In sports there is something called “the home field advantage.” There is a belief that a team will perform better in front of its local crowd.
But in life generally we also think we have advantages when we think we know someone or because someone of importance or who can help us is from our town or ethnicity.
Jesus gives his first listeners — expecting a “home temple advantage” — and all people a big surprise in today’s Gospel. As he continues to launch his ministry, he also announces that he is a person for everyone, not just the local people. The worldwide breadth of Christianity is the enduring legacy to his claim.
In connection with our second reading today — the famous reading from Corinthians that we hear at almost every wedding — Jesus and his serious subsequent believers set a different standard for relationships. There is no local people and foreigners, there is no favorite people and enemies, there is no “us”, there is no “them.” There are no simple binaries to divide the world. There is only love.