December 9 Welcome Home?

John 4:43-44 After the two days he left for Galilee. 44 (Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.)
 
DOES verse 44 seem a bit odd to you? In prior lessons we have read of God’s remarkable saving work in a Samaritan village. People came from their homes to urge Jesus to stay and teach them. They believed his words and testified of their faith. Why, then amid this revival in Samaria, would John insert this negative phrase into his gospel narrative?
   Perhaps it is a warning for the reader. Let’s again recall the apostle John was writing to the Jews some 60 years after these events had occurred. John is fully aware of how the Jewish authorities rejected Jesus and his ministry. He has further watched Jesus’ new church struggle through the decades against the Jews’ deadly persecution. As Jesus’ disciple, John himself has been ostracized from his culture. He has lived in exile, too, isolated from his own family and fellow disciples. John’s brother James and his cousin Peter had been brutally martyred. John personally knew how very, very difficult it had been to declare the gospel of grace to God’s “home”, the Jews. They are the people of promise God had formed to be the Savior’s own nation. Yet, they rejected Jesus and those who followed him.
   This sentence then, is one we must heed as we read of Jesus’ ministry. Our Lord will continue to seek and to serve those who are lost. Yet, antagonists will constantly confront him. John will portray Jesus often as a solitary figure, culturally opposed and Spirit empowered as he demonstrates God’s eternal love for his own.
   How do you respond to those who preach and teach God’s Word? Do you enter Jesus’ “home” – his church – eager to challenge or willing to hear? Are you humble to receive the speaker and the spoken Word? Is your heart willing to say, “I must listen to my Savior, receive his wisdom and confess my sins.”
   Jesus would find many hard hearts in his “hometown”. Let’s pray he finds open, soft hearts for his teaching in us and in his church today. 
  
Prayer: I pray, Father, my heart is soft to hear your Word. In Jesus’ name, amen.