He has anointed me, to bring good news to the poor; to proclaim liberty to captives;
and new sight to the blind; to free the oppressed; and to announce the Lord’s year of mercy.”
Jesus then rolled up the scroll, gave it to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.
Then he said to them, “Today, these prophetic words come true, even as you listen.”
All agreed with him, and were lost in wonder, while he spoke of the grace of God.
Nevertheless they asked, “Who is this but Joseph’s Son?” So he said,
“Doubtless you will quote me the saying: Doctor, heal yourself! Do here, in your town,
what they say you did in Capernaum.” Jesus added, “No prophet is honored in his own country.
Truly, I say to you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah,
when the heavens withheld rain for three years and six months and a great famine came over the whole land.
Yet, Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow of Zarephath, in the country of Sidon.
There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha, the prophet; and no one was healed except Naaman, the Syrian.”
On hearing these words, the whole assembly became indignant. They rose up and brought him out of the town,
to the edge of the hill on which Nazareth is built, intending to throw him down the cliff.
But he passed through their midst and went his way.
REFLECTION:
A prophet is a social mirror. He or she lets his listeners look at themselves in the face and aim for the best of themselves,
not stick with the bad. It is difficult to face ourselves especially with our own dirt and defects.
And it is more painful when someone else points to us those defects. Hence,
it is more acceptable that one of our own shows to us what needs improvement.
Jesus, as Nazorean, is best a mirror for Nazareth.
However, Jesus is not taken for what is best of Nazareth but for what is bad in any Nazorean.
It takes a community to raise a prophet or a social conscience.
It also takes a community to destroy the values he or she is promoting.
Every community is blessed if it has a prophet or social mirror.
It also has to raise and listen to him or her.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2020