The gospel of this 14th Sunday in Ordinary Times, year B (Mark 6:1-7), tells the story of the rejection of Jesus by His own home people; a rejection that cost them direly, for he could not perform any miracles there. The reason for this rejection was bias and prejudice.
By the time of this visit, Jesus was already a celebrity with many miracles under His belt. One would have thought that His own people would be excited and hold a parade of welcome for Him. But that was not to be. Also, while He was in town, He taught with such insight and authority, using stories from everyday life to engage the heart, mind, will, and consciences of His listeners, that one would have thought that His people would have admired Him. But that was not to be either. Rather, they found His wisdom, power, and vision very offensive, and rejected Him.
The question then is, why the rejection? He was rejected because the cultural bias and beliefs of His people prevented them from seeing the truth about Him. He was “Guilty by Association”, for the people believed that judging from His background, He couldn’t be that smart. “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son”? In another reference, they said, “Isn’t this Mary’s Son?” (insinuating that He was an illegitimate son because in Jewish culture, you are not the son of your mother, but the son of your father). They associated His family as commoners, “Are his brothers and sisters not here with us?” and questioned his wisdom, “Where did he get this wisdom from?” Sadly, they had judged Jesus on various factors, except the one factor that mattered most—that He was the Messiah, the Son of Living God. They were blinded to this identity all because of their cultural bias and prejudice. So, they treated Him as an upstart who had risen above expectations and, to level Him off and put Him where He belonged, they rejected Him and put Him down as an imposture.
What is so sad is that this kind of cynicism is presently operative in our society today. Many a time people are judged, dismissed, and written off or denied opportunities for upward mobility because of their race, color, creed, zip code, ethnicity, gender, etc. It is not uncommon to find systemic conditions put in place to hinder accountability or even make some segments of the society think and feel that they are superior to others, or that the continued growth of others somehow presents a threat to their identity and control.
My friends, bias and prejudice blind people to the depths, the gifts, the talents, and the dreams that others can bring to the table. There are depths in each one of us that only God knows. The irony of the matter is that when we look at others and despise who they are, even before we come to know them or just because of their race and ethnicity, our behavior speaks more about who we are than about who they are. It reflects a begrudgingly small heart and blinds us to our own pride.
So, never let anyone make you feel less than who God has made you to be. There is a beauty in each one of us that, even though others may refuse to see it, we cannot become part of what satisfies their error, either by not seeing it ourselves or by becoming “a fulfilling prophesy of negativism”. As St. Paul puts it, “I am who I am by the grace of God”. No matter what the nay- sayers are doing, we need to continue to work ourselves into our best version.
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