Reflection & Dialogue: God’s word can not be fettered; it lasts forever. Thankfulness.
Writing to the Romans Paul says: “Whatever was written (in the Scriptures) in former days was written for our instruction, so that by the steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope” (Romans 15:4). These words encourage us to reflect weekly on the Sunday readings. We can recall a few of these today. This has already been partly done above when explaining the readings.
1. The word of God lasts forever. We have an example of this in the first reading. The activity of Elisha can be dated to about 850 BC. It provides an example of a prophet of Israel showing kindness and healing to a foreigner, in act to a commanded to the army of the enemy of his people. It was an indication of a message to the Gentiles yet to come. Its message was not lost. Jesus recalled it to his fellow citizens of Nazareth, indicating the spread of the Gospel beyond Israel (Luke 5:27). The word of the Lord can not be fettered. It has a force all its own. This thought should bring steadfastness in the faith and encouragement in our own day. God’s word, God’s dealing with humanity, has a lone history before our day, and will have its future. 2. Thankfulness. The explanation of the Gospel reading has already attended to this.
