First Reading: 1 Kings 19:16B, 19-21
Reflection:
This Sunday’s first reading recounts the calling of Elisha to be the successor of the Prophet Elijah. Both prophets lived during a difficult time in Israel’s history. The kingdom was divided and the king in the north, Ahab, and his wife, Jezebel, were especially wicked and adamant in their opposition of God. Thus, to be a prophet of the Lord was not an easy job. In fact, this passage follows immediately after Elijah ran for his life from Ahab and Jezebel as they were trying to kill him. The Lord directed Elijah to return and anoint Elisha as his successor. This was a risky move for Elijah. It was also risky for Elisha to take on the role as his successor. Elisha also would have been giving up the comforts of home to do so. In fact, it appears that he came from a wealthy family since he was “plowing with twelve yoke of oxen,” a number of oxen that no family of ordinary means could afford. Still, when Elijah “threw his cloak over him” (the sign of passing on his authority), Elisha willingly agreed to follow him. Elisha simply had one, understandable request: “Please, let me kiss my father and mother goodbye.” Elijah agreed, but as we will see in the gospel reading, Jesus would not accommodate such requests when certain individuals were given the opportunity to follow him.
Second Reading: Galatians 5:1, 13-18
Reflection:
The term “freedom” is thrown around a lot in our society. Often times, freedom is understood to mean the ability to do whatever one wants without restrictions. But the Apostle Paul did not understand freedom that way. Paul explicitly says here, “do not use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh.” In other words, do not consider freedom to be a license to sin. He later says, “you may not do what you want.” So freedom, according to Scripture, is not the ability to do whatever we want. Rather, it is the ability to do what is right. Paul teaches that before Christ we were under a “yoke of slavery.” We were slaves to our sinful nature. But in Christ, we are set free from slavery to sin and given the ability (by the grace of God) to do God’s will. In other words, we can freely choose to do what is right. This is what Paul means by life in the Spirit. The Spirit guides us to what is right and gives us the strength to do it, rather than us giving into “the desire of the flesh” and falling into sin (which is not freedom but slavery).
Gospel Reading: Luke 9:51-62
Reflection:
The exchange between Jesus and the inquiring would-be disciples in this gospel reading parallels the exchange between Elijah and Elisha in the first reading. The connection becomes more evident when we understand the question posed by James and John to Jesus. Why would they ask if they should call fire down from heaven to consume the Samaritan village which rejected the Lord? Well, because it had been done before. In fact, Elijah had called down fire from heaven upon those who rejected God and it happened (2 Kings 1:1-16). Thus, it is understandable why James and John would make that request. Still, Jesus rebuked them. Why? Because Jesus came not to destroy the wicked but to set them free from their slavery to sin. He came to bring the mercy of God. Certainly those who rejected Jesus would be judged for their actions but not before they were given the opportunity to repent and accept him.
Jesus’ response to the would-be disciples requests is also difficult to understand at first glance. Was Jesus being unreasonable? The requests to “go first and bury my father” and “say farewell to my family at home” are good, reasonable requests. Why, then, did Jesus not honor the request (as Elijah did with Elisha)? Simply put, it is because Jesus knew their hearts. While honoring one’s father and mother is one of the Ten Commandments, doing so above honoring God and obeying Him is not right. In other words, if our family is more important to us than God, then our priorities are out of whack. Jesus knew that in requesting these things the would-be disciples were expressing a half-hearted commitment to following Him. They weren’t willing to abandon everything and give themselves fully to Christ. Rather, they were coming up with an excuse. In fact, it’s very likely that the list of requests of “let me first…and then I will follow you” could have gone on and on. We often do this too. We have a whole litany of good things that take priority over our relationship with Jesus and that we feel the need to do before taking our faith seriously.
Application:
Jesus is inviting you to follow Him and place Him first above everything else in your life. What is holding you back from giving Him everything? What do you tend to make a higher priority than your discipleship relationship with Jesus? What do you need to do to change those priorities, and be willing to follow Jesus above everything else?
