Episode 151: 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C
In today’s episode, we focus on five details found within the readings for this upcoming 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C. The first detail is found in the first reading, taken from 2 Kings 5:14-17, and it relates to the topic of Baptism. The second and third details come from the second reading, taken from 2 Timothy 2:8-13. The related topics are Jesus’ resurrection, and the doctrine of eternal security (‘once saved, always saved’). Finally, the two details in the Gospel reading, taken from Luke 17:11-19, relate to the Sacrament of Confession and Jesus’ Messiahship.
Hey everyone,
Welcome to The Sunday Catholic Word, a podcast where we reflect on the upcoming Sunday Mass readings and pick out the details that are relevant for explaining and defending our Catholic faith.
I’m Dr. Karlo Broussard, staff apologist and speaker for Catholic Answers, and the host for this podcast.
In today’s episode, we’re going to focus on five details found within the readings for this upcoming 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C. The first detail is found in the first reading, taken from 2 Kings 5:14-17, and it relates to the topic of Baptism. The second and third details come from the second reading, taken from 2 Timothy 2:8-13. The related topics are Jesus’ resurrection, and the doctrine of eternal security (‘once saved, always saved’). Finally, the two details in the Gospel reading, taken from Luke 17:11-19, relate to the Sacrament of Confession and Jesus’ Messiahship.
Let’s start with the first reading, taken from 2 Kings 5:14-17. It’s the story of the prophet Elisha commanding Naaman, the leper, to dip himself in the waters of the Jordan seven times after which Naaman is cleansed of his leprosy.
There’s not much to say here apologetically except that this foreshadows the Sacrament of Baptism. It doesn’t prove the Christian sacrament of Baptism. But it does provide a Biblical precedent of God bringing about blessings through material stuff. So, just as Naaman was cleansed of his physical disease through the washing of water, so too Baptism washes us from the spiritual disease of sin.
Okay, let’s now turn to the second reading, taken from 2 Timothy 2:8-13. St. Paul writes,
Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David:
such is my gospel, for which I am suffering,
even to the point of chains, like a criminal.
But the word of God is not chained.
Therefore, I bear with everything for the sake of those who are chosen,
so that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus,
together with eternal glory.
This saying is trustworthy:
If we have died with him
we shall also live with him;
if we persevere
we shall also reign with him.
But if we deny him
he will deny us.
If we are unfaithful
he remains faithful,
for he cannot deny himself.
The first detail that I want to highlight is Paul’ statement, “Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David: such is my gospel, for which I am suffering.” I think this provides us good reason to conclude that Paul’s testimony about Jesus rising from the dead is legit.
That Paul is suffering for his belief in the resurrected Christ proves at least that he is not lying about it. People don’t die for what they know to be a lie when there is nothing to gain and everything to lose. For Paul, he has nothing to gain from such a supposed lie and everything to lose. Thus, his testimony that Jesus rose from the dead is credible.
Moreover, for Paul, the one who killed Christians, to have such a drastic conversion can only be reasonably explained by the legitimacy of his account of seeing the resurrected Lord.
So, our second reading provides us with evidence for making a case for the resurrection of Jesus.
The next detail that is worthy of highlight is Paul’s teaching,
If we have died with him
we shall also live with him;
if we persevere
we shall also reign with him.
But if we deny him
he will deny us.
Notice that dying in friendship with Christ is the condition for living with Christ in heaven. But Paul applies this condition to himself, saying, “If we die with Christ, we shall reign with him.” So, Paul views the necessity of persevering in friendship with Christ until the end as applicable to himself.
What’s the apologetical significance? I argue this detail conflicts with the notion of ‘once saved, always saved,’ or eternal security. Why would Paul say that he, a born-again Christian, must persevere in friendship with Christ to the end if he believed his eternal destiny was secure? Paul envisions the possibility that even he might end up denying Christ, the consequence of which is Christ denying him, which means exclusion from heaven.
Now, a Protestant might counter and say that Paul is only talking about persevering to the end in friendship with Christ to reign with Christ, not enter heaven. But this doesn’t work because Paul juxtaposes reigning with Christ with being denied by Christ. Since being denied by Christ entails hell, it follows that reigning with Christ entails heaven. It doesn’t make sense for Paul to juxtapose reigning with Christ and hell and yet not envision reigning with Christ as entering heaven.
Alright, let’s move on to the Gospel reading, taken from Luke 17:11-19. Luke records,
As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem,
he traveled through Samaria and Galilee.
As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him.
They stood at a distance from him and raised their voices, saying,
“Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!”
And when he saw them, he said,
“Go show yourselves to the priests.”
As they were going they were cleansed.
And one of them, realizing he had been healed,
returned, glorifying God in a loud voice;
and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.
He was a Samaritan.
Jesus said in reply,
“Ten were cleansed, were they not?
Where are the other nine?
Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?”
Then he said to him, “Stand up and go;
your faith has saved you.”
There are two details that I want to focus on here. The first is Jesus’ command for the leper to go and show himself to the priest.
As specified in Leviticus 14:2-4, if a leper were to have been made clean, he was to present himself to the priest and the priest was to offer sacrifice, readmitting the cleansed leper back into the Israelite community.
I think this has apologetical significance insofar as it provides a prefigurement of the Sacrament of Confession. Leviticus 13:4 states that when a person contracts leprosy, he is to present himself before the priest for examination. Then, as stated above, Leviticus 14:2-4 states that when the leprosy is cleansed, he is to present himself again to the Priest for examination. Notice how God associated his ordained ministers with the cleansing of the physical malady of leprosy.
In the New Covenant, it is at least fitting that God would associate his ordained ministers, the apostles, with the cleansing of the spiritual malady of sin. And not only fitting, but he in fact does this, telling them in John 20:23, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven.”
Now, this Old Testament law doesn’t prove the sacrament of confession. However, it does provide a biblical precedent for the principle involved—namely, God associating his ordained ministers with the cleansing of his People.
The next detail is Luke’s emphasis on the Samaritan coming back to thank Jesus. Such an outsider having faith in Christ alludes to the Isaian prophecy of foreigners being adopted into God’s covenant family at the time of the Messiah. Isaiah writes in chapter 53,
3 Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say,
“The LORD will surely separate me from his people”;
and let not the eunuch say,
“Behold, I am a dry tree.”
4 For thus says the LORD:
“To the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths,
who choose the things that please me
and hold fast my covenant,
5 I will give in my house and within my walls
a monument and a name
better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
which shall not be cut off.
6 “And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD,
to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD,
and to be his servants,
every one who keeps the sabbath, and does not profane it,
and holds fast my covenant—
7 ¶ these I will bring to my holy mountain,
and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
will be accepted on my altar;
for my house shall be called a house of prayer
for all peoples.
8 Thus says the Lord GOD,
who gathers the outcasts of Israel,
I will gather yet others to him
besides those already gathered.”
The Psalm for this upcoming Sunday Mass speaks to this theme as well: Psalm 98: 1, 2-3, and 3-4.
The apologetical significance is that Luke, through this story, is telling us that Jesus is the Messiah. He brings in the “outcasts of Israel.”
Moreover, as Curtis Mitch and Scott Hahn point out in their Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, Jesus sends the Samaritan to the priests not just to fulfill the law but to convince them that he is their Messiah.
Conclusion
Well, my friends, that’s all I have for this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word. All the readings for this upcoming 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C provide us with something that relates to apologetics:
- We have a biblical foreshadowing of the sacrament of Baptism in the healing of Naaman,
- The second reading from Paul gives us data that fits in with making a case for the resurrection of Jesus, along with material that conflicts with the ‘once saved, always saved’ doctrine, and
- The gospel reading gives us material that in some way relates to the Sacrament of Confession and material that hints at Jesus’ Messiahship.
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I hope you have a blessed 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C. Until next time, God Bless.