We have been hearing of Jesus’ activities in the towns along the Sea of Galilee – preaching, teaching, and mighty deeds. In the Gospel Jesus’s marvelous deeds accompany his preaching and clearly show to all who he is – the Messiah. Yet as we see in today’s Gospel, in many places there was little response to Jesus’ activities.
Capernaum which Jesus specifically mentions in today’s Gospel was a commercial center on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. It had a very large synagogue. Jesus chose it as his center of activities. He spent a great amount of his time in public ministry there. The people witnessed many of Jesus’ miracles there: the daughter of Jairus was cured there, Peter’s mother-in-law was cured there, and the woman with the uncontrollable bleeding was cured there – just to name a few. Many of the apostles were from the area: the fishermen Peter and Andrew along with Matthew the tax collector was from there. Jesus preached and taught in their magnificent synagogue.
Yet in Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, the presence of Jesus, his teaching and preaching, his marvelous deeds, and the conversion of public sinners did not provoke any change in the lives of the vast majority of people in the region. Some towns even forcibly expelled him from the area. They just continued on with their lives and their usual form of relating to God.
Here we see, first of all, a general attitude of indifference towards spiritual values and life. A dedication to commerce as a basic value in life and using commerce as a model for our relationship with God (the magnificent synagogue, but no faith). Also, the attitude of using God for what I need (miracles) and then forgetting about God. The combination of indifference towards God and using God for our own benefit is deadly for the spiritual life and very distant from the Gospel call to new life through service to God and others.
Today Jesus is very clear in pointing out that unrepentance, indifference, and looking to God only for miracles lead us far away from God.
Image: https://sergiovaldezsauad.blogspot.com/2016/07/ay-de-ti-mateo-1120-24.html