Luke describes Jesus above all as ‘Saviour.’ He speaks of the angel of the Lord announcing
his birth: ‘To you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour who is the
Messiah, the Lord’. (2:11) When Simeon takes the baby Jesus in his arms, Luke
pictures him singing gratefully to God: ‘Master, now you are dismissing your
servant in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your
salvation.’ (2:30) God always offers salvation in Jesus, today, now. ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled’ we
hear in today’s gospel. Jesus was
speaking to the people in the synagogue in Nazareth, his home town, quoting the
prophet Isaiah who promised a liberating Messiah. Jesus is the fulfilment of this prophecy.
Jesus brings Good News to the poor, release to the
captives, sight to the blind, freedom to the oppressed and the year of the
Lord’s favour, (4:15-21) This is why Jesus could say when he visited the home
of Zacchaeus: ‘Today salvation has come to this house’ (19:19) and he could
promise the good thief on the cross: ‘Today you will be with me in paradise.’
(23:43)
In Luke’s gospel we are constantly being shown
Jesus revealing the compassion of the Father.
The portrayal of the father in the parable of the Prodigal Son (or more
accurately the parable of the compassionate Father) beautifully depicts God’s
desire to shower mercy on his wayward children.
The image of the father running to meet his bedraggled son speaks
volumes about the Father’s eagerness to welcome back his children when they
turn away from him. The social
conventions at that time would very much frown on a grown man running in such
circumstances. Even more, the very idea
of a father welcoming back a son who had disgraced the family and squandered
his hard earned property would have been regarded as outrageous. Luke teaches us that God rather than
patiently waiting for his children to return actively reaches out to them and
celebrates festive meals with them.
Jesus describes his ministry in these words: ‘The Son of Man came to
seek out and to save the lost,’ (19:10) Could we have a better or clearer
explanation of why Jesus came among us?
Pope Francis has written a beautiful little book to
mark the Jubilee Year of Mercy. It is
called ‘The Face of Mercy’ from the first words: ’Jesus Christ is the face of
the Father’s mercy.’ What a wonderful
summary of our belief in whom Jesus is and why he has come. Pope Francis goes on to say that God ‘sent
his only Son into the world to reveal his love for us in a definitive way. Whoever sees Jesus sees the Father. Jesus of Nazareth by his words, his action
and his entire person reveals the mercy of God.’ (Paragraph 1)
We celebrate the mercy of God by approaching him
with confidence in his utter love for us.
But we celebrate it also by our willingness to reach out to others as
the Father reached out to us. Pope
Francis says: ‘we will entrust the life of the Church, all humanity and the
entire cosmos to the Lordship of Christ, asking him to pour out his mercy upon
us like the morning dew so that everyone may work together to build a brighter
future. How much I desire that the year
to come will be steeped in mercy so that we can go out to every man and woman,
bringing the goodness and tenderness of God!
May the balm of mercy reach everyone, both believers and those far away,
as a sign that the Kingdom of God is already present on our midst.’ (Paragraph
5)
Pope Francis is emphasising that Jesus Christ is
the face of the Father’s mercy and that each one of us also is called to be the
face of the Father’s mercy. This sums up
what we are called to be, what we are called to do. People looking at us are meant to see
something of what the love of the Father is like. We too are meant to be the face of the
Father’s mercy.
The message of Pope Francis is demanding, just as
the message of the gospel is demanding.
In the immediate aftermath of the Last Supper, Jesus asks his disciples:
‘Who is (regarded by the world as) greater: the one seated at the table or the
one who serves? Is it not the one seated
at the table? Yet I am among you as the
one who serves (22:27) If we are to be his disciples we must be at the service
of others.
