8-Mar-21

Gospel Lk 4:24-30

Jesus said to the people in the synagogue at Nazareth:
“Amen, I say to you,
no prophet is accepted in his own native place.
Indeed, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel
in the days of Elijah
when the sky was closed for three and a half years
and a severe famine spread over the entire land.
It was to none of these that Elijah was sent,
but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon.
Again, there were many lepers in Israel
during the time of Elisha the prophet;
yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”
When the people in the synagogue heard this,
they were all filled with fury.
They rose up, drove him out of the town,
and led him to the brow of the hill
on which their town had been built,
to hurl him down headlong.
But he passed through the midst of them and went away.

Reflection

Jesus said to the people in the synagogue at Nazareth:
“Amen, I say to you,
no prophet is accepted in his own native place.”

Jesus growing up in Nazareth resulted in the people in the synagogue not taking Him seriously. They saw Jesus as a “hometown boy.” To them He was just the son of the carpenter.

Their minds were mired in the certainty that as Jews they were “God’s chosen people.”

Jesus tried to reason with them by quoting from their own scripture passages:

“Indeed, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel
in the days of Elijah
when the sky was closed for three and a half years
and a severe famine spread over the entire land.
It was to none of these that Elijah was sent,
but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon.
Again, there were many lepers in Israel
during the time of Elisha the prophet;
yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”
When the people in the synagogue heard this,
they were all filled with fury.

The people were infuriated at Jesus’ message that God responded first to the needs of those who were not Israelites. They became angry and would not listen to Him.

Truth and logic have no appeal to a closed mind.

They rose up, drove him out of the town,
and led him to the brow of the hill
on which their town had been built,
to hurl him down headlong.
But he passed through the midst of them and went away.

Still today, in many parts of our country and throughout the world, neighborhood boundaries are determined by nationality, marriage between people of a different color or ethnic background is frowned upon as a “mixed” marriage.

Are we any different than the people of Jesus’ time?

Can we recognize that God does not play favorites, that He loves all of HIs children equally?

“We are all made in the image of God, but when I envision God as resembling myself, I limit my ability to recognize Him in those who look different.” Unknown