We are surely familiar with the saying, "Familiarity breeds contempt." Jesus experienced communal contempt first- hand when He returned to His home town, Nazareth. Instead of being welcomed as one who had done the town folks proud, He was questioned about His background instead. Clearly, they knew the family of Jesus, His mother, His brothers and sisters of the extended family. And because they perceived Jesus within the narrow context of His relatives, they did not really know the Man Himself. But they allowed this perceived familiarity to make them contemptuous and reject Jesus. This was despite the fact that the people were impressed by the wisdom Jesus exhibited and the miracles that were worked by Him.

But what if Jesus had been a complete stranger? Like He was a stranger to the towns and cities in which He worked His miracles and preached the Good News? Clearly, He would have been welcomed with no doubts about His credibility. Why couldn't they simply accept Him for who He was and not who His family was?

We are invited today to reflect on our own reaction when someone we think we know well enough achieves success. Do we have similar doubts, and if so, why? Can we give the person a chance to prove him/herself? As Jesus would say in John 10, "even if you do not believe in Me, at least believe in the works that I do." What then will be our response?