Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)

And all spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.
Lk 4:21-30

And all spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They also asked, “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?”

The comment "Isn't this the son of Joseph?" served to throw cold water on the enthusiasm of the crowd in the synagogue. For in that statement, they belittled Jesus. It was as if they were saying: "Who does he think he is? He is ONLY the son of a carpenter." They were cutting him down to size. This initial arrogance will turn into a murderous rage at the end when they attempted to throw him over the cliff.

Do here in your native place the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.

I sense here a feeling of hurt and anger. Nazareth was his home. They and not the people of Capernaum should have been the first witnesses of his miracles. Jesus indeed grew up in Nazareth but it was Capernaum which he made into a sort of headquarters for his ministry.

They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong.

What made the people in the synagogue so angry that they wanted to murder Jesus? Why did they find the mention of Elisha coming to the aid of a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon and to no one else so offensive? Why did they find it intolerable for Jesus to assert that only Naaman the Syrian and no one else did Elisha cure of leprosy?

We have to examine the Jewish mentality in order to explain this violent reaction of his fellow villagers. In the mind of the Jews, being the Chosen People meant that they and they alone were loved by God. For them the gentiles (non-Jews) were created to go to hell. With this background it is easy to explain why his fellow villagers became enraged.

The widow of Zarephath lived in Sidon. She was a gentile. And she--and not a Jew--was the lone beneficiary of Elijah's kindness. This the people in the synagogue could not accept.

And as if to fan the flame into a conflagration, Jesus continued by observing that Elisha did not cure any Jewish leper. In fact he cured only one leper and it was the gentile Naaman.

I don't think that Jesus was disputing the special place of the Jews as God's Chosen People. What he was pointing out was that the Jews were not the exclusive recipients of God's love. God loves everybody.

The Jews who rightly claims to be the Chosen People developed a wrong mentality. They carried with them a superiority complex that expressed itself in pride and arrogance.

SUPERIORITY COMPLEX

I was told that a certain actress who is "married" to a man from a wealthy clan went to one of the elegant buildings along Ayala Ave. She was going to take an elevator. Another woman wanted to take that elevator. This actress instructed her bodyguards to tell that woman to take another elevator as she wanted to take that elevator for herself. The woman--very understandably--blew her top. She identified herself as the owner of the building. She called security and had her and her bodyguards thrown out of her building, but not before telling her to never set foot on her building again.

Perhaps this actress, because she was now "married" to a very rich person, thought she has acquired a superior status and therefore, had the right to be arrogant.

Superiority complex has done so much harm to mankind.

The Nazis considered themselves a superior race and killed not only 6 million Jews but others classes of people they considered defective.

The Japanese have not been very open in the books they use in school about the atrocities their military have committed in World War II. Some have attributed this to their attitude towards us as inferior to them.

On the other hand, there are people who in spite of their status have avoided becoming arrogant. Instead they have learned to treat people with respect.

Consider Jaime Augusto Ayala de Zobel, known as JAZA. I was invited to one of the fine hotels in Makati for a function related to education. The President was expected to come and address the assembly and inaugurate a project. She did come. But because of another appointment she had to leave after her speech and after inaugurating the project. JAZA was one of the big shots who was present. After she had left, JAZA went to our table and asked: "May I sit with you?" He was rich but not arrogant. He was a fine gentleman--polite, well-mannered. No air of superiority. No trace of arrogance.

Consider Masay (I don't remember if this is her correct name.) Yulo, second wife of Jose Yulo, Sr. After the Mass on the 40th day after the death of Jose Yulo Sr., we were invited for dinner. After enjoying the main meal, I went for dessert. It so happened that Mrs. Masay Yulo and I wanted to take the same dessert. Perhaps because I was younger and faster I was able to get the fork ahead of her. I realized too late what I had done. She could have been annoyed. But I saw nothing of that sort on her face. She simply smiled and made a motion telling me to go ahead and get the dessert. I put down the fork and motioned to her to please go ahead and I will get mine after her. She was rich but not arrogant.

On this Sunday the Gospel provides us with an ugly picture of what arrogance and pride can do--the people in the synagogue were willing to kill Jesus because he went against their idea of the Jewish People as being the exclusive object of God's love.

Jesus insists that we take on the mindset that we are all God's children. We are brothers and sisters. With that mindset we shall treat each other with respect. And when there is respect, there is harmony and peace.