In today's gospel, Jesus journeys to his hometown and teaches in the synagogue on the Sabbath. At first the people are astounded at the words he speaks and the deeds he performs. But then they recall that they know Jesus. He's the carpenter, son of Mary and brother to James, Joses, Judas, Simon, and some unnamed sisters. "And they took offense at him. "As we get to know people, we come to recognize certain patterns in their behavior and we have expectations of them. Hence we can sometimes say of someone, "She's just not herself today," meaning that she isn't acting in ways that conform to our expectations. And when Jesus returns to his hometown following his baptism and beginnings his ministry, he no longer fits into the categories and expectations his old neighbors have of him. They simply cannot make sense of this Jesus. They cannot fit what they see and hear into their previous understanding of who he is. And so they cannot accept or embrace him.
Most of us have small encounters of this sort from time to time. A friend or loved one surprises us, and we struggle to accept this part of them we've not seen or noticed before. Sometimes friendship, and even marriages, come to an end when someone cannot accept the "change" in the other.
Many of us also grow up and develop notions of who God is and how God should act. And quite often, Jesus surprises us and violates those expectations. At times I've wondered how often I may have missed God in my life because God came to me in ways I didn't expect.
I take it as an absolute given that God is far beyond our comprehension, and therefore much bigger than any of our expectations for how God should be or act. And so I suppose we should all expect to be surprised from time to time.
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