A Divine Reputation

A mother who was congratulating her son on his 13th birthday asked him how it felt to be a teenager. “It’s all right, I guess,” he answered, “except for the reputation.” Surely Jesus experienced that feeling many times after he had reached the age at which His public ministry began. Doing the Father’s Will, being the Messiah, was all right, “except for the reputation.” When He began to preach against religious exclusivism, His reputation with the religious Establishment suffered. When He began to preach about a Gracious God who loved all men, His reputation suffered. When He began to preach about loving one’s enemies, about choosing God over money, about the last being first and the first last, about the exalted being humbled and the humbled exalted, about changing one’s attitude and approach to life from self-service to loving service of others, His reputation suffered — and they crucified Him.

In today’s Gospel Lesson, John the Baptist sees Jesus walking by. He “stares hard” at…