A Prophet is Not Without Honor Except in His Native Place

A Prophet is Not Without Honor Except in His Native Place

Mk 6: 1-6

14^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In today’s Gospel, Mark recounts to us how Jesus was rejected by people who were familiar with him in his own native place. Mark presents Jesus like one of the prophets of old who were similarly rejected by their own countrymen.

The Gospel begins by telling us that Jesus, together with his disciples came to his native place. When the Sabbath came, Jesus taught in the synagogue.

Then Mark describes to us the reaction of those who heard him teach in the synagogue. At first, people seemed to be both impressed and surprised. They said:  “Where did this man get all this? What kind of wisdom has been given him?  What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands!”

But while they recognized the wisdom of Jesus and the mighty deeds he has done, their remarks somehow revealed a great deal of disbelief. They could not believe that someone like Jesus,  with whom they were familiar with, could have such wisdom and perform incredible deeds.

They were all too familiar with Jesus. They knew him all too well. They said: “ Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” 

For them, Jesus was just one of them – a small town boy who grew up in the neighborhood, running around and playing just like all the other kids in town. He grew up to be just an ordinary young man who earned a living as a carpenter, making chairs, tables and other furniture for several households. And here he was, back to his hometown, teaching and preaching in the synagogue in a way that has never been heard before.

Clearly, the townspeople simply couldn’t accept Jesus for who he was and what he has become.  There simply was a kind of a disconnect between the Jesus they knew as the carpenter, the son of Mary and the Jesus they were now seeing and hearing. The gospel then describes their revulsion for Jesus this way: “ They took offense at him.”

Jesus knew that he has been rejected by the very people he was familiar with. This is why he said: “ A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kind and in his own house.”

It is never easy to be a prophet. Those chosen by God to be prophets never really wanted to be prophets in the first place. People like Moses, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and other prophets had their excuses for not wanting to be chosen as prophets by God.

Prophets spoke on behalf of God. They spoke the truth. And because they spoke the truth, people didn’t want to listen to them. As a consequence, they were always rejected, some even killed. Prophets spoke to all kinds of people. But the ones that rejected them most are those that they knew and those with whom they were familiar with. Such was the case of Jesus.

Just like Jesus, we are all called to be prophets in our own way. As prophets we are called to witness to our faith. Witnessing to our faith is a way of proclaiming the truth, just like what Jesus and the prophets did. We may not have the gift of speaking or the ability to say a lot of things about our faith, but witnessing to our faith does speak volumes about what we truly believe.

When people see us saying our prayers or reading the bible; when people see us saying grace before meals; when people acknowledge our honesty, integrity and fairness; when people see how we live our faith and see how happy and contented we are despite the difficulties that surround us; when people notice that we do not sow division and spread false information or gossip about others; when people notice our patience; when people see how we love our family and care for other people; when they see our concern for the environment and for our society - then such witnessing does speak volumes about the truth we want to proclaim.

And even if we do meet some rejection because of our witnessing, we can always look to Jesus who himself was rejected by the people he knew as he proclaimed and witnessed to the truth.

By being a prophet, we can almost be sure that at some point in our life we will be rejected and at times reviled for the truths we believe in. People may even be more inclined to see the imperfections that we have rather than the good that we do. When that happens, always remember that a prophet is never alone. A prophet always walks and lives with God because he speaks on behalf of God.

Take courage. As Jesus himself said: “A Prophet is Not Without Honor Except in His Native Place.” Amen.

“ Hard of face and obstinate of heart are they to whom I am sending you. But you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord God! And whether they heed or resist – they shall know that a prophet has been among them. “  - Ezekiel 2: 5