Prophet Jesus in
his hometown synagogue of Nazareth
Give Your Prophet Welcome.
First reading
As the LORD spoke
to me, the spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and I heard the one
who was speaking say to me: Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites,
rebels who have rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have revolted
against me to this very day. Hard of face and obstinate of heart are they to
whom I am sending you. But you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord GOD! And
whether they heed or resist--for they are a rebellious house--they shall know
that a prophet
has been among them.
The word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
Alleluia,
alleluia.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to
Mark
Glory to you, Lord.
Just a local
Jesus departed from there, and accompanied by his disciples returned to Mazareth, his home town. When the sabbath came He went to the synagogue to teach and the people were surprised by his wisdom. After all, He was just a
local man like themselves. “He’s no better than we are,” they said. “He’s just
a carpenter, Mary’s boy, and a brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon. And
his sisters live right here with us." And so they rejected Him. Jesus said
to them, "A prophet is never welcomed in his own hometown and among his
own kin and in his own house." He was not able to perform any miracles
there, apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them. He was greatly
disappointed at their lack of faith.
The Gosepl of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ
Introduction
Luke’s version
The event related in Mark’s gospel
today is quite brief; it runs for only six verses. Brevity is characteristic of
Mark’s gospel; it is, in fact, the shortest of all four gospels. Luke’s version
of the event, however, is more detailed; it runs from verse 16 to verse 30. His
account is also very violent. It starts out on a calm note: “The people in the
synagogue were well impressed with Jesus. They marveled at the beautiful words
that fell from his lips.” But then some of the hometown folk started wondering
and asking, “How can this be? Isn’t this guy Joseph’s son?” (Lk. 4 22) So they challenge Jesus saying, “Let us see
you do miracles here in your hometown like those we heard you did in Capernaum.”
(Lk. 4:23) But Jesus tells them that “a prophet is never welcomed in his own hometown,”
and he cites the example of the prophets Elijah and Elisha.
(Lk. 4:24-27) At that, all hell breaks loose: "The whole congregation became insanely angry. They sprang to their
feet, drove Him out of town, dragged Him to the brow of the hill on which it
was built, and were going to hurl Him over the cliff. But He slipped through
the crowd and walked away." (Lk. 4: 28-30)
We marvel at the incredibly short
time that lay between the crowd which “marveled at the beautiful words that
fell from His lips,“ and their being “insanely angry” and wanting to hurl Him
over a cliff.
A prophet is one who…
Scripturally and
theologically a prophet is one who speaks for God. (The word comes from the
Greek pro-phanein: “to speak for.”) Often
when a prophet speaks for God, he infuriates people. In Isaiah a prophet is one
who “lifts up his voice like a trumpet blast and tells the people their sins(Is
58:1), and that infuriates them. Or a prophet is one who tells the people
something that disturbs their peace, and that infuriates them. Or
a prophet is one who invites people who are set in their ways to change, and
that infuriates them. Or a prophet is one who tells people something they don’t
see, should see, but don’t want to see, and that infuriates them. Prophet Archbishop Hunthausen.
Prophet Bishop Untener
Prophet Archbishop Weakland
Prophet Bishop Gumbleton
It’s fear
It’s
fear that makes us want to hurl people over a cliff. When
Prophet Hunthausen
publicly defended the rights of gays and lesbians, that struck fear in the
hearts of homophobics, and so they want to hurl him over a cliff. When Prophet Untener
asked the Church to revisit and reconsider Humanae
vitae (which restated the Church’s
traditional stand on artificial birth control), that struck fear in those who
believe in an `infallible’ Church which never has to change its mind, and so
they wanted to hurl him over a cliff. When Prophet Weakland sat down to hear
pro-choice women out, that struck fear in those who believe that the Church
only teaches and never has need to be taught, and so they wanted to hurl him
over a cliff. And when auxiliary Prophet Gumbleton predicted that there will be
priestesses, that struck fear in a macho-ridden Church, and so they wanted to
hurl him over a cliff. Conclusion
Give your
prophet welcome.
Whenever we become infuriated at someone
and want to hurl him over a cliff, we should give pause: the fury might be
fear. He might be a prophet who wants to tell us something we don’t hear, should hear, but don’t want to hear. Give
more heed to what you don’t want to hear, than to what you do want to hear.
Don’t throw the prophet sent you over a cliff; rather give your prophet welcome,
and listen to him. It’s a priceless service when someone tells us something we
need to hear, especially when he tells it out of love and not out of rant and
rage. And while it takes great courage to
be a prophet (whom people like to throw over cliffs), it also takes
great courage to give welcome to the
prophet God has sent to tell us something we need to hear but don’t want to
hear. Jesus promises, "Whoever
gives welcome to a prophet in my name shall receive the reward of a
prophet." (Mt 10:41)