This blog follows the daily bible readings of the Catholic Church

 Reading 1, Acts 13:13-25

13 Paul and his companions went by sea from Paphos to Perga in Pamphylia where John left them to go back to Jerusalem. 14 The others carried on from Perga till they reached Antioch in Pisidia. Here they went to synagogue on the Sabbath and took their seats. 15 After the passages from the Law and the Prophets had been read, the presidents of the synagogue sent them a message, ‘Brothers, if you would like to address some words of encouragement to the congregation, please do so.’ 

16 Paul stood up, raised his hand for silence and began to speak: ‘Men of Israel, and fearers of God, listen! 17 The God of our nation Israel chose our ancestors and made our people great when they were living in Egypt, a land not their own; then by divine power he led them out 18 and for about forty years took care of them in the desert. 19 When he had destroyed seven nations in Canaan, he put them in possession of their land 20 for about four hundred and fifty years. After this he gave them judges, down to the prophet Samuel. 21 Then they demanded a king, and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin. After forty years, 22 he deposed him and raised up David to be king, whom he attested in these words, “I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who will perform my entire will.” 23 To keep his promise, God has raised up for Israel one of David’s descendants, Jesus, as Saviour, 4 whose coming was heralded by John when he proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the whole people of Israel. 25 Before John ended his course he said, “I am not the one you imagine me to be; there is someone coming after me whose sandal I am not fit to undo.”

for some, a messiah

“The life of Brian” on the one hand, and the quasi-messianic status of Osama bin Laden on the other, should alert us to the dangerous tendency of human beings to look for one all-righteous, all-powerful ruler. In that light, the life of Jesus presents as great a parody of a Messiah as the life of Brian. His birth is obscure, his early life is ordinary, his ministry does caring things amongst ordinary people, and his death, although surely a judicial mistake, is ignominious. Luke’s theology of Jesus as the rejected and crucified messiah is expressed in the speeches in Acts. He focuses in this speech, on the monarchy as a means by which God intended to fulfil his promises to Israel. These were not fulfilled completely in David and his line, but are now fulfilled in the crucified Jesus, a descendant of David.

 We know from his letters that Paul had a deeper understanding of the crucified messiah, which was unknown to Luke, who seems not to have read these letters. Although “Christ”-Greek for Messiah- has become almost the second name of Jesus, we should be as careful as Jesus was, in using it. As used of Jesus it involves a radical revision of all violent theologies, not only of the Jewish kind. By making this revision, we can keep a title that experesses  the hope of oppressed people for true justice, as one part of the saviour’s name.

 Gospel, John 13:16-20

16 ‘In all truth I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, no messenger is greater than the one who sent him. 17 ‘Now that you know this, blessed are you if you behave accordingly. 18 I am not speaking about all of you: I know the ones I have chosen; but what scripture says must be fulfilled: ‘He who shares my table takes advantage of me.

for some, a messiah (sent by God)

19 I tell you this now, before it happens, so that when it does happen you may believe that I am He. 20 In all truth I tell you, whoever welcomes the one I send, welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me, welcomes the one who sent me.’

 John continues his special theology of “sending.” To be sent is to serve the sender, offering perfect obedience regardless of the suffering that may be entailed. On the other hand, to be sent is to represent the sender, and therefore to share his character and dignity. John tells us that this is true of God, who sends Jesus, and it is also true of Jesus who sends the apostles. Jesus wholly represents the God who is love, as do all faithful messengers of Jesus, whose lives express the same love.

 “Being sent” means accepting our very beings as mission: we are not merely “here”; we are sent here.