An Exegetical Reflection on
the Gospel of the Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, Luke 17:5-10,
October 6, 2013
IN THE UNITED STATES, the
World Trade Center, a 110-floor twin towers in lower Manhattan, New York, was
symbolic of America’s economic prosperity, while the Pentagon in Washington
stands to remind us of her military might.
Twelve years ago, on September 11, 2001 to be exact, no sooner had
people warmed their seats than two commercial planes, hijacked by terrorists,
brought down the twin towers without warning, and another wrecked havoc on the
Pentagon. The damage, in terms of lives,
not to mention property and their impact on the American psyche, was so
enormous that the death toll was, in the words of New York Mayor Rudolph
Giuliani, “more than we can bear.” A
political analyst may look at these horrific attacks in terms of imperialism
and hegemony, but for a man of religion, they raise questions about God’s power
and his government of the world. Why
does he permit such acts of senseless terrorism? Why does he let injustice and violence run
their course?
The first reading (Hab 1:2-3; 2:2-4) raises almost the
same questions. At the time of Habakkuk,
the Chaldeans have replaced the Assyrians as the masters of the ancient Near
East in the early 6th century BC.
There was turmoil in both the international scene and in the land Judah
which was rife with confusion, disorder, intrigues and idolatry. Seeing the
violation of human rights in the anarchic regime, while God seemed to be
unmoved by the disorder, the prophet questioned the ways of God, complaining
why he, who was supposed to save his people, tolerated the injustices against
the innocent: “How long, O Lord? I cry
for help but you do not listen! I cry
out to you, ‘Violence!’, but you do not intervene” (Hab 1:2). One is, of course, reminded of the questions
of the skeptic on the problem of evil in theodicy: Why does God not prevent
evil in the world? Is he not capable of
it? If he is and he does not, can he
still be a holy and just God? Is he not
malevolent? If he is not able to prevent
it and will not, is he powerless and resentful?
But if he is and he will, why does he let terrorism and injustice have
their way?
Though such questions may make sense in philosophical
gymnastics, they are foreign to the Scriptures.
If anything, it would seem that the problem does not lie with God. On the contrary, it seems to be a question of
man’s attitude toward God in the face of the mystery of evil, and its concrete
manifestations in history---as in the assault on the American nation. For a man of religion, one’s attitude toward
God in the face of negative experiences in the world is one of faith. This is the message of both the 1st
Reading and the Gospel, although the meaning of the word is not identical in
both instances. In the 1st
Reading (Hab 1:2-3; 2:2-4), in his response to the questions that the prophet
raised, God said that even in the perilous and confusing times, one must trust
and hope in him, confident the future belongs to him. And he who is just, because of his faith,
shall live (Hab 2:4). Here faith means
fidelity and steadfastness. In the
Gospel (Luke 17:5-10), the saying about faith is placed in two contexts that have
to do with discipleship. On the one
hand, there is the larger context which is the journey to Jerusalem (Luke
9:51), which would have been difficult for the disciples to comprehend, for a
crucified Messiah would have been opaque to their understanding. Consequently, if in today’s Gospel they asked
Jesus to increase their faith (Luke 17:5), it could signify the lack of
commitment on their part to follow the Lord in his journey to the cross.
On the other
hand, there is the immediate context, namely, scandals and wrongdoings that
inevitably arise in the community (Luke 17:1).
In Luke’s theology, the community that Jesus intended to establish is
one that loves, cares and forgives.
Experience shows, however, that in the Church and in our faith communities,
there are people who scandalize, are unrepentant and unforgiving. There are some who serve as stumbling blocks
to others (Luke 17:1-4). Considering the
havoc they create in the community even to the point of engendering factions
and divisions, one wonders why God allows such problems and people to be part
of his very own community. If Jesus came
to defeat the powers of Satan and to establish the reign in the community, why
does he not remove those community members who stifle the growth of the Kingdom? Does he not care about what happens to the
communities and movements of faith that are, for example, placed in the hands
of leaders who set bad examples to others, scandalizing even the most innocent
members? Why does he not place millstone
around their necks (cf Luke 17:2)?
But it is
precisely in the face of such realities within the community that faith is
necessary so that Jesus’ followers can grasp the divine wisdom. Faith is the disciples’ response to God’s
call to belong to the community of love.
In this context, faith means an act of abandonment and trust in
God. It means putting everything in the
hands of God, knowing that, despite what appears to be human foolishness, the
wisdom of God will prevail. If the
disciples have this kind of faith—authentic faith—not matter how small, they
can certainly achieve great things, and transform the community into one that
cares for the spiritual and material needs of its members. It is in this sense that Jesus used the
exaggerated image of the power of faith so his teaching can sink well into the
mind of his listeners: such faith can uproot the mulberry tree! In other words, many miracles can happen in a
community whose members have that kind of trust in what God can
accomplish. If human wisdom were left to
itself, many people would probably think and suggest that those who are
unforgiving, those who are trouble makers and those who are scandal-causing
members of the Church should be excommunicated and written off! But human wisdom is folly before God. The wisdom of God dictates that forgiveness,
tolerance and sufferings are necessary for the transformation of the
community. And to believe in that wisdom
obviously requires much faith. Hence the
petition of the disciples: “Increase our faith” (Luke 17:5).
With this in
mind, a disciple cannot therefore claim that when, for instance, a tragedy
strikes the community, as in the despicable assault of the twin towers in
Manhattan and the Pentagon in Washington, God has abandoned his people or does
not care about them. One cannot question
the ways of God. What happens to the
community may not make sense to human wisdom, and human wisdom may even appear
to present better solutions to solve the problems that the community
encounters. But as a hearer of the Word,
the disciple remains faithful to God and to his Word, even when the Word does
appear not to make sense at all. Hence
the response to the 1st Reading: “If today you hear his voice,
harden not your hearts.” Whatever evil
may befall on the community, one’s faith in Jesus assures the disciple that
God’s Word will ultimately emerge triumphant, because he knows that God is
faithful to those who believe in him, and he cannot be deceived nor can
deceive. All that he needs when the
going gets tough is to ask the Lord to increase his faith so it could
accomplish miracles!
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