Commemoration: Gregory of Nyssa
Almighty God, who have revealed to your Church your eternal Being of glorious majesty and perfect love as one God in Trinity of Persons: Give us grace that, like your bishop Gregory of Nyssa, we may continue steadfast in the confession of this faith, and constant in our worship of you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who live and reign for ever and ever. Amen.
What was it about the people of Nazareth that caused them to reject one of their own? Had they not paid enough attention to Jesus as he was growing up among them to realize that he was going to be someone unique in the history of Israel? Had they been too busy with their own affairs to get involved in helping prepare him for his life's mission?
The answer to these questions is a resounding no.
The people of Nazareth rejected Jesus when he returned to his hometown not because they did not know him well enough, but because they knew him all too well. "Where did this man get these things?" they asked. "What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands?" Wherever, whatever, and however Jesus became what he was, the people of Nazareth had nothing to do with it and wanted nothing to do with him.
"Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?" In our day, "son of Mary" may be a term of endearment for Jesus. But it was nothing of the sort in Jesus' own day. To be called the son of one's mother, as opposed to the son of one's father, was a term of derision. It implied an illegitimate birth, the worst form of disgrace not only for the particular individual, but also for the entire family. The people of Nazareth "took offense at" Jesus. They knew him. They knew his family. They knew his trade. Who was he to come parading back into town, with his entourage of disciples, presuming to be their teacher and prophet?
Nazareth did not want him. They knew him too well. He was a carpenter, a child of questionable parentage in a family of no particular influence. They would have preferred he never left town in the first place. If he had stayed home and made a comfortable living making doors and hinges, they would have left him well enough alone. But he had to be about his Father's business, and that meant leaving the familiar surroundings of his hometown and embarking on a journey whose ultimate destination was a dark hill called Calvary.
Much like the people of Nazareth then, we today must overcome a serious obstacle to our faith. It is not that we don't know Jesus well enough, but that we think we know him all too well. As we continue our Lenten journey, let us hear and respond to the invitation to abandon our affinity for the familiar and step out in faith with the Jesus who knows us better than we can ever know ourselves.
Searcher of hearts, from mine erase
All thoughts that should not be,
And in its deep recesses trace
My gratitude to Thee.
Hearer of prayer, O guide aright
Each word and deed of mine;
Life’s battle teach me how to fight,
And be the vict’ry Thine.
Giver of all—for ev’ry good
In the Redeemer came—
For raiment, shelter, and for food,
I thank Thee in His Name.
Father, and Son, and Holy Ghost,
Thou glorious Three in One,
Thou knowest best what I need most,
And let Thy will be done.
- George P. Morris
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