Change

After John the Baptist was arrested, Jesus saw this as a signal to begin his public ministry.  He sensed that the kingdom was in our midst, a new world, a big change.  So he changed from a small town carpenter, to a preacher and healer whose authority to do so came from no one else but himself and "Abba" who called Jesus the beloved Son.  Jesus did not go back to his home town of Nazareth to begin this new life.  He went to Capernaum, a nearby town.  Why not start in his home town?  Well, people don't like change in themselves or those with whom they are familiar.  If you change, it affects me.  We rely on one another to act, do, think a certain way.  New ways upset us.  Did not his friends and relatives from Nazareth come after Jesus, saying, "He is crazy!"  If he is not crazy, then those close to him might have to expand their horizons, and open themselves to something new.  Don't we prefer the familiar?  We take holidays, and trips to break up the routine, but always we return to the familiar, the "normal."  We like home.  Jesus left home in more ways than one.