Comedian Rodney Dangerfield was
famous for proclaiming, “I don’t get no respect.” He would have audiences
across the country roaring with laughter as he listed all the people —
neighbors, coworkers, strangers and even his wife — who made fun of him,
disregarded his feelings and treated him badly. Dangerfield could make people
laugh at this seemingly unfunny experience because most people can relate to
the feeling of being overlooked or under-appreciated. Almost everyone has had
the experience of feeling invisible, as if our very existence was not a matter
of importance. Sometimes even the people who know us best do not treat us with
love or respect. One way of dealing with this experience is by laughing at it
together.
A lack of respect
Jesus experiences this lack of
respect when he returns to his hometown of Nazareth with his disciples. He had
just performed an astonishing miracle.1 He had been summoned to the
bedside of a little girl who was near death. Her parents were, understandably,
distraught, and her father had begged Jesus, “Come and lay your hands on her,
so that she may be made well, and live.” By the time Jesus arrived, however,
the little girl had died. Yet, Jesus expressed his confidence that she was not
dead, but only sleeping. The people gathered at the bedside laughed at him.
They showed no respect for his insight and ability. Jesus ignored them, touched
the little girl’s hand and helped her rise from her bed, renewed and resuscitated.
He transformed the family’s life by reversing their tragedy. The disrespect of
the onlookers had no impact on the healing work of the compassionate Jesus.
Just the opposite is true when he
enters Nazareth. He departs from a miraculous moment where everyone’s
disrespect had changed, and they had been “overcome with amazement.”2
But when he arrives in his hometown, he is greeted by snide remarks and
crippling doubt.
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