Prophets are a vital force in society. They are the visionaries of their time. When all others are blind, prophets are the ones granted to see the handwriting on the wall, to interpret the signs of the times, and to see the light beyond the tunnel. Equipped as they are with superior perception, prophets analyse the situation on the ground in the light of the common good and of the true goal of the human person and the society. Prophets as dreamers possess the vision of life as it ought to be, and with this vision they give the much needed hope to a suffering people.
Prophets often challenge the human society to move away from the path of selfishness, hatred and violence. They are constantly pointing to the direction where society is supposed to be heading - the path of love, peace and prosperity. Prophets refuse to be defiled by the corruption of the moment. They refuse to be engulfed by the darkness of the surrounding environment. Instead, they are often endowed with rare courage not only to denounce evil in general, but also to name the specific human agents of evil in society. Prophets give reason to hope. They assure "the remnant faithful” who hunger and thirst for righteousness, that all is not lost.
Humanity owes its continued existence to generations of prophets and dreamers who slept over the triumph of conquerors and napped over the humiliation of the vanquished. Biblical literature gives the examples of Noah, Joseph, John the Baptist and Jesus Christ. And down through the centuries, there have been prophets and dreamers who treaded the path of these pioneers. Humanity has never understood its prophets, for they always dreamt dreams that were "unrealistic" for their contemporaries. Their dreams of love and universal brotherhood, and of justice and peace, when not aborted, were often stillborn. When the prophets are not thrown out of the city, they are stoned to death. Yet many have continued to conceive dreams, and it is their dreams that have held the human society together to this day. It is the dreams of the Biblical prophets that kept alive the hope of salvation from Abraham to the coming of Jesus Christ.
The Gospel of Luke 4:16-21 records that Jesus Christ appeared in his native town of Nazareth, and using the passage of Isaiah 61:1-2, he announced the fulfilment in his person of the Messianic hopes and expectations of Israel. The Spirit of the Lord is upon him for he has been anointed. He shall preach the good news to the poor. He shall open the eyes of the blind. He shall captives free. He shall declare the Lord’s year of favour. When he added: “This Scripture is being fulfilled today even as you listen,” his listeners were filled with astonishment. They had heard of the wonderful things he did elsewhere, the miracles he performed in the neighbouring towns. And now they are hearing him appropriating the Messianic prophesy of Isaiah. Then they began to wonder: Is this not Joseph’s son? Jesus knew what was going on in their mind: “Physician, heal thyself…We have heard of all the wonderful things you did in Capernaum, do the same here in your own country.” Then Jesus lamented – “In truth I tell you, no prophet is ever accepted in his own country.”
Jesus went on as if to provoke his people the more, by narrating how in the days of Prophet Elijah during the great famine that lasted for three and a half years, there were many widows that needed help in Israel, but the prophet was not sent to any of them. Instead he was sent to a poor widow in Zarephath which is a pagan town. He also reminded them of how in the time of prophet Elisha there were many lepers in Israel, but none of them were cured except Naaman who was from the pagan territory of Syrian. Now when the crowds heard this, they were enraged. They got up and tried to hustle him out of their town, and get him killed, but he escaped from their midst.
What happened in Nazareth serves as a programme for Jesus’ entire life and ministry. It also foreshadows the life of many Christian ministers, witnesses and prophets through the course of time. While some aspects of Christ’s life are attractive, other aspects met with stiff opposition, so strong that it was bound to lead to total rejection. Jesus’ presence in Nazareth disturbed those who would want to control him or limit the dispensation of his charity to Nazareth. With so many sick and hungry people in his native Nazareth, they wondered what business he had healing people in Capernaum and other places. And with so many Israelites in need of help, they wondered why Jesus will be healing pagans and unbelievers. That is part of the reason why they got enraged and wanted to kill him. But Jesus remained prophetic. He refused to be so limited. He used the Nazareth event to teach the lesson that salvation is not reserved for a few privileged people. By mentioning the way God touched the lives of two pagans during the time of Prophets Elijah and Elisha, Jesus tried to demonstrate the unexpectedness of God’s ways, whose message of salvation is not limited to Israel, but addressed to all peoples (Luke 4:25-27).
Jesus was shocking his people with the truth that despite their privileged place and status, the gospel will eventually be preached to “the ends of the earth.” For Jesus, the concept of Holy Land and Chosen People, cannot be understood cannot be understood in exclusive terms, as if all other lands and people were excluded from God and his covenant. God has no favourites. God knows no boundaries. For his people in Nazareth on the other hand, this was outrageous. However Jesus refused to share the small-mindedness, the meanness and the pettiness of his people.
Jesus made it clear that he was not going to compromise his prophetic principles, just to meet up the expectations of his people. They wanted him to share their biases and prejudices, as if sanity is a matter of having the same disease as everyone else. But Jesus insisted on his unique identity as a sign of contradiction. He neither shares their suspicion of one another, nor does he share their clannish or parochial idea of salvation. And since his people were too blind to accept this idea, they rejected him and his message. They threatened to kill him. They had made a choice against Jesus and his prophetic message. As a result, Jesus did not return to Nazareth in his life time. Their rejection foreshadowed the rejection by all of Israel which led Jesus to his passion and crucifixion.
The people of Nazareth were exercising their freedom. On the whole Christianity is about choosing. You've got to make a decision. And there is a price we must pay for whatever decision we make - to serve the Lord or not to serve Him; to accept Jesus and His message of salvation or to reject Him. Many of us accept the Jesus of miracles, the Jesus of the prosperity preachers, but when it comes to difficult moments in our life, we often compromise, we equivocate, we engage in double-speak. But there is no room in Christianity for compromise or equivocation. In conflicts that must arise between the values of the kingdom - the values of justice, honesty and truth, and the culture of bribery and corruption, you cannot be ambivalent.
And in an environment of widespread rejection of the fundamental principles of human solidarity and the civilisation of love which Jesus Christ preached with his entire life, there is need for more courageous witnesses among Christians, who will stand for the truth and embraced suffering and death rather than compromise on their prophetic calling.
