Rejection of Jesus.

How ridiculous we often are! We accept the stranger; we listen to him; we applaud him, even though he is of inferior quality, of low value, simply because he is a stranger. We will not accept our own, even though he is a respected personality. And so it was with Jesus. The Gospel describes the end of Jesus’ public appearance in Nazareth. This event had a theatrical course. Let us notice it more closely and from the point of view of the Virgin Mary. Although the Gospel says nothing about her, we can quite rightly assume that she was present in person at the drama, for she lived in Nazareth.

The Lord Jesus had returned to his city after an extended stay in Judea and Jerusalem, where he first appeared as a teacher, prophet, and wonder worker. The fame about him had preceded him, and his fellow citizens were quite surprised at what they heard. They had known Jesus for many years, and except for his incredible honesty, purity, and bravery, they had never noticed anything extraordinary about him. They were, therefore, rightly very curious about him.

Surely Our Lady sensed from their words and behavior that they were distrustful and contemptuous of Jesus. On the one hand, they rejoiced that the Teacher, who was beginning to be famous, would also make their little town famous, but on the other hand, they did not believe that this simple craftsman could accomplish anything significant.

At first, Our Lady was thrilled to have her beloved son home again. All the beautiful moments she had spent with him in the Nazareth house during his hidden life were renewed. She was again able to prepare his food, fix his clothes, and especially talk with him, to listen to his beautiful explanations of God’s deep mysteries. However, hidden pain and fear were already beginning to stir into this uplifting joy, for she knew that Jesus was the promised Redeemer, and she would have to suffer much. She had a hunch that this suffering would begin already here in Nazareth.

The Sabbath came, and everyone rushed to the synagogue for worship, knowing that Jesus would speak on that occasion. For it was customary for the ruler of the temple to ask the most prominent rabbi, or teacher, present to explain the Holy Scriptures. Although only men were present in the main room so that the women would not be wholly deprived of the word of God, they were allowed to listen in an adjoining room, separated by a curtain so they could not be seen. Our Lady was probably seated among the women, watching the voices from behind the curtain in tense anticipation. After the psalms had been sung and the usual prayers said, the synagogue leader asked Jesus to say a few words to explain the Holy Scriptures. Jesus stood in a high place in front of the entire congregation. When the scroll was handed to him, he read aloud the site where the prophet Isaiah foretold the coming of the Redeemer. Then there was silence for a while. All eyes were on Jesus. Imagine the Virgin Mary, who did not see these faces but listened intently to every noise so she could pick out what might be happening there.

Then Jesus began his sermon. First, he said that the time of the Redeemer’s coming had already come. The natives liked that. After all, how could they not? It was the long-standing desire of all people that the Redeemer would come as soon as possible. The Evangelist says that they all swore to him. The Virgin Mary was relieved: Praise God that they are not against Him! But then Jesus began to hint that the promised Redeemer was himself. He didn’t tell them immediately but gradually prepared them for it. But some began to murmur loudly: Do we not know thee? Art thou not the son of Joseph? Such a fool! The Virgin Mary was pricked at heart. But the Lord Jesus continued. He did not soften his statements but, on the contrary, threw sharp reproaches in their faces. They do not deserve that God should send them a prophet, for a prophet is not rare in his own country. God is sometimes fonder of the heathen, as was the widow of Zarephath of Sidon and Naaman of Syria. That was too much! To consider them, the orthodox Jews, as inferior to the Gentiles! There was an outcry. The Virgin Mary groaned: God, what is being done? She thought so and went out, horrified. She saw Jesus shoved before her by furious people to the edge of the abyss. They wanted to throw him down and throw stones at him.

But Jesus’ hour had not yet come. He allowed them to mistreat him, but he did not let them kill him. Suddenly, he turned around. A mysterious power went out of him as if from heaven, and no one dared to touch him again. He strolled through them and left. Our Lady breathed a sigh of relief. From then on, Jesus did not go to Nazareth and stayed with St. Peter in Capernaum, which became his city.

This Nazareth incident is instructive for Christians in that not accepting Jesus always means excellent harm. How many benefits and graces would the Nazarene’s have received had they not driven Jesus away? We know that Jesus loved his country.

May this event strengthen us to trust in God’s help and encourage us to accept more readily the teachings of Christ that bring grace and God’s blessing. Let us not let the teachings of the Lord Jesus grow stale!