his people were built, with the intention of throwing it off the cliff” (Luke 4:29-29.)
The gospel of the Presentation of the Lord rewinds history and places us back in Jesus' early childhood. It sounds like one of the stories we read at Christmas. Not in vain, traditionally this holiday used to mark the end of the Christmas season. Mary and Joseph, observant of the Law, take Jesus as their first son to be presented in the Temple. Many of the “themes” of the Christmas gospels emerge: Jesus is taken to the Temple, the institution that will end up executing him; we witness the reaction of those who meet Jesus—during Christmas we saw the reaction of the shepherds, of Herod, of the Magi—now we see the reaction of the elders Simeon and Anna. It is very possible that the meeting of these elders fulfills the same function that the episode of the Epiphany fulfills in the gospel of Matthew.
It is curious that this Anna carries the same name as Samuel's mother. No doubt Luke wants his readers to make this connection, which first century Jews, the first to receive this gospel, would have made almost automatically. The two women see how God fulfills their hopes: receiving a son—Samuel—and the Son: Jesus.
In Simeon's words we detect a connection with the reaction of the people in the synagogue in Nazareth. Simeon proclaims that this child will be “glory to Israel” but also “light to all nations.” The universality of Jesus and his message will always be a problem for nationalist fanatics—both in Nazareth and in places closer to home. And to Mary he says, “This child has been appointed for the ruin and revival of many in Israel, as a sign that will cause contradiction, so that the thoughts of all hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your soul.” In the synagogue Jesus has begun to be a “sign of contradiction.”
Understanding Jesus as a stumbling block, as a sign of contradiction, can be a fruitful topic. Moreover, it is easy to fall into the temptation of only understanding Jesus as a sign of contradiction against the “world” or the “culture”. But, what would Jesus say to us, personally, that would provoke a reaction of deep rejection in us? What things that we believe absolutely would Jesus question? What kind of challenges would he present to us if he showed up in the middle of our assembly any Sunday like he did on the Sabbath in the synagogue of his native land?
In the spirit of this fest day in which candles are blessed, we ask the Lord to continue illuminating our lives, our contradictions, and to continue giving light to all our darkness.
