Jesus is the great prophet that God has raised up from among us.  Rejection of him on our part will leave us not knowing the truth that will free us.

Jesus wins approval and admiration at the synagogue in Nazareth. But suddenly, he becomes an object of rejection. It is because he says something that wounds the self-esteem of his hearers.

Jesus’ hearers find hurtful his suggestion that they are no better than the foreigners that they like to belittle. And it bruises their egos that he speaks of foreigners receiving from God blessings that he withheld from Israelites with similar needs. They deeply resent, moreover, his hint that their rejection of him fills up their forefathers’ measure of rejection of the prophets. And so, Jesus comes to his own people, but they do not accept him.

But Jesus may also meet with rejection among us who consider ourselves as his very own people now. For we, too, are as prone as the synagogue-goers of Nazareth to self-absorption and ethnocentrism. It is easy for us to forget that God, the Truth, is far bigger than we and our beliefs and practices.

We church-goers can also easily come to believe that we are above others in rank and status, in merits and entitlements. Moreover, fake news and lies may even convince us that immigrants are a threat to our way of life. And so, frightened, we may feel the need to build walls (see EG 45).

But should we harbor such thoughts and feelings, Jesus may then pass through our midst and go away (see SV.EN XI:12). We will, then, be alone by ourselves, imprisoning ourselves inside our shells (SV.EN XII:81).

Rejection of Jesus should not really be an option for us.

We cannot let Jesus go without hurting ourselves. We need him to bring us Glad Tidings, to free us from captors and oppressors, to heal our blindness. His proclamation of the year of grace will give us a break and will refresh us. Really, rejection of Jesus and his message only suits the powerful who enrich themselves at the expense of others. That is because they think wrongly that they have nothing to gain and everything to lose if Jesus’ radical love wins the day.

And those who live by Jesus’ love should brace themselves. They will meet with rejection even from their own people and to the extreme. To the giving up of the body and the shedding of blood. But God will strengthen them, so that they can stand against kings, princes, priests and people.

Lord Jesus, help the oppressed, console the sorrowing, free the captives, feed the hungry, strengthen the weak. Reveal in all people the victory of the absolute rejection you endured on the cross.

3 February 2019
4th Sunday in O.T. (C)
Jer 1, 4-5. 17-19; 1 Cor 12, 31 – 13, 13; Lk 4, 21-30