The Light of Life

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time A-1

Entrance Antiphon Cf. Ps 96 (95): 1, 6 O sing a new song to the Lord; sing to the Lord, all the earth. In his presence are majesty and splendour, strength and honour in his holy place.

Collect Almighty ever‑living God, direct our actions according to your good pleasure, that in the name of your beloved Son we may abound in good works. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Scripture: Isaiah 8:23-9:3; Psalm 27:1, 4, 13-14; 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17; Matthew 4:12-23

When Jesus had heard that John was arrested, he retired into Galilee. Leaving the town of Nazareth he came and dwelt in Capharnaum on the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim. Thus was fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, “Land of Zabulon and land of Nephthalim, the way of the sea beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: The people who sat in darkness has seen great light, and to those who dwelt in the shadow of death light has dawned.” From that point Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” As Jesus walked by the sea of Galilee he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea (for they were fishermen). He said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately leaving their nets they followed him. Going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in a boat with Zebedee their father mending their nets. He called them, and they immediately left their nets and father and followed him. Jesus went about all Galilee teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom. He healed all manner of sickness and every infirmity among the people. (Matthew 4:12-23)

The Light of Life The prelude of our Lord’s activities in our Gospel passage today is the cutting short by Herod of the public work of John the Baptist. He was a great prophet and the people held him to be such. Our Lord told his disciples at a later date that he was the Elijah whom the Scriptures predicted would come again. We remember how Elijah appointed his successor who received a double portion of his spirit, Elisha. Elisha went on to preach the word of God and to work miracles (2 Kings 2). We see something of this pattern of one prophet leading to the next in our Lord taking over from John after John’s arrest. But great as John was, now there appeared a Light beyond compare outclassing John in every respect. Matthew already (in chapter 2:2) had stated that John was the man Isaiah referred to when he prophesied a voice in the wilderness calling all to prepare a way for the Lord. In our passage today (ch.4) Matthew quotes him again in speaking of Jesus to whom John had borne witness. Jesus is the great Light Isaiah had spoken of dispelling the shadows of death. “The people who sat in darkness has seen great light, and to those who dwelt in the shadow of death light has dawned.” That light brought life where there had been death. The tree sapling deep in the darkness of the valley reaches up to the light so as to live and grow. Christ’s light gives life. Matthew’s reference to Isaiah reminds us of the words of St John about Christ in the prologue of his Gospel. John tells us that “all that came to be had life in him and that life was the light of men, a light that shines in the dark, a light that darkness could not overcome” (John 1:4-5). Christ appeared among men as a great light, the greatest Light God had given to his people, and he himself knew and stated that he was the greatest light to come to man. He claimed to be the light of the world and that the man who refuses to live by his light lives in the darkness, a darkness leading to death. So our Gospel today makes clear that two great things come from Christ. Firstly, he is the light of men and that light is present in his teaching. That light continues to shine in the Church’s teaching and preaching. He is also the life of men, and that life, present in his miracles of healing, continues to vivify us in the Church’s sacraments. By our union with Christ we possess his light and his life dispelling darkness and death.

St Matthew tells us that our Lord began his public ministry in a serious sense in Galilee after the sudden demise of John at the hands of Herod. It signalled our Lord’s specific mission which was to the lost sheep of the House of Israel. But our passage today portrays our Lord actively seeking disciples who would share in his mission. This does not seem to be characteristic of the prophets before our Lord. They did not actively seek disciples who would share in their mission and become a force in their society and world in concert with them. But our Lord did. “He said to them, ‘Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ Immediately leaving their nets they followed him. Going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in a boat with Zebedee their father mending their nets. He called them, and they immediately left their nets and father and followed him” (Matthew 4:12‑23). This in turn points to the future mission of Christ and his Church to the world. Christ’s personal mission during his public ministry was to Israel, the Israel of Galilee and Judea, allowing for brief excursions beyond — such as to Samaria and the Decapolis. But this great Light that had suddenly appeared was not to be a Light for the chosen people alone. We remember how, in the book of Genesis, Abraham had been told that through him all the nations of the earth would be blessed. Christ is that blessing, the great blessing for the children of Abraham in the flesh and the great blessing to all of Abraham’s children in the faith. Abraham, St Paul writes, is our father in the faith, and the faith which is his legacy is our faith in the one God and in Jesus Christ his divine Son. The blessing by which through him all the nations can be blessed is Jesus Christ. We remember St Paul’s words that in Christ is to be found every heavenly blessing, and this heavenly blessing which is Christ is brought to the world through the Church, founded on the Apostles whom our Lord is calling in our Gospel passage today. So then, our Gospel passage today sets forth the person of Jesus and his Church. The Church’s treasure is Jesus, and her mission is to bring Jesus the Light to the world, and through this Light which is Christ the world may find life in his name.

The kingdom of God which our Lord proclaimed as being near is nothing other than the lordship of God over the hearts of men. This lordship is brought about by means of union with Jesus and sharing in his life by the gift of the Holy Spirit. Christ is the blessing of God to mankind, and membership in his Church is the divinely intended path to gain access to this all-important blessing. The Church and all her children have the calling to bring Christ, the Church’s treasure, to all. It is in this way that the Kingdom of God will come. Let us entrust ourselves entirely to Jesus and take our stand among his disciples whom in today’s Gospel he calls to share his mission.

(E.J.Tyler)

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