Monday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time
In today’s gospel Jesus uses the phrase, “Physician cure yourself” as He addresses the people of Nazareth. Every time I come across this reading, I wonder exactly what Jesus is trying to say. After some reflection, it seems that Jesus is suggesting that people who are His followers need to have humility, openness, and the ability to find the supernatural in the most ordinary and familiar. Without a proper receptiveness, God does not force His mercy and healing on those who refuse to believe, and therefore they cannot experience His power.
In the gospel passage, Jesus reads the beautiful passage from Isaiah revealing that “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” The people from Nazareth are initially enthralled with His words, but on further reflection, they question how Jesus could be the “One,” since he was the boy down the road- the son of Joseph and Mary. Jesus recognizes their close mindedness and their refusal to see Jesus as anything other than just an ordinary man. It is then that Jesus remarks that His fellow townspeople are telling Him, “Physician cure yourself.” They want Jesus to show them the miracles and healing that He has done elsewhere here in His home town. Unfortunately, the townspeople cannot see that this “native son” could be the One to bring this good news. Their familiarity with Jesus prevents them from seeing the extraordinary in Him.
It takes humility, openness, and trust for a person to seek care. The people from Nazareth cannot trust that Jesus has been chosen as the “anointed one.” Their pride prevents them from accepting that this young man who is “one of them” can be more than just ordinary. They are unable to hear the glad tidings or have the sight to see His healings and mercy. Without faith- Jesus the physician cannot provide any healing to His own people. Just like Elijah and Elisha, Jesus’ ability to bring healing is limited by the doubts of the very people who knew Him best.
As I listen to Jesus, I believe that He is speaking to us as well. How often do we expect Him to perform His works of healing and mercy for us, but we question if He is really able to do these things? Our pride sometimes prevents us from even seeing our need for healing. Do we become so familiar with Jesus and our talk about God, that we lose sight of the wonder and awe of Christ in our lives? Jesus is inviting each of us to a humble recognition of our need for His grace. He desires to set us free from our sinfulness (being separated from Him), but this requires our ability to be open. Christ desires to share all He has with us, but in order for us to receive Him, we must be willing, receptive, and faith-filled. It is only then that we will we be able to have eyes to see and the freedom to live in His kingdom.
Loving Father, Your Son Jesus was sent to lead us back to You. With the grace of Your Spirit help us to humbly welcome you into our lives, so we can find healing and freedom with You. May our faith in your love transform us, so we can bring Your healing to the world. We pray this through Christ, our LORD. Amen.
Marylynn Herchline