The English word, “prophet,” comes from the Latin, “propheta” or Greek, “prophētēs”
which means “one who speaks on behalf of God”. Since the prophet is the mouth
by which God speaks to humans, what a prophet says are not his own words, but
God’s words. Moses, who figures in the first reading of today, is an example of
a prophet from the Old Testament. James,
from whose letter the second reading of today is taken, is an example of a
prophet in the New Testament.
The first reading, from the
book of Numbers, tells about an incident that occurred as the Israelites were
marching through the desert toward the Promised Land. God offered to bestow
some of the spirit that was in Moses on seventy elders of the people. These seventy would then share the duties of
leadership with Moses. When God bestowed the spirit on the elders, they, like
Moses, became prophets and were able to prophesy or speak on behalf of God. Two
men, Eldad and Medad, who had not been part of the group of seventy, also
received the spirit and began prophesying. Joshua, who was the assistant to
Moses, told Moses to stop them, apparently thinking that it was improper for
anyone who had not been part of the group of seventy to prophesy. But Moses
refused to accept Joshua's advice. Instead, he said, “Would that all the Lord’s
people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit on them!”
The point that Moses makes is
that the Spirit of God cannot be controlled by human structures. It is a force
for change that blows where it will. The charisma of God can appear in members
who are not supposed to have such power. Their prophesying illustrates that the
boundaries of even minimal forms of hierarchy can be broken by the
uncontrollable Spirit of God. The role of Moses in this episode illustrates how
an ideal and charismatic leader will promote and recognize such power in
unexpected places, rather than view it as a challenge to his own authority, as
did Joshua. Charisma breaks established boundaries both inside and outside of
communities. Charismatic leadership forces communities to be self-critical,
because the power of God can appear in unexpected forms, places, and persons.
Such charismatic leadership is
noticed in the second reading of today when James also speaks as a charismatic
prophet. With words that are bound to sting, he berates the oppressors of the
poor. He does not mince words and is categorical and forceful in his criticism
of the rich. He is especially critical
of those who have made their riches ends in themselves. Speaking on behalf of
God, he calls on them to realize that it is their riches which will be used as
evidence for their condemnation and judgement.
Like his Lord, Jesus, had done before him, James pronounces woes on the rich
because of their mistreatment of the poor.
This Lord, who speaks in the
Gospel text of today, is not merely a prophet. He does not merely speak on
behalf of God. Rather, he is God. If the words of the prophet have to be taken
seriously and acted upon, how much more so the words of God himself. In the first part of the Gospel text of today,
Jesus corrects John, like Moses corrected Joshua. Like Joshua before him, it
seems that John, too, was jealous of the unnamed exorcist who was able to
exorcise despite not being part of the inner circle of Jesus. Jesus, however,
is open and accommodating. He will not set limits on persons as long as they
are doing what God wants them to do. He will not be an obstacle or stumbling
block in the way of anyone who is doing good, and he exhorts his disciples to
adopt this way of thinking. Since Jesus does not stand on his ego, he is able
to allow the unnamed exorcist to do God’s work. He does not claim a monopoly on
such work. What is important is that the work be done and the kingdom brought
closer.
However, the kingdom will
remain a distant dream and will not be translated into reality if there are
stumbling blocks that keep coming in the way of the kingdom. These are not
external events, but persons and their attitudes and this is what Jesus
addresses in the second part of today’s Gospel. The behaviour and attitude of the disciples can become a scandal to
those who witness them. On the one hand, one cannot blame others for the
decisions one makes. On the other hand,
however, if these are simple people, there is every possibility that the
scandalous behaviour of Jesus’ disciples can
scandalize them. Thus, the disciples are warned.
The scandals that we can cause,
as disciples of Jesus, can be seen in two areas. One area is when, like Joshua
and John, we become narrow minded and parochial in our way of proceeding. We
may focus so much on the external that we might lose sight of the internal. We
may place so much emphasis on our small community that we might neglect the
larger community. The second area in which we can cause scandal is through the
words that we speak and the actions that we do.
Our words and actions may, at times, push people away from Jesus rather
than draw people to him. When people look at the lives we lead, and at our way
of proceeding, and know that we are followers of Jesus, is it likely or unlikely
that they will be inspired to follow him?
The call of the readings then,
is a two fold call. It is first a call to each one of us to be prophets of God
and to have the courage to speak on his behalf to a world that has grown deaf
and will not hear and to a world that has grown blind and will not see. It is
also a call to an open-minded attitude that will welcome the actions of those
who may not belong to our “inner circle” of faith, realizing that the Spirit of
God can work when and where the Spirit wills. It is also to live our lives as Christians and
followers of Jesus in such a manner that, when people see and hear us, they
will be seeing and hearing Jesus Christ. It is to dare to say, with Paul, that
it is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in us. (Gal 2:20)