Simon and the others went out also, searching for him; and when they found him, they said, “Everyone is looking for you.” Then Jesus answered, “Let us go to the nearby villages so that I may preach there too; for that is why I came.”So Jesus set out to preach in all the synagogues throughout Galilee; he also cast out demons.
Reflections
“Everyone is looking for you.”
The Gospel text describes a whirlwind of activity as Jesus enters a new town and is immediately be set by a crowd pressing around the door. Both here and in the nearby villages where he preached “throughout Galilee” and also casts out demons, Jesus seems to be surrounded by needy people; “everyone” is looking for him. The sick and possessed recognize him by his good works; even the nameless “demons” know who he is.But this wide view of a suf fering world is balanced by attention to a particular person in need: the mother-in-law of Simon. Jesus’ compassion is not directed just toward the name less crowd; each person he healed was someone’s mother, spouse, or child. Yet he could not linger; it was time to move on, to another village, another person in need, another crowd hungry for the good news. That, he says, is why he came.It is important that we remain conscious of great social chal lenges, the need to address poverty, sickness, and the common good. But that does not excuse us from the need to notice and attend to the needs of the person right before us. Each one is precious in the eyes of the Lord.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2019