How on earth could a poor fellow like him become a religious leader of the people when they (Pharisees) existed for that purpose? They did not even hide their astonishment when they spoke. “Where did this man get all this wisdom and miraculous powers?,” they would ask shamelessly (Matt 13:53-56 ). As a result of this unbelief and jealousy, they rejected one of their own. St John puts it clearly when saying, “he came to his own country, but his own people did not receive him” (Jn 1: 11).
It is therefore not surprising to hear St. Paul saying that God chose the weak to shame the strong (1 Cor. 1:27-29). Many times people expect God to work wonders through extraordinary people or places, and they despise those people or places which do not seem promising. This is not new after all! The Jewish leaders were convinced that Galilee was not worthy to produce a saviour. This is why they told Nicodemus as much. “Study the scripture and you will learn that no prophet ever comes from Galilee,” they would say (Jn. 7:52). It seems that the Jews would have never accepted Jesus as a saviour, if they had rejected even his possibility of being a prophet. One thing is however clear: only the leaders had a problem with Jesus. The ordinary people, when Jesus began his public ministry easily discovered the power of God in him (Matt.9: 17). Similarly, I have seen people who will go to any extent to make sure that they go to the Holy Land once in a life time. Others struggle to go for Mass in the cathedrals, instead of attending Masses in near-by parishes, or even the liturgy of the word in the near-by out-stations. It is important to know that what matters most is the disposition of the heart, and not the place where we attend liturgical celebrations, or the people presiding them. This does not however mean that going to the Holy Land or attending Masses in cathedrals should be undermined. It means that in spiritual matters we should not undervalue the ordinary circumstances around which we live. It particularly means that loving a neighbour who is near me is more important and beneficial than struggling to go to holy land when my heart is tainted with prejudices, jealousies, and all forms of hatred. This reminds me of the warning of Jesus about false apparitions: “if anyone says to you Look here is the messiah!’ or ‘there he is!’- do not believe him” (Matt 24:23). This means that God is able to save us from wherever we are. This is why tax collectors and prostitutes will continue finding their way to heaven when most of us are running up and down from one shrine to the other. Jesus himself reminded the Jews of this fact when he said, “I tell you: the tax collectors and prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you” (Matt 21:31).
This rejection of Jesus has continued to happen over the centuries, and it still happens even today. I found a good example of this in the life of St. John Mary Vianney, who was very weak academically that his own bishop found it hard to accept him as a candidate for priesthood. When he later managed to reach the altar, people flocked to him from all over in search of spiritual direction and confession. A man who even today would not have managed to become a priest ended up being a finger of God in touching peoples’ souls. This has a lesson to us. Many times we undermine people due to their gender, status in society, poor financial might, level of education, tribal backgrounds or even race. It is important to realise that your neighbour might be the one who will help you to reach heaven. Do not undermine someone just because of how he looks, or just because you happen to know his humble background, for he might have some key life changing, thing that you might need at some point in life. Most of the time the people we despise end up being the means that God had intended to be of help in our lives. I have heard people wondering how a certain fellow could be able to do this or that. Most of the time whatever good the person has done is attributed to chance, probability, or mere luck. This makes me wonder. For how long are we going to be ignorant of the gospels? Who has not read in the history of salvation how God has always used weak persons or things to express his power? In the same way Christ became a man like us so that through his example we, ordinary men, may become means of sanctification for others. Today the challenge remains. Does your ordinary life reflect anything extraordinary in others?
