Jesus loved the people from His hometown and surely wanted them all to embrace Him as Savior.
But it was not a surprise to Him that few actually did.
Matthew 13:53-58 in today’s daily Bible reading tells the story of how Jesus taught and tried to heal many in Nazareth, but the people were skeptical of Him.
They said that they knew Him as just a carpenter’s son and that they knew His large group of siblings.
The inference was that because Jesus’ dad wasn’t a big shot and because his siblings might not have been special people, then Jesus couldn’t be special, either.
In essence, Jesus was judged by His past and by His family peers.
The last thing the crowd wanted was someone from Mary’s household telling them what to do.
In fact, the Bible says the crowd was offended by Jesus’ telling them of needed life changes.
Sadly, Jesus left the area with very little ministry success having been accomplished.
It had to have been one of Jesus’ more disappointing days.
Some of you know how Jesus felt.
You’ve tried to share your faith with words that point others to God and you’ve tried to share deeds of help so that others might find relief from hurting situations.
But your efforts have been repulsed because people rejected you as a means of rejecting your family or your past lack of public acclaim.
They’ve pointed to what you used to be or to the “nothing special” family from which you’ve come.
I wish this kind of blind, prideful backlash never happened.
But it does.
Just like it did for Jesus.
Rather than fretting over the many who reject your compassionate desire to help, it is better to thank God for the opportunity to help a few.
For even one person who finds help and hope through your caring sharing will make all your efforts worth it in God’s sight and, hopefully, your own.
Remember the parable of the shepherd who left the 99 sheep in order to go find the one?
Keep caring. Keep sharing. Keep daring.
God will keep you in His flow of love, power and inspiration as you do.
And the one or two people you lead to Jesus in your “home turf” will celebrate with you forever.
As always, I love you
Martin
