7/7/2024 - 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

           Daring Return to Nazareth

  Think of all the genealogies and historical accounts of the Old Testament, and we who consider ourselves to be modern, find it quite irrelevant to give unusual attention to land, geography, and place. Even if we consider all these details to be important, we are surprised that not one single mention is made of a rustic settlement tucked away in a region known for its obscurity. Nazareth was an uncelebrated, forgotten town, off the beaten path, even for Galilee. When guileless Nathanael queried a friend about Jesus, he expressed the common Jewish sentiment in the first century (John 1:46): Can anything good come out of Nazareth? During His earthly life, so far as we know, Jesus never self-identified as “Jesus of Nazareth.” Only rarely did his followers call him that (John 1:45). Wherever we find his name on the lips of foes who want to give it a derogatory spin, expect them to call Him “Jesus of Nazareth.” And if Nathanael’s comment,  the venom of demons and detractors, had not been enough, Pilate inscribed it on the instrument of his torture: “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews” (John 19:19). 

 Nazareth was a tiny, predominantly Jewish agricultural village settled in the centuries before Jesus' birth. While unremarkable in its time, it would later gain fame as the childhood home of Jesus of Nazareth. Because God loves to produce the best in places we least expect, Jesus grew up in a little place, surrounded by larger, more important towns like Sepphoris and Cana. Some scholars hold the view that the name 'Nazareth' is derived from one of the Hebrew words for 'branch', namely ne·ṣer, ‏ and alludes to the prophetic, messianic words in Book of Isaiah 11:1: "from (Jesse's) roots a Branch [ne.ser] will bear fruit". Well, after all this little place did find mention in the prophecies and genealogy.

 What could be surprising to us as we read the Gospel account of the rejection of Jesus in His hometown, is our inability to fathom the seeds of hatred for the returning hero of their village. Earlier Jesus was in Cana of Galilee where He had healed the son of a royal official to King Herod. If you recall, the father had traveled to Cana and left his son in Capernaum. Jesus did not travel to Capernaum but healed his son from a distance of 16 miles. It was a stunning miracle, and the rumor of the miracle would have spread in that small region and quickly reached Nazareth, which was only 5 miles south of Cana and about 21 miles from Capernaum. The news of the miracle of turning water into wine (John 2:1-11) would have been related by eyewitnesses from Nazareth as the wedding feast was of a relative Mary of Nazareth! 

 So, there was no triumphal arch of welcome but hostility awaiting for Jesus on his return to Nazareth! He in turn further drew their ire by stating “No doubt you will quote this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we heard was done at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.'” And He said, “Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown.” Luke 4:23-24. The final blow would be His claim that the messianic prophesy is being fulfilled in His person, who was just a carpenter’s son who had brought dishonor by not pursuing the family trade. 

 The people of Nazareth are mirroring our own rejections of God’s choice of ordinary persons for ministry around us and we give in to the temptation of, ‘familiarity breeds contempt.’ Jesus did not shy away from His calling to be a prophet for His people. When a man or a woman takes a stand for righteousness, it is very common that he or she stands all alone. Sometimes it is against one person, or a crowd, such as happened with Jesus. It is also common for such a person to be verbally and physically persecuted. By our Baptism we are called to witness to the Truth. While challenging, prophetic witness remains an important way for us the church to engage public discourse and offer a faith-based perspective on social, political and ethical issues in our time that favors  personal preference rather than objective truth. Fr Tom Kunnel, C.O.