Gospel: Lk 9:43b-45
WHILE they were all amazed at his every deed, Jesus said to his disciples, “Pay attention to what I am telling you. The Son of Man is to be handed over to men.” But they did not understand this saying; its meaning was hidden from them so that they should not understand it, and they were afraid to ask him about this saying.
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The concept of a suffering messiah is inconceivable for the Jews. They are hoping for a political or conquering messiah, who will liberate them from the Roman domination, much like the liberation from the Egyptians, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, and other foreign powers.
Gradually, Luke is unfolding a new meaning of messiahship in the spiritual and theological sense. The real liberation, from sinfulness that leads to death, will be through Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection. The idea of the sacrificial offering could be understood in the sense of the Passover sacrifice for the remission of sins with the Jewish feast of Yom Kippur: the Day of Atonement and repentance. But the mystery of the resurrection is yet to be revealed.
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SOURCE: “365 Days with the Lord,” ST PAULS, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 895-9701; Fax 895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.
