Matthew 13:54-58
He came to his hometown and began to teach the people in their synagogue, so that they were astounded and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these deeds of power? Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all this?” And they took offence at him. But Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honor except in their own country and in their own house.” And he did not do many deeds of power there, because of their unbelief.
You probably know the saying, “familiarity breeds contempt.” I don’t know about you, but I’ve certainly experienced that as true in that it’s so very easy to take everyday and familiar parts of your life for granted – a beautiful view, your health, stable employment, etc. This becomes more serious, however, when it comes to the persons that are part of our lives and we undervalue the trustworthiness of a friend, the love of a spouse or child, the guidance and support of a parent, and so on. Simply because they are reliably close to us, it seems, we don’t think of them as special.
Of course sometimes that tendency to take things and people near us for granted grows into something more sinister. Sometimes we feel threatened when people close to us do well, as if their success is a comment on our mediocrity. We can fall into a “zero-sum” culture, where one person’s gain is necessarily another person’s loss. (If you’ve ever lived or worked in that kind of environment, you’ll know how debilitating and depressing such a culture is!)
I think there’s something like that happening here. The people who we would think know Jesus best seem not only nonplussed but downright skeptical, even offended, by his miracles. How is it, they wonder, that Jesus can do these things but we can’t? Or perhaps, Who does he think he is working his wonders in front of us like some kind of circus entertainer? (Okay, so I doubt “circus entertainer” was the term Jesus’ contemporaries would use, but you get the idea.)
Why is that? Why do we despise the ordinary, take for granted the reliable, and feel threatened by the success of those nearby?
I think it stems from our basic human insecurity. Not sure of our place in the world, we fall into the insidious habit of establishing our sense of identity and self-worth by comparing ourselves to others. Which means, of course, they only way for us to do “better” is for others to do – or at least seem to us to be – worse.
This is part of why Jesus came, of course: to show us that our identity and sense of self-worth are gifts from God to be received with joy, not prizes to be won in competition with others. But these folks – and many more then and now – have a hard time believing it. And so committed is Jesus to sharing this good news he will do anything to demonstrate it. Even die on a cross.
Prayer: Dear God, ears to hear Jesus’ message of good news and eyes to see your profound love for us and all others that we may escape the cycle of insecurity and mistrust in which it is so easy to get caught. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Recent Comments