Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?
Here again we hear about how the religious folk couldn’t get behind Jesus because he couldn’t possibly be who he was claiming – all of this talk about being the son of God. After all, they knew him to be the son of Mary & Joseph. I’m always drawn to the ‘don’t be judgmental’ theme. It’s apparently my go-to message. And while it’s not a bad one, this morning, I’m taking my path less travelled.
I’m thinking about what the Jews ‘knew’ about Jesus. He was Mary and Joseph’s son. We, who’ve had the luxury of the rest of the stories know that’s not the legitimate origin story for Jesus. According to several accounts, Jesus came from the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit to unsuspecting Mary, and was born in a stable. The other account is that Jesus was before the world began, in the cosmic story from the Gospel of John, from which today’s reading comes.
In either case, Jesus is not Mary and Joseph’s son, as the religious folk believed. And yet, that’s what they know. How often are my experiences in this world formed by the judgment of others based on what they think they know? What they know about my story, or my family, or my beliefs? More interesting to me, though, is how often am I forming the life experiences of others based on what I think I know?
There is so much more to me than what I say, or what I exhibit. Likewise, what I see or believe about others is only that – what I see or believe. This is different than their truth. Only they can know.
We often pass judgment on others based on a host of things, including our belief system. But we also judge based on something we think is truth – we judge based on what we know about the other person. Mary and Joseph’s son. But we can’t really know, can we? When my certainty becomes only another ill-formed and incomplete opinion, it really takes out the solid reasons for judging. Yes, if I have to judge, I can judge based on my beliefs, over which I have control. But under no circumstances should I judge based on my opinions or ‘knowledge’ about the other.
Today, I’m going to try to spot those instances where I think I know something about someone else, before I even get to the judgment. Nip that bad boy in the bud.
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