So my brother is back in town, and the chatter has already begun.  

I can’t go to the synagogue without hearing his name.  Sometimes they quit talking when they see me coming.  Others want to ask me questions about him.  He’s a real Celebrity.  People are already wondering what he might say when he goes to the synagogue.

Me?  I’ve already heard all I need to hear.  He gives the same tired answers. They should stop calling him “Jesus of Nazareth”.  He is no brother to me, and he has certainly left Nazareth behind.

Last night, I saw him heading out to be alone, and I seized the moment.  I questioned him about the days he spent in Samaria. Days!  He neither confirmed or denied it, as he has always been accustomed to doing.  While he hung out with his new buddies in Samaria, life and death and disease went on here in Nazareth as usual.  Even today, there is mourning in Nazareth, and a mother with empty arms – while he was eating and drinking with mongrels.  I just don’t understand his thinking!  It is our father all over again.

Our father, the one who raised us, who sacrificed for us – and especially for him – again and again. We watched him wither and die . . . and a short time later?  He begins to heal people of much worse conditions!  When I confronted him with this, he looked me in the eyes – I hate that look – and said “It was not yet my time.” His time?  Our father lay dying before our eyes, before his eyes, and he did nothing! It was not his time?  If he has this great ‘other father’, wouldn’t this have been the time?  For this man?  For the one who sacrificed so much?  The father who was actually with him all these years?  Shouldn’t a little gratitude have been coming?  Not his time . . .

And last night?  His answer – “I can only do what my father has given to me.”  I can hardly believe that it was “given” to him to hang out with his new friends in Samaria, while his own kindred here in Nazareth lay dying.  And Capernaum?  I was there.  I have seen with my own eyes.  Oh, maybe he has a gift.  I’ll allow that, but why Capernaum?  How many good Jews are there in Capernaum?  If Elijah were here, he would call down fire, and have Capernaum destroyed like Sodom itself.  But my brother wastes his gifts on these people who call themselves Jews, but barely keep our laws.  The truth is that many in our town have nothing but contempt for my dear brother, but they have waited to confront him.  They didn’t want to offend him before seeing what he could or would do.  So everyone held their tongue, and spoke well enough of him in public circles.  But still nothing from him .  People have had enough!

So he will go to the synagogue tomorrow, and as always some people will be in awe of his understanding of the scriptures.  People are such sheep!  So he is eloquent; what good is that?  But tomorrow he will have a surprise coming!  The leaders plan to confront him.  Does he not owe something to the people here?  Will he give his best to people of wicked cities, or to the rabble along the Jordan – and then come to his own with mere words?  What good is a “word” to the mother of a dying child?  “He came to his hometown of Nazareth, and he didn’t heal anyone, but he sure sounded pretty. That’s all that really matters, right?”  Crazy!  He is simply out of his mind!  

He has this devoted following.  People are leaving their livelihood behind to follow him.  Isn’t that ridiculous?  Wouldn’t it be far kinder of him to send them back to their homes and families?  Then again, family doesn’t seem to mean so much to him. It would not occur to him that there are those who see him as selfish, thoughtless, and with his priorities completely wrong, not with that flock of sheep that hang on his every word.  But there are those of us who think for ourselves.  Not everyone believes the stories from our childhood about how special he was.  We are not sheep.  We dare to hold him accountable to us.  I think that’s more than our right, it’s our responsibility.  

I wonder if he has considered the possibility that Rome may start to take notice of the crowds that he is attracting.  If things continue like the are now, just being associated with the name of Jesus of Nazareth could be dangerous.  It has already impacted our reputation, our livelihood, and even our marriage prospects.  Does he care about what happens to us?  Apparently not!

Hopefully, in the end he will see the error of his ways, and have a little consideration for the rest of us. Too late for our father, and that I will always hold against him.  He should have been a better son.  But if he would just listen!  Just accept a little guidance from others, he would be a much better man.  He is still my brother, and I can see that he needs help.  Maybe a dose of truth is just what he needs!  I look forward to the events of tomorrow.  He won’t know what’s coming!

Scripture Inspiration: Luke 4:14-30, Mark 3:20-35, Matthew 12:46-50,