There are two things going on in this morning’s Gospel reading. Firstly, we have the leaders of the synagogue hardly believing their ears and eyes at the teaching given by the ‘carpenter’. You can almost hear their indignation that someone (supposedly uneducated) could actually be teaching them something about their faith. Secondly, we have Jesus sending his disciples out into the towns and cities to carry his message of love and repentance into the world. Did Jesus, think that his disciples would have more luck in being listened to and accepted than he did? I doubt it, but what he is doing is furthering his message by using his followers to say the same thing. For the more people hear the same thing the more likely they are to eventually hear it and respond. 

That’s the thing about Jesus’ teaching. He does not force it upon anyone be it the members of the synagogue hierarchy or ordinary people. What he does is offer salvation by calling his listeners to repent and to trust in God’s unconditional love, that when they do repent they will be forgiven once and for all time. He offers those who hear his Word a choice, to accept or reject it but what they are unable to do is ignore it. They have to respond to God’s love in someway but the choice is that of the individual. It applies to us and the world today as much as it did some 2000 odd years ago. Accept Jesus’ or reject him but don’t simply ignore him and what he has to say.  Let’s pray that more people will do just that; listen to what he says and to make their choice; hopefully choice that enables them to come closer to God in doing so.