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The
messengers of salvation like the light of God’s saving
love reaches out to all who are in need and in darkness
without any discrimination (Acts 13:14, 43-53). What is
required of those who would be saved is an open,
listening heart, the ability to recognize the voice of
God who calls (John 10:27-30).
The word
of divine love to all
Like a
reverberating call of God to the Jewish people and to
all nations, the apostles driven by the experience of
the Risen Christ spread out to bring the good news of
salvation to the known world. In this first missionary
trip of Paul and his companions, which took about 13
years to complete, they were mandated by the Christian
community in Syrian Antioch.
Paul and
Barnabas sailed westward to Cyprus, cut across the
island and went on northward to Asia Minor (modern
Turkey), making their way to Antioch of Pisidia, an
important center in the Roman province of Galatia, home
to a large Jewish population.
At the
synagogue on the Sabbath, Paul rose up to speak when
asked if they have “a word of exhortation for the
people.” Well received, the two were invited to speak
again the following Sabbath regarding their good news of
the savior raised up by God according to His promise
(Acts 13:15-42).
Meanwhile, some who heard them followed already Paul and
Barnabas for more, and the two “urged them to remain
faithful to the grace of God.”
Rejecting the word
The next
Sabbath saw practically all the Jews of the city
gathered “to hear the word of the Lord.” The mixed
reaction of the people who listened to Paul’s exposition
replicated Jesus’s own ministry. The enthusiastic
response of many (“All who were destined for eternal
life came to believe, and the word of the Lord continued
to spread through the region”) was countered by the
jealousy and resentment of the leaders among the
people.
The
pattern for the early missionary efforts of the Church
could be seen here: preaching first in synagogue,
meeting rejection of the message by Jews but openness of
gentiles, a new community of faith emerges, and the
persecution by Jewish authorities.
Here in
Asia Minor, as he would later in Greece and in Rome,
Paul cited the Jews for their rejection of God’s word.
“It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you
first, but since you reject it and condemn yourselves as
unworthy of eternal life, we now turn to the gentiles.”
The
universal scope of the Gospel of Jesus was part of God’s
preordained plan, not just caused by Jewish
rejection. It was divine command. “I have made you a
light to the gentiles, that you may be an instrument of
salvation to the ends of the Earth (Isaiah 49:6).”
The
priority of Israel in the plan of salvation nonetheless,
as Paul and Barnabas were being expelled from the
region, they shook the dust from their feet as a gesture
of removing from their person “pagan” dust of places and
people who refuse the word of God (Luke 9:5; 10:11).
The
shepherd’s voice
During
the Feast of Dedication of the temple in Jerusalem,
recalling the revolutionary and nationalistic leadership
of the Maccabees and stoking the messianic expectations
of the people, Jesus was being queried by the public
regarding His messianic identity.
But
Jesus would not have His mission enmeshed with their
political hopes and nationalistic dreams. Though He had
spoken often of His way, He pointed out to them, “You do
not believe, because you are not among My sheep.”
Jesus
subscribed to the figure of the shepherd, not to that of
a national or military leader. God Himself is described
as shepherd of the people (Psalm 23; Ezekiel 34); and
Jesus’s claim “the Father and I are one” equates His
mission as Messiah with the work of the Father, so that
those who accept Him as shepherd will receive eternal
life.
Faith is
what is required to recognize Jesus as
Shepherd-Messiah. Those who do not follow Jesus are not
sheep! To be a sheep, to belong to Jesus and be heir to
eternal life, one must be “of God” (John 8:47) and “of
the truth” (John 18:37). To hear Jesus’s voice and to
follow Him implies a faith relationship with Jesus and
the Father in an interchangeable communion and personal
knowledge.
“They
reached for rocks to stone Him.”
Alálaong bagá: An essential element of the victory of
Easter is the saving word of God proclaimed to all in
need of salvation. As the Word made flesh and risen in
glory, Jesus alone can give eternal life to all who
believe in Him and promise that no one can snatch them
out of His hand.
God’s
word in Jesus means a revolution in the world, a setting
aside of preconceived ideas and perches of privileges
and self-interests, and acceptance of a gentle shepherd
and compassionate servant-leader who would lead in truth
and in lived justice. |
