Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – 07th July 2024
This Sunday’s gospel sees Jesus returning home, perhaps to see his family and take a break from teaching and healing people. But once he arrives, he goes to the local synagogue and begins teaching those who were present. However, his neighbours do not exactly roll out the red carpet for him. Although they were astonished by what they heard, they were not impressed with Jesus at all. They looked at Jesus and reminded him of his humble origins; after all, he is only the son of the local carpenter! Surely, he is not worthy of all the attention and praise he receives. They did not accept him. In the end, he could only heal a few people. Sadly, he was amazed at their lack of faith. So, it is very safe to say that Jesus was familiar with rejection, criticism, being judged and dismissed.
Again, it is worth noticing that Jesus could do no miracles there, (he did cure and heal a few people), because of their lack of faith. Jesus could not work with these people because they would not work with him. He offered them a message through his preaching and teaching. But they not only closed their ears to them; they also closed their hearts to what he had to offer them. They did not want to hear the Good News of the Kingdom of God. Perhaps they were jealous of him, perhaps they thought they knew better than he did; perhaps they were angry with him because he challenged them. Who really knows why they rejected him?