Jesus the Prophet

XIV Domingo “B” Mark 6:1-6 Jesus departed from there and came to his native place, accompanied by his disciples. When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What kind of wisdom has been given him? What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands! Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house.” So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith. Today’s gospel makes me feel good because I am not preaching in my native place. I am a foreigner, and even though I have legal residency no one is going to think that I am a native Mexican, especially after I began to preach. But obviously the gospel isn’t about me. It is about Jesus, Jesus is the prophet and Jesus is sent to preach to me, to preach to all of us. We don’t usually think about Jesus as prophet. We think of Mohammed the prophet, or John the baptist. We think of prophet as people who tell the future, like seers in Chapultepec, or the card readers in the Zona Rosa who promise to tell you what your future will be. We prefer titles for Jesus like priest or king, son of God, or others that seem to honor Jesus more appropriately. But Jesus was in fact a prophet. He was King and priest, but he was also a prophet. This was how the people of his time saw him, his townspeople in today’s Gospel, “a prophet in word and deed” is how his disciples refered to him on the way to Emmaus. Jesus was indeed priest and king but he was also a prophet, so we need to understand what it means to call Jesus a prophet. A biblical prophet is one who speaks to the people in the name of God. He calls the people to repentance as he helps them to look to the future. Prophets call for a conversion of hearts today, so that is why many times they are not accepted or well liked. The Hebrew Scriptures are filled with stories of prophets who lost their lives, or remember John the Baptist who lost his head by telling the truth. Jesus was truly a prophet and he performed prophetic actions, eating with outcasts, tax-collectors and prostitutes. Entering Jerusalem on the back of a donkey, clearing the temple of the money changes, washing the feet of his disciples. Jesus was a prophet in the words he spoke, but also in the way he lead his life. In the second reading Paul speaks of his prophetic vocation. He rejoices that he knows the power of God in his weakness. It is his weakness that makes him strong and enables him to give prophetic witness to the gospel. If this is what a prophet is, then maybe I am a prophet. Maybe in my weakness I can give witness to the Gospel. But if I am a prophet you are all prophets as well. In 35 years I believe I have done prophetic things, I have preached the Gospel, I have learned new languages, I have gone to live and minister in places that others may not have felt to be “good Places to go.” I have spoken the truth, both inside and outside of the Church and I probably have received more push back from within that without. But in 35 years I have not only been a prophet, I have also been prophesized to as well. You have preached the gospel to me. In 35 years I have been welcomed in many homes. People have witnessed to me their faith again and again. I have been touched by so many people in their living of the gospel, this is what has sustained me and brought me to this day. I don’t know how many more years I have in me, but if there are as wonderful as the first 35 years, I am ready!!