A shoemaker, says Edwin Markham, through a dream was told that he would see Jesus the next day. He waited in his store all day. The only one who came in the morning was a senior citizen. His shoes were worn out. The shoemaker gave him a fresh pair at no charge. In the afternoon came an old woman. She was hungry. The shoemaker promptly gave her his own lunch. As evening approached, a child came in crying bitterly. She was lost. The shoemaker took her home to the other end of town. Returning, he was certain that he had missed his rendezvous with the Christ.
Then he heard a voice. “…I kept my word. Three times today I came to your door. Three times my shadow was on your floor. I was the beggar with bruised feet. I was the woman you gave food to eat. I was the lost child you took home.”
Today’s Gospel puts the Master back in His hometown of Nazareth. He had come back for a long weekend. He was anxious to spend quality time with His mother. At this point, He was a celebrity. The news about the miracle at Cana had preceded Him. After all, Cana was only about four miles away. Politely He had declined to appear on the cover of a national magazine.
His name was on everybody’s lips. A local boy had made good. Every eye in town was on Mary’s door. The natives were expecting some kind of fireworks to erupt from the house. If He could do the hat trick in Cana, why not in His own backyard? Imagine what it would do for the town’s tourist business. However, the Teacher to everyone’s annoyance remained out of sight.
Probably He did much-needed carpentry repairs on Mary’s house. No doubt she knocked herself out making Him His favorite meals. She was appalled at the weight He had lost on the road. She had heard much about those fast-food shops down in Jerusalem.
But on the Sabbath Mary’s door swung outwards. With her arm in her Son’s, they walked to the synagogue. He would not miss Sabbath worship for all the olive oil in Palestine. There must have been many times when He was bored out of His skull by long, dull homilies. Yet, every Sabbath found Him in a synagogue in whatever town He was. If you have concluded that He was telling us we should be at Mass each Sunday, you have broken the code. There was never anything subtle about the Lord.
You can bet your life the synagogue was packed to the rafters that morning. Not even a shoehorn would get another body in. If scalpers could have sold tickets, they could have retired that day and moved to the south of France. I share your hunch that Jesus and His mother were given two seats on the aisle way up front immediately.
Predictably the synagogue president invited our Leader to read the Scriptures. He well knew that if he had not, he might be lynched by his fellow townspeople. The Teacher deliberately chose the particular passages from Isaiah that He wanted to share with His neighbors that morning. These are the first recorded adult words of Jesus the Christ. The sixty first chapter of Isaiah is oftentimes called the Gospel of the Old Testament. The words of Isaiah would constitute the inaugural address of the Saviour. They tell us what Jesus is all about and what He considers His most important mission.
He had come among His own to bring happy news to the poor, to tell captives they were free, to open the eyes of the blind, and to relieve the burdens of the oppressed.
Having finished the reading, He rejoined His proud mother. She realized that every eye in the synagogue was on her Son. Luke does not tell us how His audience reacted to the message, for their reaction is not really important. The one that is crucial is mine and yours. The Christ allows each of us to make up our own minds.
As we make up our minds, listen to the sixteenth century Spanish mystic, St Teresa of Avila. “Christ has no body on earth now but yours. Yours are the eyes through which He is to go about doing good. Yours are the hands with which He is to bless people now.” The shoemaker took her advice. Why don’t we?