3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
25th January 2026
Lectionary Readings: Is 8:23-9:3; Ps 27:1,4,13-14; 1 Cor 1:10-13,17; Mat 4:12-23
Theme: Spreading light and joy
The Gospel of today talks about the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. After John the Baptist had been arrested, Jesus leaves the political hotspot, Jerusalem, and makes his home in Galilee, in the town of Capernaum. Names in the Bible usually are very telling and Capernaum – Kfar Nachum in Hebrew – can be translated as “town of consolation”. So, the Evangelist, Matthew, emphasizes right from the beginning that Jesus’ home base is connected to a ministry of consolation. Jesus comes neither from a place of vengeance, nor judgement but with the intent on consolation. To be able to console another person, one must first have empathy and sympathy. True Consolation always happens at an eye-to-eye level. It can never be a talking down to somebody or done in a patronizing spirit. Consolation works best, if the person consoling has been in the shoes of the other and from that point of view is truly able to understand.
Matthew, quoting Isaiah 9, is labeling this region around Capernaum as “Galilee of the Gentiles”, thus elaborating on today’s reading of Isaiah as the region of the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali, which belonged to the northern kingdom of Israel. These regions were exiled first when the Assyrians deported the population in 722 B.C. and resettled that area with people from various cultural and national backgrounds. Although Galilee was mostly Jewish at the time of Jesus (see Levine, p.9), the region had seen its fair share of cultural variety coming and going.
In the eyes of the Biblical authors, not all those cultures had been positive for the people in that area. Isaiah, referring to a spiritual darkness, characterizes the people in that region as “walking in darkness” and “dwelling in a land of gloom” (see JPS translation). The words of the prophet are filled with yearning and hope that the state of darkness will not remain forever and will certainly end in the future. Matthew clearly interprets this yearning for light as being fulfilled with the coming of Jesus. Matthew’s message is clear: Finally, the time of spiritual darkness and gloom is over. Jesus brings light, life and joy, just as Isaiah 9:2-3 promised, where there is light, there is joy.
All this can be read as a pre-understanding to the beginning of Jesus’ ministry as told by Matthew when Jesus preaches repentance and the nearness of the kingdom of heaven (cf. Matth 4:17). Considering the above, Jesus preaches out of a spirit of consolation, radiating light and joy and with a positive outlook on life. He is not preaching doom and gloom but offers an invitation to turn around and make a fresh start in life. And this is exactly what Jesus’ first disciples literally are doing: they “immediately” left their nets and followed him (cf. Matth. 4:20,22). They turned around, followed the light which emanated from Jesus and his charismatic teaching. They began their journey of learning from him so they themselves could spread the message of light, joy and hope.
For Reflection and Discussion: 1. Reflect on the meaning of true consolation 2. Is your faith joyful?
Bibliography: Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler (editors): The Jewish Annotated New Testament, Oxford University Press, 2011.
This week’s Sunday Liturgy Commentary was prepared by
Barbara Kauffmann, Germany, Bat Kol Alumna 2010, 2011, 2012
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