Kingdom in Person!

Saturday, December 7, 2024

Is 30:19-21, 23-26; Mt 9:35-10:1, 5a, 6-8

In today’s Gospel, we find Jesus becoming the very definition of the Kingdom of God. 

Jesus, who represents God’s Kingdom, manifests many qualities that define God’s Reign. 

1.Jesus went around to ‘all’ the towns and villages. Jesus’ mission reached out to every section of the people without partiality. 

2. Jesus’ proclamation goes hand in hand with the healing of diseases and illnesses. There is no better way to talk about the attributes of the Kingdom than preaching that ended in healing. 

3. Jesus’ heart is moved with pity for those people who were troubled and abandoned, like a sheep without a shepherd. Compassion and solidarity are the very forms of God in Jesus. 

4. When Jesus invites his disciples to pray to God for more labourers, he turns his disciples into labourers for God’s vineyard. Without any delay, Jesus gets into action to cater to the needy humanity. 

5. The content of the disciples’ proclamation should be that the ‘Kingdom of heaven is at hand,’ and the deeds that would justify the nearness of the Kingdom would be ‘curing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing lepers, and driving out demons.’ Helping hands are the signs of the Kingdom. 

This is why Jurgen Moltmann speaks of Jesus as the ‘Kingdom of God in person.’ Commenting on the healing mission of Jesus, Moltmann says that in the healing of the sick, the Kingdom takes bodily form. The healings are reminders of hope. When we think of sickness, God’s Kingdom means healing; when we think of death, it means resurrection.

What we celebrate at Christmas is the coming of Jesus to heal the sick world. 

Let us pray that we may have a meaningful experience of the coming of the Kingdom in person at Christmas. 

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar