Monday 16th
March 2020. Read 2nd Kings 5:1-15, Psalm 42 and Luke 4:24-30.
_“I tell you, there were many widows
in Israel in the days of Elijah…. Elijah was sent to none of them but only to
Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were
many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was
cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” *(Luke 4:25-27)*_
In truth, the grass always looks
greener on your neighbour’s lawn. There is a natural human tendency amongst
humans to look down on what they have. There is the saying in pidgin: “pikin
wei say he mama soup no sweet nai dey chop poison outside.” The people that saw
Jesus grow up from his childhood days could not bring themselves to the
realization that Jesus is God among men.
They looked down on Jesus. Jesus was
amazed at their lack of faith. Jesus did not even do many miracles there. When
he went to their synagogue, Jesus had to confront them with the bitter truth.
“Why is it that you cannot appreciate a prophet from your town? Why do you
always look down on what is yours? It is because of this attitude that Elijah
was sent to Zarephath. There were many lepers in your town but none of them was
healed except Naaman the Syrian.”
This did not go down with Jesus’
audience. They took Jesus out of the city and led Him to the brow of the hill
on which the city was built intending to throw him down headlong. But Jesus
escaped. This is always the fate of those who are bold enough to tell people
the truth. The question now is: “Do I value what is my own?”
Even Naaman almost lost out of his
supernatural healing because he looked down at the Jordan River. Of course, it
was not the cleanest river in the world. Thanks to his servants who spoke sense
into his head; it wasn’t the water itself that would cleanse him but his faith
in God.
There are some people who argue that
unless baptism is done in the river, it is not valid since Jesus was baptised in a
river. Following the strength of this argument, one may say unless baptism is
done in the very river that Jesus was baptised, it is not valid. And we may
even further extend it by saying unless it is John the Baptist himself that is
performing the baptism, then it is not valid. Dear friends, baptism is valid so
long as water is used. Just as it wasn’t the river that cured Naaman, water by
itself does not wash our sins but God.
Dear friends, do not make the mistake
of the people of Nazareth. Be content with what is yours. Value your own. Value
the Church, understand its sacraments. Deepen your faith.
Let us pray: Lord Jesus, increase
faith in me. Amen.
*Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith.
It is well with you. God bless you. (Monday of the 3rd week of Lent. Bible
Study: 2nd Kings 5:1-15, Psalm 42 and Luke 4:24-30).*
Fr. Abu.
No comments:
Post a Comment