The Chosen One of God

We have begun the new liturgical year and next week we will dive into Matthew’s gospel with the narrative of the call of the first disciples. But before we do, on this Second Sunday in Ordinary Time the Church always gives us an offering from the Gospel of John. In year A it is the exchange between Jesus and John the Baptist. In year B it is the encounter between Andrew, Simon and Jesus and in year C, it is the Wedding feast at Cana. The Church uses these Second Sundays to continue the “epiphany” theme and as it were, so as to “tag” the forthcoming gospel year, be it Matthew, Mark or Luke, with a Johannine sub-heading, which puts into our minds a particular feature about the nature of Jesus. In year C we are told that Jesus let his glory be shown. In Year B we are invited by Jesus to come and see and be taught by him and in Year A, as we will read this weekend, Jesus is identified as the Chosen one of God.

In Matthew’s gospel this theme of Jesus as the Chosen One is specifically addressed by Matthew who quotes from the prophet Isaiah, equating Jesus with the Servant of the Lord. Here is my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved, the favourite of my soul (Mat Ch 12 v 18). It makes us call to mind the voice of the Father on the mount of the Transfiguration: This is my Son, the beloved; he enjoys my favour. Clearly Matthew is identifying Jesus with the figure of the servant, as the one who will be the light to the nations so that God’s salvation may reach to the ends of the earth. Indeed, Matthew will close his gospel with these very words, endorsing the truth that Jesus is the one who has been given the authority to command the apostles to go and make disciples of all the nations.

Here then is something that we can all focus on. As disciples ourselves, chosen by the Chosen One to be advocates of his message of diaconal service, we can by keeping these thoughts in our minds, pick up on the challenge of living out our own service of the word in our daily lives. Our understanding of what this means and implies will be deepened and widened by what we hear Sunday after Sunday in our reading of Matthew’s Gospel. That the example of servant leadership which Jesus lives out can become the model that all leaders, both religious and secular, strive to express. As we discover anew and explore the treasures of the Matthew’s gospel, we must be willing to open up its store of delights, to be shared amongst us, so that each one of us can find that what is being offered to the words are pearls of greatest value.