Mt 4,12-23
«He was going through Galilee, teaching in the synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of disease and infirmity among the people»
Jesus decides to go in search of John the Baptist because he is not comfortable in his parents’ religion and seeks answers. He finds him at the Jordan River, and it is there that he finally matures the idea of the Kingdom and feels definitively called to the mission. He withdraws to the desert to discern in an environment of prayer and penance whether he should launch himself into the roads of Galilee… or return to his quiet existence in Nazareth.
Decide ser fiel a la llamada and they follow crowds; because he attends to everyone, heals their illnesses, and speaks to them of God in a language that all understand. And it is that his eyes see God in all things and he speaks of Him as he feels it within.
And feels it as a seed that germinates and bears fruit, like yeast that ferments an entire mass, like a paterfamilias capable of forgetting his estate to recover his son, like a sower who scatters the Word broadcast to reach all corners, like a doctor who cares for his patients, like a light that ignites in the darkness so that we do not stumble, like salt that gives flavor to this bland world, like bread for the road, like wine that gladdens hearts, like water that quenches our thirst, that cleanses us, that revives us…
The God of whom the learned Pharisees speak to them is a heavy burden in their life, a threat, but the God of Jesus is a relief, a remedy, a hope; it is precisely what the burdened people need, already weighed down by a thousand burdens. But he doesn’t just speak to them about God, but invites them to feel like children of that Father; to be worthy children of His, sharing, forgiving, welcoming, learning to suffer, acting without duplicity, working for peace and justice, giving food to the hungry and drink to the thirsty…
His lecture hall is the mountains, the shores of the lake, the open fields… His listeners, from the most diverse backgrounds; from doctors of the Law who come to trap him, to ragged blind or lame men who approach him because they feel the need for that God who does not reject or punish them for their sins, but who welcomes them and helps them to escape the slavery to which sin subjects them.
At no time does he wrap his message in erudite or metaphysical concepts accessible only to initiates, because his priority is that it reaches the simple and because he knows that is a sterile and useless language to reach God. The astonishing thing that marks Jesus’ style is that these latter are the ones who understand his message and follow him, while the saints, the wise, and the important ones don’t understand anything…
And this is undoubtedly a good lesson for us, enlightened people eager to correct Jesus’ style; to substitute his simple, powerful, and engaging message for all, with learned theories accessible only to initiates and erudite people… It is no wonder that José Enrique Ruiz de Galarreta wondered with astonishment: “Who has dared to change Jesus’ style?”…
Miguel Ángel Munárriz Casajús
To read an article by José E. Galarreta on a similar topic, click here
English version translated with AI