Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost

How quick are we to judge by outward appearance?  When we receive a message, do we first look at the messenger before responding?  Are we swayed by their manner and even background?  In the Bible reading for this week, this was precisely what the Jews did with the message they received from Jesus.  “Is this not the son of Joseph, the carpenter?”  The Jews could not believe that the Messiah would be a Galilean tradesman.  Jewish tradition held that the Messiah would appear in their midst, announced by Elijah.  They knew he would come from Bethlehem but, somehow, not as a baby brought up in a family.  However, in Jesus’ background, we get a further glimpse of the nature of God.  Born as a baby and raised as a child, Jesus was identifying fully with being human.  Frail, weak, vulnerable and immersed in the messiness of family life.  This is our God.  He does not suddenly appear as a king with no history of hardship and toil but rather as a human being who has trod the path of life like us.  The God of the cosmos getting fully alongside us in our daily lives. What humility!  What a Saviour!