Familiarity breeds contempt!

Matthew 13:54-58

When Jesus finished telling these stories, he left there, returned to his hometown, and gave a lecture in the meetinghouse. He made a real hit, impressing everyone. “We had no idea he was this good!” they said. “How did he get so wise, get such ability?” But in the next breath they were cutting him down: “We’ve known him since he was a kid; he’s the carpenter’s son. He is the son of Mary. We know his brothers James and Joseph, Simon and Judas. All his sisters live here. Who does he think he is?” They got their noses all out of joint. But Jesus said, “A prophet is taken for granted in his hometown and his family.” He didn’t do many miracles there because of their hostile indifference.

Food for thought!

Did you know that all our enemies were once our "friends"? Our enemies were once our acquaintances (those who know us best make the worst enemies). That is why every every friend is a potential enemy. This is what happens to Jesus in the gospel reading. Jesus has decided to return to Nazareth. However, his return to hometown does not go the way one might expect it to. Why? Well, because he is known since he was a kid.

Thomas Wolfe wrote a novel entitled “You Can’t Go Home Again”. The book is about a man named George Webber. He is an author who has written a successful book about his hometown. When he returns home, he expects to receive a hero’s welcome. Instead, he is driven out of town by his own friends and family. They feel betrayed by what he has written about them in his book. Webber is shaken by their reaction to his work and leaves his hometown behind to go find himself. George Webber discovered that those who know you best tend to respect you the least.        

The people of Nazareth became hostile to Jesus because they thought they knew everything there was to know about Him. Then, they started to ridicule Jesus: “He is the son of Mary.” They called Him “the son of Mary” not to praise him but to ridicule him because among Jews, a male was always referred to as the son of his father, even if his father was dead. To call a boy the son of his mother was to imply that his mother had played the prostitute. When you don't like or disagree with someone, don't resort to ridicule or character assassination. No one likes it. Not even Jesus did, not even you would.

The last verse tells us that because of their ridicule, Jesus didn’t do many miracles there because of their hostile indifference.