Listening to Jesus

How many times does your mother have to yell for you before you hear her? If you're playing, reading or listening to music, you don't always know someone's calling you. You're too busy to listen!

The people in Jesus' time could be like kids playing. They didn't always hear when someone was talking to them -- even Jesus. In this week's Gospel (Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21), we hear about that.

Jesus went to the temple [like a church] in His town and read from the Torah, the Jewish Bible. "The Spirit of the Lord is in me," He read. "He has sent me to make the poor happy, make the blind see, and tell you that it's time for God to save His people." Jesus looked at the people and said, "Today, this reading has come true right in front of you."

When your mom calls you, you might not hear her because you're paying attention to a game or lost in a book. Maybe you hear her talking, but don't listen to find out she's talking to you.

People in the temple probably did the same thing. Jesus read from the Torah, and the reading was about Him! Jesus was the one who came to save people, but no one knew that. They thought Jesus was a person like them. They didn't even listen to what He said.

Other people might have heard Jesus saying that He was making the reading come true, but they weren't really listening. They didn't understand Jesus was talking to them, that He'd come to help them.

Sometimes, you hear your mother calling and don't answer because you don't want to. Some people Jesus met probably did that, too: They heard Him say that He came from God, but they had seen Him growing up as a little boy in town, so they didn't believe Him.

It's okay to be so busy sometimes that you don't hear your mom -- or God -- at first. But in the Gospel story, Jesus was telling us to listen as hard as we can. You never know when someone might be calling you!

PRAYER FOR THE WEEK: Jesus, teach me to listen to you -- and other people who call me! Amen.

(01-22-98)

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