Readings: Eze. 2:2-5, 2Cor. 12:7-10, and Mk. 6:1-6. “They Would Not Accept Him.”
Rev. Deacon,
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
1. At Baptism, we are anointed with Chrism as priests, kings and prophets. A prophet is a mouthpiece of God, one who speaks on God’s behalf. To speak to his people, God uses the mouth of one of them. We, the baptized, who are entrusted with this task must first be able to listen with great attention to what God tells one in the depth of one’s heart, then one must announce faithfully what one has heard, without changing a thing, without adding anything of one’s own. This understanding, flow from the OT prophetic calling in which case, the one called, is called by God. In our 1sr reading with the call of Ezekiel, he is told: “Son of man, get to your feet, I will speak to you.” The prophet as the ‘son of man’ means he is ’a man,’ ‘a weak person’, ‘a common mortal.’ It follows that he is not an Angel, endowed with special and mysterious faculties. This man called by God, has a mission to accomplish - broadcasting God’s word. This message is meant for certain people, people who might be well disposed, or hostile and stubborn. The outcome of this proclamation should not be the worry of the one called for God says: “Whether they listen or not, this tribe of rebels will know there is a prophet among them.” (Eze. 2:5).
2. Continuing from the OT period to date, prophets are often rejected. Many are even killed. Anyone who wants to stand for the truth must be ready to stand alone, to be rejected and why not, die (either physically or morally). Ezekiel is cautioned to be ready for rejection in the 1st reading, Paul had a special difficulty that caused him a lot of humiliation and suffering, and Jesus is rejected in the gospel. They were God’s mouthpieces. The very people who should have accepted Jesus, are those who rejected him. The Scribes and the Pharisees were those who studied at greater depth God’s message in the OT; they received the Law, were taught by the prophets and yet they are the ones who refused to welcome God’s own Son as attested to by the Scriptures. This even surprised Jesus. We are told that “He was amazed at their lack of faith.” This means that he was greatly surprised. They would not rest until they have him killed.
3. The words describing the people the prophet is sent are “Rebels, defiant, and obstinate.” These are words that speak of people who are stubborn, proud, not ready to listen or to obey God’s words preached to them. This denial begins from the rejection of the prophet, the preacher of the word. This is what often happened to God’s messengers, the Prophets. It happened to Jesus himself. We are told: “He began teaching in the Synagogue, and most of them were astonished when they heard him. They said, ‘where did the man get all this? What is this wisdom… and these miracles?... This is the carpenter surely, the son of Mary…’ And they would not accept him.”
4. Even today we still encounter this attitude of rejection, especially from those we least expected it would come. Strangely enough, we even meet this attitude within ourselves. In each of us there is a Pharisee, a pagan, a sinner and a saint. There is this part of us which is not ready to accept certain people. We judge them rashly; we reject their ways, look down on them; sparingly or even do not listen to them… We are so proud, we give the impression that we do not need anyone, not even God. Such think everything is fine with us, having self-sufficiency. This is the Pharisee in us when we act this way.
There is the other side of us which sometime does not trust God, and his ways for us. We think that God is far away, or far above. We do not believe he is concerned about us, and loves us very much, thus casting doubts in the God Jesus came to show us. Then there is something we put our attention to that fits this God, something we focused on, this is the pagan in us. This happens when we substitute the teachings of the Church with that which we imagine is more comfortable, suitable or most convenience.
There is another part of us that is weak and sinful. We somethings have bad thoughts, and we do evil actions. We abstain from the goods that we should be doing and do the evil that should be avoided. This is the sinner in all of us. And there is a saint in you and me. This is the part of us which receives God’s words and keeps it in our hearts. The Holy Spirit is received with its gifts and fruits. We bear witness and we uphold our faith.
5. As for the pagan and the sinner in us, God in his love and mercy can, and will convert and bring us to the sincere practice of the faith if we keep making the effort, bringing us back to Himself. But the Pharisee in us is a problem even to God. Our pride results from our great self-assurance; what can we do about that? The Pharisee is the one who does not see his need for God. He thinks all is well with himself/herself. Others are wrong not him, or her; others are not honest; not truthful, not… s/he is all that s/he should be, so s/he imagines. How can God do anything for such a person? S/he is already like a filled cup with no space for continues filling, no room for growth. The Jews in the gospel were too proud, to accept that they needed him and as a consequent, only few people were cured in that town. The inability to perform many miracles in Nazareth had less to do with Jesus’s lack of love and more to do with the Nazarenes’ lack of faith. Christ would always point to and affirms a person’s faith as a reason for their healing and blessing. True faith gets Jesus’ attention.
6. Dear friends, brothers and sisters in Christ, St. Paul tells us in 1Cor. 1:27-30 that “… it was to shame the wise that God chose what is foolish by human reckoning, and to shame what is strong that he chose what is weak by human reckoning, those whom the world thinks common and contemptible are the ones that God has chosen – those who are nothing at all to show up those who are everything. Humanity has nothing to boast about to God…” God calls the weak to shame the strong. We are nothing without God’s grace. The villagers of Nazareth see their religious convictions shaken, but instead of changing their way of thinking, they hold on even more stubbornly to their own ideas and refuse to listen to the one who is sent to save them. The mistake made by the people of Nazareth could be repeated also by our communities. We also may have religious opinions, though at times we don’t worry whether they are really in line with the Gospel, and we do not change them easily. Next, at the start of his public ministry, and in fidelity to his Father, Jesus chose to go against the wishes of his relatives and co-villagers who wanted him to conform to tradition. He was thus rejected. Anything that hinders or prevents us from following Christ, or being faithful to the Father, must be shunned even in pains of experiencing a separation from our loved ones, or relatives. “May the Lord teach us to have faith in him, his miracles, mercy and love.” To God be the glory and honor forever and ever. Amen.