CCC Cross Reference:
Ps 69:10 584
Mt 13:55 495, 500
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Reading 1
Jer 26:1-9
In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim,
son of Josiah, king of Judah,
this message came from the Lord:
Thus says the Lord:
Stand in the court of the house of the Lord
and speak to the people of all the cities of Judah
who come to worship in the house of the Lord;
whatever I command you, tell them, and omit nothing.
Perhaps they will listen and turn back,
each from his evil way,
so that I may repent of the evil I have planned to inflict upon them
for their evil deeds.
Say to them: Thus says the Lord:
If you disobey me,
not living according to the law I placed before you
and not listening to the words of my servants the prophets,
whom I send you constantly though you do not obey them,
I will treat this house like Shiloh,
and make this the city to which all the nations of the earth
shall refer when cursing another.
Now the priests, the prophets, and all the people
heard Jeremiah speak these words in the house of the Lord.
When Jeremiah finished speaking
all that the Lord bade him speak to all the people,
the priests and prophets laid hold of him, crying,
“You must be put to death!
Why do you prophesy in the name of the Lord:
‘This house shall be like Shiloh,’ and
‘This city shall be desolate and deserted’?”
And all the people gathered about Jeremiah in the house of the Lord.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 69:5, 8-10, 14
R. (14c) Lord, in your great love, answer me.
Those outnumber the hairs of my head
who hate me without cause.
Too many for my strength
are they who wrongfully are my enemies.
Must I restore what I did not steal?
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
Since for your sake I bear insult,
and shame covers my face.
I have become an outcast to my brothers,
a stranger to my mother’s sons,
Because zeal for your house consumes me,
and the insults of those who blaspheme you fall upon me.
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
But I pray to you, O Lord,
for the time of your favor, O God!
In your great kindness answer me
with your constant help.
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
Gospel
Mt 13:54-58
Jesus came to his native place and taught the people in their synagogue.
They were astonished and said,
“Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds?
Is he not the carpenter’s son?
Is not his mother named Mary
and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas?
Are not his sisters all with us?
Where did this man get all this?”
And they took offense at him.
But Jesus said to them,
“A prophet is not without honor except in his native place
and in his own house.”
And he did not work many mighty deeds there
because of their lack of faith.
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
First reading Jeremiah 26:1 – 9
At the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word was addressed to Jeremiah by the Lord, ‘The Lord says this: Stand in the court of the Temple of the Lord. To all the people of the towns of Judah who come to worship in the Temple of the Lord you must speak all the words I have commanded you to tell them; do not omit one syllable. Perhaps they will listen and each turn from his evil way: if so, I shall relent and not bring the disaster on them which I intended for their misdeeds. Say to them, “The Lord says this: If you will not listen to me by following my Law which I put before you, by paying attention to the words of my servants the prophets whom I send so persistently to you, without your ever listening to them, I will treat this Temple as I treated Shiloh, and make this city a curse for all the nations of the earth”.’
The priests and prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah say these words in the Temple of the Lord. When Jeremiah had finished saying everything that the Lord had ordered him to say to all the people, the priests and prophets seized hold of him and said, ‘You shall die! Why have you made this prophecy in the name of the Lord, “This Temple will be like Shiloh, and this city will be desolate, and uninhabited”?’ And the people were all crowding round Jeremiah in the Temple of the Lord.
Responsorial Psalm:
Psalm 68(69):5,8-10,14
In your great love, answer me, O God.
More numerous than the hairs on my head
are those who hate me without cause.
Those who attack me with lies
are too much for my strength.
How can I restore
what I have never stolen?
In your great love, answer me, O God.
It is for you that I suffer taunts,
that shame covers my face,
that I have become a stranger to my brothers,
an alien to my own mother’s sons.
I burn with zeal for your house
and taunts against you fall on me.
In your great love, answer me, O God.
This is my prayer to you,
my prayer for your favor.
In your great love, answer me, O God,
with your help that never fails.
In your great love, answer me, O God.
Gospel Matthew 13:54 – 58
Coming to his home town, Jesus taught the people in their synagogue in such a way that they were astonished and said, ‘Where did the man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? This is the carpenter’s son, surely? Is not his mother the woman called Mary, and his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Jude? His sisters, too, are they not all here with us? So where did the man get it all?’ And they would not accept him. But Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is only despised in his own country and in his own house’, and he did not work many miracles there because of their lack of faith.
Readings and Commentary from the Navarre Bible
Friday of the 17th Week in Ordinary Time
From: Jeremiah 26:1-9
Jeremiah arraigned
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[1] In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the Lord, [2] "Thus says the Lord: Stand in the court of the Lord's house, and speak to all the cities of Judah which come to worship in the house of the Lord all the words that I command you to speak to them; do not hold back a word. [3] It may be they will listen, and every one turn from his evil way, that I may repent of the evil which I intend to do to them because of their evil doings. [4] You shall say to them, 'Thus says the Lord: If you will not listen to me, to walk in my law which I have set before you, [5] and to heed the words of my servants the prophets whom I send to you urgently, though you have not heeded, [6] then I will make this house like Shiloh, and I will make this city a curse for all the nations of the earth.'"
[7] The priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord. [5] And when Jeremiah had finished speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, then the priests and the prophets and all the people laid hold of him, saying, "You shall die! [9] Why have you prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying, 'This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate, without inhabitant'?" And all the people gathered about Jeremiah in the house of the Lord.
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Commentary:
26:1-45:4. The first part of the book was a lengthy collection of oracles, usually in verse form, interspersed with narrative passages; this second part consists largely of prose narratives. It is very likely that most of them were written down by Baruch, Jeremiah's secretary, a person who was very close to him from the year 605 on (cf. 32:12, 16; 36:4-20; 45:15 and the Introduction to this book).
They tell us about Jeremiah's preaching and about the difficulties he encountered in the fulfillment of his ministry. The entire account, only occasionally interrupted by the inclusion of oracles, culminates in the so-called "Sufferings of Jeremiah" (37:1-44:30), in which we are told in some detail about what Jeremiah underwent in the period after the first deportation to Babylon, in 597. It was not only that people misunderstood him; he was ill-treated by those still living in the land of Judah and eventually, after the second conquest and deportation in the year 587, he was forcibly taken to Egypt, where he died.
These pages describe his clashes -- first with the people, priests and prophets (26:1-29:32) and then with the kings who occupied the throne during those years of turmoil (34:1-36:32). The episodes are not in chronological order, and they derive from a number of separate collections of documents. One collection contains narratives of events in the reign of Jehoiakim (chaps. 26; 35-36; and 45); another, events in the time of Zedekiah (chaps. 27-29). In the centre of this part comes what is called the "Book of Consolation" (30:1-33:26), highly poetic and theological pages.
26:1-29:32. The connecting thread in the first section of prose accounts of the life of Jeremiah is the prophet's fidelity to the mission entrusted to him by the Lord, despite ever-increasing opposition from his fellow citizens.
26:1-24. This chapter deals with the same incident in the temple that was narrated in 7:1-8:3 (see note), and which occurred in 608 BC. It contains a summary of what the prophet said on that occasion, and people's reactions to it (vv. 7-24). The religious life of the nation hinged on the temple, whose importance had increased further as a result of Josiah's recent reforms; but Jeremiah proclaims that the temple will be destroyed; it will he reduced to rubble, like the old shrine at Shiloh (vv. 2-6). This prophecy so angered people, priests and prophets that they called for Jeremiah's death (vv. 7-9), but the authorities managed to calm them down and Jeremiah escaped with his life (vv. 10-19), probably because his sincerity impressed the rulers: he was a man ready to risk his life in order to be faithful to his prophetic mission. Although one cannot he sure where the New Gate (v. 10) was, the rulers' intervention clearly had a judicial character to it, since legal proceedings took place at the city gates. The New Testament contains clear echoes of this account -- in the deliberations of the Sanhedrin on what to do with Jesus after he was arrested (cf. Mt 26:5-68 and par.), in the sentence handed down by Pilate (cf. Lk 23:22), and also in the account of the martyrdom of St Stephen (cf. Acts 6: 12-14).
This episode dramatically illustrates the sort of clashes that Jeremiah became involved in when carrying out his mission from the Lord. He has harsh things to say, and meets resistance from the people, who have even begun to think that nothing that offends their sensibilities or contradicts their desires can come from God. Even so, Jeremiah does not back down, for the Lord gives him the strength to stay true to his calling (cf. 1:7-10).
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From: Matthew 13:54-58
No One is a Prophet in His Own Country
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[54] And coming to His (Jesus') own country He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, "Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? [55] Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not His mother called Mary? And are not His brethren James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? [56] And are not all His sisters with us? Where then did this Man get all this?" [57] And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house." [58] And He did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.
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Commentary:
53-58. The Nazarenes' surprise is partly due to people's difficulty in recognizing anything exceptional and supernatural in those with whom they have been on familiar terms. Hence the saying, "No one is a prophet in his own country." These old neighbors were also jealous of Jesus. Where did He acquire this wisdom? Why Him rather than us? They were unaware of the mystery of Jesus' conception; surprise and jealousy cause them to be shocked, to look down on Jesus and not to believe in Him: "He came to His own home, and His own people received Him not" (John 1:11).
"The carpenter's son": this is the only reference in the Gospel to St. Joseph's occupation (in Mark 6:3 Jesus Himself is described as a "carpenter"). Probably in a town like Nazareth the carpenter was a general tradesman who could turn his hand to jobs ranging from metalwork to making furniture or agricultural implements.
For an explanation of Jesus' "brethren", see the note on Matthew 12:46-47.
[The note of Matthew 12:46-47 states:
46-47. "Brethren": ancient Hebrew, Aramaic and other languages had no special words for different degrees of relationship, such as are found in more modern languages. In general, all those belonging to the same family, clan and even tribe were "brethren".
In the particular case we have here, we should bear in mind that Jesus had different kinds of relatives, in two groups -- some on His mother's side, others on St Joseph's. Matthew 13:55-56 mentions, as living in Nazareth, James, Joseph, Simon and Judas ("His brethren") and elsewhere there is reference to Jesus' "sisters" (cf. Matthew 6:3). But in Matthew 27:56 we are told that James and Joseph were sons of a Mary distinct from the Blessed Virgin, and that Simon and Judas were not brothers of James and Joseph, but seemingly children of a brother of St Joseph.
Jesus, on the other hand, was known to everyone as "the son of Mary" (Mark 6:3) or "the carpenter's son" (Matthew 13:55).
The Church has always maintained as absolutely certain that Jesus had no brothers or sisters in the full meaning of the term: it is a dogma that Mary was everVirgin (cf. note on Matthew 1:25).]
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
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