He said to them, “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” - Luke 4:21

“What are our plans today?” is a question I often ask my family especially during Sundays and especially now that my grandfather is admitted in the hospital. I ask this question because I’m always interested in what we’re going to do next, where we’re going next, or lately, who will stay in the hospital para mag bantay. But often, I ask this question because I also have my own plans and agendas myself. I usually plan on studying these, reading those, making reports, finishing thesis and other academic related stuff even on weekends. Because of a very very long to-do-list almost every week, I usually end up staying at home accomplishing my agendas instead of being with them or visiting my grandfather, not that I don’t want to. I would sometimes feel that I am too selfish for always being busy accomplishing plans of my own without even consulting them if they need my help. Often times, my family would not complain but sometimes it would lead me to questioning whether they support my own agendas even if I’m being a little selfish for only thinking of myself. Sometimes, those are the questions behind my every “what are our plans today?” question.

            When agendas come together, amazing things can happen. Relationships deepen and love flourishes. Life is being too well. However, when agendas collide, conflict arises. Whether spoken or unspoken, all of us have our own agendas. We have that list of expectations, desires and things we want to do. At some level, our agendas describe who we are and what our priorities are. The question is not whether we have agendas because we do. The question is whose agenda guides our life?

            I wonder if that’s the question at the heart of today’s gospel. I wonder if colliding agendas is the conflict between Jesus and his own town’s people. I wonder if our own agendas sometimes collide with God’s agenda.

            So I want you to imagine for a moment that you are part of the townspeople from Nazareth where Jesus grew up. You are in the church now to hear mass and you start to get yourself settled, stretching your legs to stand for the entrance song when suddenly Jesus comes walking down the aisle. Your eyes pop open and your jaws drop as you saw our very own Jesus, who grew in this very town, is back here with us. He reaches the front, turns around, and takes the Bible. He opens the scriptures and begins to read saying “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to bring His agenda which is TO BRING GOOD NEWS TO THE POOR, TO RELEASE THE CAPTIVES, TO GIVE SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO FREE THE OPPRESSED, AND TO PROCLAIM THE YEAR OF THE LORD’S FAVOR.

            He puts the Bible back, and sits down right in the middle of the floor. All our eyes were glued to Him. We wait for some words of wisdom. We wait for some words of life and finally, He says, “Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing”. It was the same agenda and prophecy as Isaiah’s.

            We smile kindly to Him. We responded to it positively. All spoke well of Him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from His mouth. All of us loved what Jesus just proclaimed. We even recognized Him as one of our own by saying “is not this Joseph’s son?” However, hidden within our question is an unspoken expectation, an agenda of “If that’s what He’s going to do for them, just think of how much more He’ll do for us.”

            Then, Jesus looks around at our adoring faces and says, “I have to be up front with all of you. I have to be honest. I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that those who have been suffering are soon going to find their relief; those who are poor are going to find that they have enough to be filled; those who are held back in life because someone more powerful than them is holding them down are going to find their freedom; and those who are imprisoned by their sin, will find their freedom”.

            Then He leaves us hanging. He simply gets up and leaves through the altar. We stare at each other and say “Is He done?”. But then Jao would ask, ‘Hey Jesus, you said that there was bad news, I hope that this isn’t some joke… well actually I do hope that it is a joke.” Jesus smiles and continues, “the bad news is that all of those wonderful agendas are not for you.”

            We face Him, confused. Some of us are hurt while some of us are plainly frustrated. “Remember”, he continues, “the story from today’s Gospel wherein the widow in ancient Israel and her son who did not have any food? Only she and her son received food from God through the prophet Elijah. And remember Elisha who was sent to Israel? He did not heal anyone in Israel rather he healed a foreigner. So, I repeat two things. One: it is the year of the Lord’s favor. You have heard all my words and agendas. And Two: because of this, my words are not for you. They are for someone else. These agendas are for others.”

            And so, we stare at Jesus, trying to make a decision. Is it the same decision with those in Nazareth from the Gospel? Do we sacrifice our own desires and strive to be part of Jesus or do we simply take Jesus down to the river and drown him or on top of the hill and throw him off?

            Jesus has an agenda for His ministry while we have different ones of our own. Our own expectations have deafened us to the fulfilment of the scriptures. We are so caught up with our own agendas that we can’t hear, let alone participate in God’s agenda. We might even feel that Jesus betrayed us and rejected us.

            Jesus broke the bonds of kinship in Nazareth, not as a rejection of the hometown, but as the way of enlarging the hometown. No one would be excluded. No one would receive special favors. No one would be left out. All are the recipients of the prophecy’s fulfilment.

            That’s not always a popular agenda and it’s not always our agenda, but it is always God’s agenda. It is an agenda of love. Remember from the 2^nd reading, “Love does not seek its own interests, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoice with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things”.

            So, “what’s our plan for today?” That’s not me asking this time. That’s a question God asks each on of us.

-Micah Chin