Monday of the Third Week of Lent
The people in the synagogue had a difficult time receiving the words of Jesus. So much so, in fact, that they drove him out of their town and tried to throw him down a hill. But why? Why was he so offensive to them? How was it possible that these Jewish faithful were so incapable of receiving words delivered from the lips of God himself?
One reason that a prophet is never accepted in their own native place is that our human perceptions are often deeply skewed by a combination of bias and pride. So often, we are so sure about what we think we know that we are unwilling to even consider any perspective that even remotely appears to challenge our own. In the same way, we often have strong attachments to our own perceptions, even when they’re not supported by objectively credible data.
The people in the synagogue thought they knew who Jesus was. “Son of a late local carpenter, yaddah, yaddah. Yeah, yeah, we know all about that.” They were so blinded by pride and bias and attachment to their own perceptions that they were unable to consider the merit of what Jesus was presenting to them. They were unable to properly perceive his infinite divinity because of their own self-imposed limitedness. God could not reach them because they would not allow themselves to be reached. Lent is an opportune time for us to consider our own blind spots. How open are we to new information? How receptive are we to the things that God wants to teach us? When the Lord approaches us in ways we don’t expect, are we capable of receiving him?