Quesnel: Moral Reflections on the Gospels Vol 1

CHAPTER XIII. 217
Sect. IX. Jesus despised. No Prophet honoured
in his own country.
" 53, ^ And it came to pass, that when Jesus had
finished these parables, he departed thence."
There is no time of amusement or vacation in the
life of the great Shepherd of our souls : having per-
formed his mission, he retires. This is the pattern
which the subordinate pastors, to whom he vouchsafes
a share in his ministry, ought to imitate.
" 54. And when he was come into his own coun-
try, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch
that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath
this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?"
Those who should know Christ best, are very
often most ignorant of him. We must not consider
the persons who teach, but the truths which they
teach. There is, in minds too carnal with respect to
mysteries, an astonishment of contempt, incredulity,
and unteachableness : as there is one of reverence,
adoration, and joy, in souls replenished with faith.
O wisdom of the Son of God ! O power of the Father
! who canst at the same time discover thyself
to the eyes of reasonable men, and conceal thyself
from such as are carnal ! My faith owns, adores,
and invokes thee, as the uncreated and incarnate
wisdom, as the light of angels and men, hid under
the obscurity of our flesh, and debased in the proud
conceits of the sages of this world !
" 55. Is not this the carpenter's son ? is not his
mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and
Joses, and Simon, and Judas ? 56. And his sisters.
Vol. I. K 57