Luke 4:21-32
“In the synagogue at Nazareth, Jesus read from the book of the prophet Isaiah, and began to say, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” He said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will say, ‘Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.’” And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown. But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.” When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.
He went down to Capernaum, a city in Galilee, and was teaching them on the sabbath. They were astounded at his teaching, because he spoke with authority.”
I do not know of any major religion that outright denies Jesus, they just undermine or underestimate whom He really is. Some will say He was a good teacher, others that He was a prophet and still others would say that He was just another philosopher, but deny Him? No, that is just not going to happen.
The challenge the Jesus faces in this scripture is that his very own would not ascribed to Him the position and authority He really held, even after seen Him performing miracles. And I believe that today we face the same predicament. As Christians, the people of Christ, His people, do we really believe whom he really is or do we just pay Him our lips service.
We do not get along as a family of believers. We have taken the Church Catholic and divided it into thousands of pieces and then we claim: “But we are united spiritually.” People are reluctant and hesitant to believe our message because we ourselves are not really sure of whom Christ really is.
If He is my savior, well then I should not live my life in fear. If He is the Christ, then I should not be hopeless. If He is alive, then why not go to Him first instead of last. If He is God then I should not fell helpless.
There are many who like Christ, they just do not like Christians. In one of the most vibrant passages of the Bible is asked by Pilate on the Gospel according to St. Matthew 27:22
“Pilate said unto them, “What shall I do then with Jesus, who is called Christ?”
The challenge that Pilate faced was that it was not for others to decide this, it was for him to decide about Christ and what he was going to do with Him. My question to you is Whom is Christ to you, the son of Joseph, a prophet, a teacher, a good philosopher or the Living Risen Lord?
If He is our Living Risen Lord, let us act as such and worry not about the petty stuff that we are often concerned with in our parishes. Let us go out into the world to serve God by serving others.
