Tuesday, December 1st., of the First Week of Advent Year C
The Gospel of LUKE is assigned to this Year C
Finding in the Tuesday Gospel passage, LUKE 10:21-24, I found it greatly attracting and fascinating. As I probe more I find further.
From Ronald Knox to Dom Henry Wansbrough emerges the remarkable recognition of “one of the deepest reflections in the Synoptic Gospels on the relationship between Father and Son”. (Wansbrough)
It is by good fortune to discover this “Year of Luke” book for every day.
| A Harmony of the Gospels, R. Knox Translation | |
| §54. Jesus Rejoices and Thanks the Father | §54. Jesus Rejoices and Thanks the Father |
| MATTHEW 11:25-27 25 At that time Jesus said openly, Father, who art Lord of heaven and earth, I give thee praise that thou hast hidden all this from the wise and the prudent, 26 and revealed it to little children. Be it so, Father, since this finds favour in 27 thy sight. My Father has entrusted everything into my hands; none knows the Son truly except the Father, and none knows the Father truly except the Son, and those to whom it is the Son's good pleasure to reveal him. | LUKE 10:21-24 21 At this time, Jesus was filled with gladness by the Holy Spirit, and said, Father, who art Lord of heaven and earth, I give thee praise that thou ha l hidden all this from the wise and the prudent, and revealed it to little children. 22 Be it so, Lord, since this finds favour in thy sight. My Father has entrusted everything into my hands; none knows what the Son is, except the Father, and none knows what the Father is, except the Son, and those to whom 23 it is the Son's good pleasure to reveal him. Then, turning to his own disciple, 24 he said, Blessed are the eyes that see what you see; I tell you, there have been many prophets and kings who have longed to see what you see, and never saw it, to hear what you hear, and never heard it. |
| Ronald Knox A New Testamenr Commentary. | |
| LUKE 10.21-24. Jesus Thanksgiving and Blessedness of the Disciples The remaining four verses of this passage are to be found in two different contexts in Matthew, 11.25-27 and 13.16-17. There is no doubt that Matthew gives the former utterance a more natural setting; what is hidden from the wise and prudent is the lesson which ought to have been conveyed by our Lord's miracles, whereas "all this" in Luke has the vaguest possible reference. Similarly Matthew 13.16, with its emphatic " But blessed are your eyes", fits into the argument without difficulty, whereas in Luke there is no obvious reason why our Lord should break off his conversation with the Seventy to address a remark (which might have been equally made at any other time) to the Twelve. It looks, therefore, as if Luke 10. 17-20 should be treated as a parenthesis, and verse 21 should be taken closely with the Chorazin-Bethsaida context, as in Matthew. Verses 23 and 24 will have been known to Luke merely as an isolated utterance, which he fitted in here because it matched the reference to " revelation" in verse 22. Luke, as usual, gives us the impression that he was not familiar with Matthew's gospel, so far as its structure was concerned, but had access to some catena of Divine utterances which was either extracted from Matthew's gospel, or used in the compiling of it. | |
MATTHEW
11 :25-27 Jesus' thanksgiving prayer stands in contrast to the preceding narrative (11 :20-24). While several towns reject Christ, there is a remnant (including the disciples) who trust him with the simplicity of infants (11:25; cf. 18:1-4; 19:13-15). Jesus' language is similar to several statements in John's Gospel that articulate his unique relationship with the Father (Jn 3:35; 10:14-15; 17:25) .The intimacy between the Father and Son points to their oneness within the Blessed Trinity-i.e., their shared divine knowledge implies a shared divine nature.
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LUKE
10:22 Jesus is the divine Son of God and, so, the heir of his Father's authority and estate (Mt 28:18; Jn 3:35; 17:2). - The Father, Son, and Spirit are equal in being, and no one of them possesses more of the divine life and knowledge than another. Since the Son is no less perfect than the Father, he is uniquely qualified to reveal the inner life of the Trinity to the world (Jn 1:18; 14:9) (CCC 253,2603).
Comments - Scot Hanh
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LUKE People’s Bible Commentary.
A Bible Commentary for Every Day
by Henry Wansbrough O.S.B.
LUKE 10:21-24
A FINAL BLESSING
This long section on disciples and discipleship ends with a double blessing: Jesus blesses his Father in gratitude, and his disciples for the revelation that has been given to them, and which they are to spread to others. Between these two blessings he pronounces one of the deepest reflections in the Synoptic Gospels on the relationship between Father and Son.
The eagerness of children
The blessing begins with Luke's characteristic theme of reversal. Mary's hymn of praise in the Magnificat centred on gratitude that God had 'pulled down princes from their thrones and raised high the lowly'. The beatitudes promise the
The preference for children is no romantic idealization of childhood, about their supposed innocence or guilelessness; rather, it gives the clue to why Jesus earlier set a child among the disciples as a model. One real universal characteristic of children is willingness to learn, an appreciation that they are an empty canvas on which there is still much to be drawn. Imitation is a feature of childhood from the very beginning. Adults hate being corrected; for children it is an inevitable part of life, and something on which to grow. The eagerness to grow in mind is as keen as the longing to grow in body, and a child realises that, while it can do nothing to speed bodily growth, it can do much to speed mental development. It is this eagerness to receive and to learn that Jesus here praises as the prerequisite of revelation.
The 'Johannine thunderbolt'
Between the two blessings at beginning and end of this little section comes the stunning statement about the relationship of the Son to the Father. Nothing else like it exists in the Synoptic Gospels, but it is amply filled out in the Gospel of John. The basic theology is that of the 'shaliah'. This is a Hebrew term in rabbinic writings for an envoy, sent with specific powers. The envoy is regarded as having the same powers, deserving the same respect, holding the same position as his principal. He is sent out by and reports back to the principal. In his turn he can appoint envoys to extend his work. This is clearly the concept which stands behind much of John's expression of the relationship of the Son to the Father, who shows him everything he himself does, who gives all judgment to the Son: 'as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself' (John 5:26).
The importance of this statement comes from the fact that the Hebrew mind defines in dynamic rather than static terms. The later Trinitarian theological definitions of the great Councils are given in static terms. That is, instead of describing the relationship of Son to Father in the Greek terms of essence and nature, as did the early Church Councils (dominated by Greek thought), the Hebrew mind describes in terms of powers and action, what a person does rather than what a person is. So here the Son reveals the Father, and to know the Son is to know the Father. Just as in John judgment has been entrusted to the Son, so here 'everything' has been entrusted to the Son, so that the Son is the plenipotentiary of the Father, and stands in the place of the Father.
PRAYER
Father; you reveal yourself to us in your Son. Teach me to pray and meditate over this revelation you give, and draw me ever closer into company with your Son and so with you.
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