A Prophet Without Honor

Written by Rev. Fr. Orly Mendoza | 03 July 2012

FOURTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
(Green) Cycle B, Year II (July 8, 2012)
Ez 2:2-5/2Cor 12:7-10/Mk 6:1-6

Jesus Christ went back to His hometown and there He preached in the synagogue. And behold, the people were amazed at what He said and they could not accept Him for He was a carpenter. Jesus said to them: “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his home town and among his relatives and by his own family” (Mk 6: 4b).

Apparently, what caused the rejection of Jesus Christ by the people of His own town was the fact that He was a carpenter, an ordinary laborer, a simple person. The Jews who were educated, rich and influential could not accept that a simple carpenter, coming from a poor family of carpenters, would be preaching to them. And so, even though Jesus Christ was talking to them amazing things, they would not believe nor accept Him.

We may say that what happened to Jesus was a normal thing because it is even happening nowadays in our present world. There are persons who are rejected by the society simply because they are normal laborers, poor people, low class, etc. People use to box other people by their financial status, educational achievement, or physical appearance. If you are poor, uneducated and even ugly, people would certainly reject you and not believe in you even if what you are saying is true and even if you are actually the prophet of the present time.

Clearly, this was not the way Jesus treated the people of His own time. Being God who could do whatever He wished and wanted to, Jesus Christ willed to be born poor in a poor family; He lived a simple life working as an ordinary man. In His public ministry, Jesus gave more importance to the poor, simple, uneducated, outcast, etc. They were the center of His attention; they were the priorities of His Gospel. As Christians, we too should not box nor judge other people simply because of their status. Indeed, there is only one status of all of us in the eyes of God: we are all children of God. Like Jesus, we should be giving more importance to those who are suffering, those who are victims of injustice, poverty and of discrimination, and those who are sick and abandoned.

On the other hand, looking at the event of the rejection of Jesus Christ, we can see another reason why He was not accepted. He was teaching different things; in fact, He was correcting the traditional beliefs of the Jews. The people were contented to their usual life and were unwilling to change. Accepting the teachings of Jesus would mean changing their ways of life. But they did not want to do it as it would be a great sacrifice for them to change. Thus, they rejected Jesus.

We may not accept the fact that Jesus was rejected by the people. We may blame these people for rejecting the prophet, the Messiah, and for doing what they did not realize they were doing. But then, we are actually doing what they did. We do the same whenever we reject or do not accept or live some teachings of the Catholic Church which is the transmitter of the teachings of Christ. We reject Christ when we reject the teachings of the Church. We have then to examine ourselves and, before condemning others, let us first condemn ourselves for rejecting the prophet who tells us the truth of everlasting life.