This was not a mission that anyone in their right mind would want or seek. He was to prophesy to his own people and it would be tough going from the start. The lessons of the destruction of the temple and the deportation to Babylon had not really sunk in yet. The people were still probably in shock and denial and probably saw themselves as innocent victims. Ezekiel was to deliver the bad news: they were not victims and they had brought this disaster on themselves. Their arrogance, stubbornness and rebellion against the ways of God were at the root of their troubles (just as they are at the root of many of ours). Ezekiel was instructed by the spirit to be bold and fearless in the face of the resistance he would face for God’s power would be with him. There would be no way that the people could deny that they had a prophet in their midst. 

Although today we might question the notion that God deals out disaster as punishment, the core of the spiritual message remains. We cannot always play the victim or shift the blame to other people, the media, society or to the ideas and groups we love to hate. Situations are often of our own making, either as individuals or a community.

Walking in the ways of God is the solution.

We have no idea what Paul’s affliction or thorn in the flesh was. In a sense, it doesn’t matter, because everyone has been burdened with some sort of weakness or struggle. As in Paul’s case, its purpose is to keep our feet on the ground and to remind us that we are humans desperately in need of God’s grace. When we are confronted with weakness, we can take one of two paths. The first is that of bitterness, resentment and self-pity — it is a well-travelled path and very destructive. The second path consists of humility, surrender to God and the willingness to allow God to use our weakness as a channel of grace. Weaknesses are only destructive or debilitating in the deepest sense of the word when they are pushed away in anger and denial.

In the eyes of many people in the ancient world (and more than a few in the modern) it is a grave sin not to know one’s place. Ancient societies had a keen sense of where one belonged in society and it was closely connected with social class, place of birth, parentage and connections based on power and honour. To overstep those boundaries was a serious transgression that invited condemnation and at times even violence. Jesus was definitely guilty of this “sin” — He didn’t know His place or did but didn’t care! His visit to His hometown and His teaching in the synagogue should have been the occasion of joy and pride but instead it roused irritation, resentment and contempt in those closest to Him.

The trouble was, they knew Him — or thought they did. They knew Him as a child and had seen Him grow to young adulthood. They knew His parents and His siblings. How could He possibly know anything or have anything to offer — especially when it involved a very elevated spiritual teaching?

Unbelief, doubt and contempt hindered even the divine powers of Jesus and He found that He was unable to work the miracles that had astounded so many other towns. Jesus was not angry — just shocked and amazed at their unbelief — and these were religious people.

We talk and think our way out of so many manifestations of God’s gracious power. We will experience God to the degree that we open our minds and hearts to God’s diverse ways of communicating with us as well as to those in our midst who may be channels of God’s Word.