Jesus departed from there and came to his native place, accompanied by
his disciples. When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue, and
many who heard him were astonished. They said, "Where did this man get all
this? What kind of wisdom has been given him? What mighty deeds are wrought by
his hands! Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James
and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with
us?"
And they took offense at him. Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not
without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own
house." So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there, apart from
curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack
of faith.
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
What usually happens
when we belittle or look down on someone: For example a relative or friend. We
normally are deprived of the privilege of knowing that person more deeply. Not
only that we are deprived we also miss the opportunity to be blessed by that
person’s insight and wisdom.
In marriage there’s
a saying that goes: “Familiarity breeds contempt” this means that once you know
your spouse well enough you somehow stop respecting him or her. This frequently
happens most especially when the couple has been together for several
years already. This animosity could even lead to their separation. Thus, they
are deprived of the many blessings that are due to couples that stay faithful
to their vows of marriage.
The moment these two
relationships (friendship and marriage) fail to successfully materialize. There’s
one common deprivation that happens: The deprivation of many blessings. The
blessing of insight, wisdom, happiness and friendship just to name a few.
The townmates of
Jesus where amazed when they saw Jesus teaching and healing in the synagogue. They
were wondering as to where did Jesus imbibed all of His wisdom and healing
power. They said: “Where did this man get all this?” Is he not the carpenter,
the son of Mary, and the brother of James, Joset, Judas and Simon? And are not
his sisters here with us?"
They were full of
contemptuous feeling towards Jesus because they know Him well as an ordinary
carpenter. They could not accept that this ordinary man that they know very
well is now an emphatic speaker and healer.
Since Jesus was
ridiculed by His own townmates they missed the opportunity to know Him well,
they missed the opportunity to partake of His wisdom and they missed the golden
opportunity to be spiritually and physically healed by Him.
This is also what we
will miss if we would not listen and if we would continue to belittle Jesus who continuously speaks to us through
the daily events in our lives. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
No comments:
Post a Comment