Arenât high school reunions great ! Or, maybe they arenât so great. Personally, I avoid them. People at high schoolreunions usually gather around and do the old, "Do you remember so and so ? Do you remember when Bobby Jones did this, or Cindy Smith did that ?" "Do you remember the scandal it caused when · (Iâll you fill in the blanks)." Quite frankly, I donât like the game of "Do you remember." Letâs just say that some of my high school years are better left forgotten.
Then, you get those people at high school unions who stand there looking at you and say, "Oh my how you have changed." What they are really saying is, "Boy, youâve put on weight. Or, I remember you as having more hair, or blonde hair, not white hair. And by the way, were your glasses trifocals in high school ? But then they remember they didnât have trifocals back then.
And there are always those people who want your lifeâs update. They want to hear of your lifeâs struggles. Not because they care mind you, as statistics prove, 90% of the population doesnât care about your problems and the other 10% is glad youâve got them.
Theyâre really not interested in what you are doing either, they just want to see if youâve turned out the way they assumed you would turn out. Thatâs when the fun comes in for me. "So, Bob, what are you doing these days ?" they ask, assuming that I have just returned to society from living on a commune in the woods of Washington state for the last thirty years.
The look on their face is so precious when I say, "Well, ten years after high school I finally did go to college, graduate Magna Cum Laude with a degree in business, went to work in the computer industry, had a successful career for twenty years, went to seminary and received a Masterâs of Divinity degree and then entered into the ministry. Just about then, itâs time to call 911 and start resuscitating the individual. No, reunions are not my favorite thing.
This morning we hear of a reunion that Jesus went to. It was a hometown reunion where he caused just about as much shock as I do at my reunions. Jesus and his disciples had been on a road trip of late. Jesus had been carrying out his threefold ministry of teaching, preaching and healing.
You will remember over the last two weeks that Jesus taught the people on the shore of Lake Galilee, he then calmed the storm on the lake and when he reached the other side of the lake he drove out the demons of a possessed man, healed the woman with the hemorrhage and raised Jairusâ daughter from the dead. Now, Jesus decides itâs time to return home for a visit.
Mark tells us that Jesus and his entourage of disciples entered his hometown, and when the Sabbath day came, Jesusbegan to teach in the synagogue. We are told that when the members of the congregation heard him begin to preach, "they were amazed." Probably much the same way my Sunday School teacher would be amazed if she heard me preaching today !
The people who knew Jesus, and had seen him grow up wonder where he got his wisdom. They canât believe it is Jesus who is saying these things. They say to one another, "Isnât this the carpenter ? Isnât this Maryâs son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon ? Arenât his sisters here with us today ?"
The reference to Jesus as the "Son of Mary" can be seen as a derogatory way of referring to Jesus. In the first century, sons were identified by reference to their fathers. My Swedish ancestors have this same tradition in the naming of their sons. Our American Johnson is the Swedish Johnâs son or, Johannesâs son. And our Swenson, or further Americanized Swanson is the Swedish Svenâs son. To associate Jesus with his mother was a social dig against him.
We must also remember the image that the people had in their minds of Jesus. He had left Nazareth alone, and as a carpenter. He returns with a group of followers, and as a Rabbi. It is also important to note that when Jesus left town, some of the townsfolkâs probably frowned upon his leaving. Remember that Jesus was the oldest male child in his family. Joseph was now dead and if the father of the family was dead, the oldest male child was expected to assume the role of the head of the household and stay around to provide for the family.
Jesus may have been viewed by some, as the son who shirked his family duties and responsibilities by leaving the family to fend for themselves. His neighbors were probably not too eager to welcome this deserting self-proclaimed prophet back into their circle of friends.
Mark then tells us that after Jesus began to preach in the synagogue, "They took offense at him." You would think that the people of Nazareth would have welcomed Jesus as a local boy made good and rolled out the red carpet for him. But instead, they took offense at him.
Mark doesnât tell us exactly what it was Jesus said that day in the synagogue, but we can assume that he probably read from the Book of Isaiah which would have been customary. We remember another time when Jesus was in the synagogue. When he read Scriptures, the congregation ran out covering their ears, ready to stone him. That particular day he told of the coming of the Messiah and then said, "Today the Scriptures have been fulfilled within your hearing."
The people in the synagogue took offense not only because of what Jesus said, but because of who it was that said it. They were amazed and offended because they expected the extraordinary and spectacular in the Messiah. They could not believe that the Messiah would be a simple, ordinary carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon.
The Messiah these people were waiting for would come into town riding on flaming chariots through the clouds, orsomething like that. There would be beautiful heavenly music and hordes of angels that would accompany their Messiah. Godâs chosen Messiah certainly wouldnât be some ordinary, everyday carpenter who leaves town and quietly returns a couple of years later to visit his deserted family.
Jesus realizes that his hometown visit isnât going so well. He says to them, "Only in his hometown, among relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor." No matter what he did or said, they would not recognize him as the Messiah that the Scriptures had spoken of. This man who had performed so many miracles, who had taught so many about the Kingdom of God and had healed multitudes of people, could not be given the time of day in his hometown.
What was the result of this ? Mark tells us, "He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And Jesus was amazed at their lack of faith." What a contrast to his success in the area of Galilee, an area where the furthest point from the town of Nazareth is a mere 50 miles away, a trip that would only take two days on a donkey.
What a contrast to the woman of last week who was healed by touching the hem of Jesusâ garment. To her he said, "Daughter, your faith has healed you." Here in his hometown he says, "I can not do any healing miracles here because of their lack of faith."
This short story of only six verses has a powerful message for us. The message is that sometimes we look for the spectacular in the wrong places. Sometimes the extraordinary can be found in the ordinary and that which is all too familiar to us. Jesus was familiar to the people of Nazareth and they could not see beyond the familiarity of Jesus to see who he really was.
I am reminded of Leonard Bernstein's father, who had not given his son very much encouragement in his musical career. Later in life, after Leonard had become famous, someone asked his father why he had been so unwilling to encourage his son's musical talents. The father replied, "How was I to know that he would grow up to become Leonard Bernstein?" Leonard was too familiar to his father. He could not see the greatness in his own son.
The people of Jesusâ hometown, Nazareth had the Messiah right there in front of them and they didnât know it. They were looking for the Messiah in all the wrong places. Itâs kind of like the man who came out of the pub after several hours and lost his keys. His friends came out later to help him and asked him where he last had his keys. The man pointed down the street. His friends asked him why he wasnât looking for his keys down the street where he last had them. He said, "Because the light is up here." Sometimes we are looking for Jesus in the wrong places.
Where do we look for Jesus ? Do we only expect to see him coming in the clouds, riding on a flaming chariot ? If we turn our eyes for a moment from the sky, we will be able to see Jesus all around us. Jesus is in the face of the newborn child. He is in the face of the lonely person living on the street. He is in the face of the prisoner serving time for past deeds done. He is in the face of the individual suffering today within our very midst. Jesus is in each and every one of us if we will allow him to come into our lives. He is the Spirit that allows us to see himself, within the face of others and in the ordinary and everyday of our lives.
Let us open our eyes to see Jesus! Let us open our ears to hear Jesus! Let us open our hearts to believe in Jesus, looking for him with a new set of eyes that will cast our sight to the ordinary where we will then see the extraordinary in Him, our Savior ! AMEN !
