The Decision About Jesus Christ We All Must Make Series

Fourth Sunday in Course

We’ve been told that our incorporation into Christ, effected in faith and sacrament, remakes us in the image of Jesus, prophet, priest, and leader. So it may come as a shock to us to hear the Lord say to the synagogue of Nazareth, “no prophet is acceptable in his own country.”

Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but early in His life, Joseph and Mary brought Him out of Egyptian exile back to their hometown of Nazareth, way north of Bethlehem in the hill country of Galilee. There, except for annual visits at Passover to Jerusalem, as prescribed in Jewish law, He learned to read Torah, and the prophets from the synagogue leader and His mother. He also learned carpentry from Joseph, so that both He and Joseph were called carpenters. We know as a young teenager, Jesus had at least one session with the elders in the Jerusalem Temple, where His questions and answers were judged remarkable. But the folks in His hometown thought He was just another young man of their community.

When Jesus disappeared south in His thirties, they probably considered He was just going to Jerusalem or to some Roman settlement to get carpenter work. Probably only His mother knew the whole truth, that He was getting proximate preparation for His life’s mission. First He came to the Jordan to be baptized by His cousin John, who announced Him to be the Lamb of God who would take away the world’s sin. He then spent over a month, fasting and praying in the desert, and contending with the forces of evil. He gathered disciples as John had done, and performed His first miracle at a wedding in Cana, just down the road from Nazareth.

News of His teaching and miraculous signs preceded Jesus home, so the synagogue was probably standing room only when He came on the Sabbath to read and to preach. To understand the popular reaction to His appearance, however, we should go back to the book of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah was also a prophet, active in very perilous times in Israel. The whole of the Judaic leadership was corrupt, from the king all the way down. The kingdom was in thrall to the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar. When Israel rebelled against Babylonian rule, that was enough. The great king brought his army and siege engines to Jerusalem, ultimately to tear down walls and homes and temple and take thousands of Jews back to Babylon, mostly as servants. Jeremiah’s ministry was incredibly difficult, because he was telling his fellow citizens that they had brought disaster on themselves, and there was no way out of it. They had betrayed their covenant with the Lord, and they would be punished.

How did his Lord help Jeremiah? Did God comfort and console him, tell him everything would be OK? Not a bit. God gave grace instead of consolation, a stiff backbone. In fact, Jeremiah was told that from the first moment of his existence, at his conception, God had made him strong against the forces of evil, against kings and princes and priests and people. They would fight against him, even throwing him into a cistern, and condemning him to death, but Jeremiah would prevail.

God the Father did the same for His begotten Son, Jesus. Jesus, too, prophesied against the leaders of first-century Israel. He was looking for faith, even a tiny seed of faith in all His listeners. Some believed and followed; most did not. He came to Nazareth and found that even those who were tempted to believe in Him, to listen and follow Him, doubted. After all, He wasn’t a trained rabbi, who studied at the feet of Gamaliel or some other Judaic superstar. And, besides, He hadn’t done much of anything in Nazareth in the way of miracles. So who does this guy think He is, anyway?

Jesus did everything out of love. After all, He was filled with the Holy Spirit, who is love. So He did not back down, say “you are misreading me, so bring all the sick so I can heal them and then you might believe in me.” No, He doubled down His message, even telling them that they were just like the apostate Israelites at the time of Elijah and his successor Elisha. They had no faith, so He was constrained from doing any miracles. He refused to be the Messiah they wanted. He had to be the Messiah the Father wanted. So they, like so many over history whose desires were not fulfilled, had a riot. They pushed Jesus toward the brow of the hill to kill Him, but He took advantage of the confusion and hid in plain sight from their fury.

Here we are in the 21st century, wanting to be followers of Jesus, but still very immature in the ways of faith, hope and love. Jesus consoles, but even more does He challenge. What part of His message trips us up, makes us want to turn away? Do we not like His message that marriage is a lifelong commitment, even covenant, between one man and one woman, sharing life and procreating children? Are we hesitant to even tolerate, let alone love, our enemies? I see that Catholic Christians—a majority—don’t care to believe that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist.