Posted by The WORD in other words by Fr Ferdinand Bajao SVD – Saint Jude Catholic School Manila
Monday 3rd Week of Lent
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Things went well until the Lord went against the grain. Before this, Jesus was admired and praised by many. He was held in high esteem as they were transfixed at the sight of their learned and luminous townmate. They knew Jesus from childhood. They knew he was the son of lowly Mary and carpenter Joseph. They were astounded and in awe at the wisdom Jesus exuded especially when he read the sacred texts of Isaiah.
Things turned sour when he went beyond and surpassed everybody by claiming he is the fulfillment of the prophecies. It was too much. A while back, he was hailed illustrious, then the next moment, they wanted him dead.
Very familiar. This makes Jesus so relatable. We all have this episode in life. We are as good as the last favor or the last compliment. The moment we fail to grant a favor, or we run counter to others’ thoughts and ideas, we fall from grace and cease to be the friend or ally we once were.
Whether they truly perceived Jesus to be blasphemous because he violated a divine doctrine or were irate because he dared to place himself higher than the average man or woman in Nazareth, one thing is certain, they could not accept someone who did not conform to their mentality.
It did not help that Jesus mentioned favored people who were considered outsiders by faith and culture: the widow of Zarephath and Naaman, the Syrian. This was too much indeed that they turned murderous. What John the Evangelist had said was true: “He came to his own people, but they rejected him.” (John 1, 11) Later, Jesus would weep over Jerusalem, his people, because they did not recognize the hour of his visitation. (Luke 19, 41)
This is a real human experience that we know of. The Lord, being true God and true man, was not spared from this pain. But for those who accepted him, he has granted the fulfillment of the prophecies: the blind can see, the prisoners are set free. When we see our worth in him as a child of God, and we are free from the prisons and chains of the ego, then by grace, let us walk through the crowd and go on our way.
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