Following up on yesterday’s theme, our loving and gracious God, who is full of surprises, sends unexpected gifts, or leaves them hidden in unexpected places; He is constantly gracing our lives with His incredible love. He is also constantly inviting us to open our eyes.
Jesus knew much about such things. The town in which He was raised, Nazareth, was the most unexpected place of all for the Messiah to come from. One of His own Apostles even asked, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1, 46). When Jesus was born, pagan astrologers came from afar to do Him homage, but His fellow countrymen, including Herod, tried to kill him.
It was appropriate, then, that when Jesus grew He had an eye for the unexpected. He praised the faith of a Roman pagan centurion (Matthew 8, 10) and a Canaanite pagan woman (Matthew 15, 28). He told an expert on Jewish law to imitate the behavior of a pagan Samaritan (Luke 10, 37). He befriended the outcasts of society, tax-collectors, and sinners. Almost everything Jesus did was unexpected: the authorities could hardly fail to see Him, but when they did, they determined to kill Him.
Physical eyesight alone is no guarantee that we will see what is right in front of us. Especially in this present time, we are so bombarded with sights and sounds that we have to filter out most of what strikes our senses, we are unable to take it all in … but that’s all the more reason for us to pray for spiritual insight: “Make known to us your ways, Lord; teach us your paths. Guide us by your fidelity and teach us.” (adapted from Psalm 25, 4-5)
