3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time and Sunday of the Word of God– January 25, 2026
Isaiah
8:23–9:3; 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17; Matthew 4:12–23
Theme:
The Continued Reading of the Bible Helps us to Stay United with God and with
Each Other
A.
A Brief Exegetical Analysis of Matthew 4:12-23
1. Historical and Literary Contexts
Our Gospel passage, including vv. 24-25, which the lectionary
has omitted, marks the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry in Galilee. Matthew
aims to show that Jesus' ministry fulfills the Old Testament prophecies. This
passage is immediately preceded by the account of Jesus’ triple temptation in
the desert by Satan (4:1-11) and followed by the Beatitudes (5:1-12) in the
Sermon on the Mount.
2.
Form, Structure, and
Movement
Our Gospel passage is a narrative divided into three movements:
Jesus’ initial preaching in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali (vv. 12-17),
the calling of the first four disciples (vv. 18-22), and the success of Jesus’
ministry (vv. 23-25).
3.
Detailed Analysis
Vv. 12-17. It seems strange that Jesus withdrew to Galilee upon
hearing of his cousin’s arrest. Was Jesus not concerned about John the
Baptist's suffering? However, this is not the focus of Matthew's narrative. By
mentioning John the Baptist’s arrest here, the evangelist intends to show that
Jesus takes up the mission where John the Baptist left off (see Jn 3:22-23;
4:1-3).[1]
Jesus now lives in Capernaum by the sea, a fishing village
northwest of the Sea of Galilee. In vv. 13-16, Matthew accommodates Jesus’s
move to Capernaum to Isaiah’s prophecy about the light rising upon Zebulun and
Naphtali, the story we heard in our first reading. He understands the
Mediterranean Sea of Isaiah’s oracle as the Sea of Galilee.[2]
Also, while Capernaum was only in the region of Naphtali, Matthew tells his
readers that it was also in the region of Zebulun (see Josh 19:10-16;
19:32-39). Zebulun and Naphtali were the first regions the Assyrians destroyed
and incorporated into the Assyrian provincial system after they invaded the
northern kingdom of Israel in 732 B.C. (see Is 8:22–9:3; 2 Kgs 15:29).[3]
By making Jesus start his public ministry in these two regions and by
accommodating this rearrangement, Matthew wants his readers to know that Jesus’
mission fulfills Isaiah’s prophecy about reunifying Israel and bringing them
the “great light.” The mention of “Galilee of the Gentiles” in v. 15
foreshadows the expansion of Jesus’ mission to the Gentiles (see Mt 28:16-20).[4]
The expression “From that time on” (v. 17) marks an essential
transition, signaling the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. The topic of
Jesus’ first preaching (v. 17) matches that of John the Baptist (Mt 3:2), but
with a different meaning: The kingdom of heaven has not begun in John the
Baptist’s preaching but in Jesus’. Unlike Mark and Luke, Matthew uses “kingdom
of heaven” instead of “kingdom of God.” He substitutes the name “God” with
“heaven” because he addressed his Book mainly to the Jewish Christians, and the
devout Jews of his time avoided pronouncing the name God out of reverence. In
either case, the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God is not a location but
the effective reign of God over his people.
Vv. 18-22: The call of the first four disciples. Matthew
emphasizes some key characteristics of discipleship in this account to help his
readers reflect on their own response to Jesus’ call. (1) It is Jesus who
initiates the invitation. (2) Jesus encounters these four men in their daily
work (fishing). (3) Because he calls them to an active mission, Jesus does not
condition his calling to an intellectual assent. (4) Totality and immediacy:
These four men immediately left everything (and their parents in the case of
John and James) and followed Jesus.
Vv. 23-25: The success of Jesus’ first preaching. Jesus
proclaimed the Gospel of the kingdom and cured every disease and illness among
the people. As a result, his fame spread, and great crowds followed him. The
expression “their synagogues” rather than “the synagogues” in v. 23 conveys the
conflict between Matthew’s predominantly Jewish Christians and Jews who did not
believe in Jesus.
4.
Synthesis
Jesus begins his first public ministry in the regions of Zebulun
and Naphtali, the same areas the Assyrians destroyed in 732 B.C. Isaiah
prophesied about these regions (see Is 8:22–9:3), indicating that his mission
fulfills Isaiah’s oracle and reunites Israel. This mission calls the people to
repent because the kingdom of heaven has begun with him. Recognizing he needs
help to build this kingdom, he calls his first four disciples. These men
immediately leave everything, including their families, to follow Jesus. With
his newly called disciples, he travels throughout Galilee, teaching, preaching,
and healing the sick. As a result, his fame spreads everywhere, drawing great
crowds that follow him.
B. Pastoral Implications
1. Liturgical Context
“Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ” (Saint
Jerome). In his Apostolic Letter, Motu Proprio “Aperuit Illis”,
published on September 30, 2019, Pope Francis establishes that “the Third
Sunday in Ordinary Time is to be devoted to the celebration, study, and
dissemination or sharing of the Word of God. Today is the World Sunday of the
Word of God. We recognize the centrality of God’s Word in the life of the
Church and our families. Today’s Scripture readings tell us that Jesus’s
mission, which is also our mission today, is to build the kingdom of heaven
(Gospel), to bring the great light to where we live (first reading), and to restore
unity with God and one another (second reading).
2. What the Church Teaches Us
Let us first analyze our first reading to understand what the
Church tries to teach us today. Isaiah served as God’s prophet for about forty
years in the Southern kingdom of Judah. During that time, he witnessed the fall
of the northern kingdom of Israel by the Syrians in 733 B.C. and the Assyrians
in 732 B.C. When Isaiah delivered the prophecy of our first reading, Ahaz, the
king of the Southern kingdom of Judah, was facing considerable pressure from
Syria and the Northern kingdom of Israel to team up with them against Assyria.
When Ahaz refused their demand, Syria and Israel invaded Judah with a plan to
unseat Ahaz. This event is known as the Syro-Ephraimite War (735-732 B.C.) The
Assyrians made this plan ineffective. In 732 B.C., they invaded the northern
kingdom by first destroying Zebulun and Naphtali, the two regions Isaiah
mentioned in our first reading (Is 8:23), which Matthew refers to in our Gospel
(Mt 4:13). In 721, they deported the people of Israel and devastated the entire
northern kingdom. Meanwhile, the southern kingdom of Judah became a vessel of
Assyria. This truly was a dark period in the history of Judah. After the north,
the Assyrians conquered the “land west of the Jordan” (or beyond), which our
first reading names “the district of the Gentiles” (Some translations read
“Galilee of the Nations) (Is 8:23). In this context, Isaiah, in our first
reading, prophesizes that the people of Israel who experienced this dark moment
and lived in a land of gloom would see a great light shine upon them as God
would smash the yoke that burned them, the pole on their shoulders, and the rod
of their taskmaster.
While the image of Israel’s bondage by the Assyrians is
political, this situation explains how many people today are in bondage to sin
and to Satan. Today, we see the “gloom” that comes from being addicted to
behaviors and actions that harm our relationship with God and one another. The
gloom extinguishes our love for God and our neighbor. Moreover, beyond the
material and physical powers of Assyrians, there are spiritual “Assyrian”
powers (demons) in our world that continue to devastate our spiritual lives.
The devil incites us to sin as he aims to separate us from God and our Church
Community and bring darkness and gloom into our lives. Our societies and
families need spiritual freedom from the devil's bondage. The prophet Isaiah prophesied
and reassured his people and us that one day, God will restore hope to Israel
and us today. He saw our gloom and darkness turning to light and joy and the
yoke, pole, and rod of the oppressors being smashed as on the day of Midian (Is
9:1-3). The “yoke,” “pole,” and “rod” were the symbols of Assyrian oppression.
Today, they are the symbols of the devil’s oppression of addictions, racism,
social injustice, and immoral practices that lead people to commit immoral
actions. The mention of “the day of Midian” refers to Gideon's stunning defeat
of the Midianite tribes (see Judges 6-8).
By telling us that Jesus began his public ministry in Zebulun
and Naphtali, the same regions we heard about in our first reading, Matthew
wants to teach us that Jesus’s mission is to fulfill Isaiah’s prophecy of our
first reading. Jesus came to reunify Israel and all of us. Since the bondage
that Isaiah talked about in our first reading was more spiritual than
political, which refers to the bondage to sin, the first-ever preaching of
Jesus calls us to repentance to be freed from the bondage of sins and to start
a new life with him in the kingdom of heaven that he came to establish.
We cannot fully enjoy the reign of God while our brothers and
sisters remain in the darkness of sin and under the influence of the devil's
spiritual power. This is why Jesus called his first four disciples and
continues to call us today to collaborate with him in building the heavenly
kingdom on earth. Matthew highlights several key characteristics of
discipleship in this account to encourage us to reflect on our own response to
Jesus’ call: (1) Jesus initiates the invitation to discipleship. (2) He encounters
these four men and each of us in our daily work. (3) Since he calls them and us
to an active mission, Jesus does not require intellectual assent for his
calling. (4) Totality and immediacy: These four men immediately left everything
behind (including their parents, in the case of John and James) to follow
Jesus. Likewise, let us respond to Jesus’ call with immediacy and total
dedication.
Jesus calls us to make us
the “fishers” of our brothers and sisters by bringing Jesus’s great light
wherever the devil spreads the darkness. Where there is the darkness of
division, racism, injustice, sadness, lack of peace, and immoral practices and
actions, we are called to bring Jesus’ great light of unity, justice, love,
joy, and peace. We are made “fishers” of our brothers and sisters to denounce
with courage all immoral laws that lead people to sinful practices and actions.
Our mission as Jesus’ disciples is to help the people in our societies and
families live in unity with God and one another in peace. This is the mission
Saint Paul deals with in our second reading.
In the next several weeks, our second readings will be taken
from Saint Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Today’s passage is the
beginning of the body of this letter. Immediately following the Thanksgiving in
the introduction (vv. 1-9), Paul commences his letter by exhorting his people
to unity because the Corinthian church was divided. The reading says that
Chloe’s people reported to Paul about the division among the Corinthians. Some
Bible scholars affirm that these people were the employees or slaves of Chloe,
who was an otherwise unknown businesswoman. Chloe and her servants were
followers of Jesus. Apparently, the servants visited the Community of Corinth
on their business trip, then heard about the divisions among the people and
probably witnessed them firsthand. Then they reported to Paul what they had
seen and heard. These divisions are based on the allegiances that the people
formed around their spiritual leaders: Paul, Apollos, Cephas (Peter), and
Christ. Paul teaches them that their divisions do not make sense because Christ
is not divided. All people belong to Christ. Our communities, societies, and
families also face divisions today, although we all claim to be the children of
the same Father, God. We should not be divided if we believe in the same God
and accept Jesus as our savior. God is one, and the Church of Jesus is one.
Therefore, we are called to be one in the Lord Jesus Christ.
May the liturgy of this Mass enable us to repent, respond to
Jesus’ call, and become familiar with the Word of God. When we do all these, we
can bring Jesus’ great light into our lives and restore unity with God and one
another. Amen.
Rev. Leon Ngandu, SVD
Pastor of Holy Family Catholic Church in Jackson, MS &
SVD USS Biblical Apostolate Coordinator
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