The Nazareth Syndrome

There was this proper psychological experiment done in which they demonstrated that professional job recruiters usually hired job applicants based on first impressions, irrespective of whatever other application processes they put them through. And, believe it or not, normal everyday people hired the same job applicants, and for exactly the same reason – first impressions. Apologies to all the professional recruiters out there!

When you meet someone, you quickly put them into a box you can understand. You think you know them already, but you really don’t.

That’s exactly what happened to Jesus when he visited his hometown Nazareth. They thought they knew him because they’d seen him grow up and they knew his family. So, they rejected him.

I call it the Nazareth Syndrome. It’s when you think you know who Jesus is, but you don’t.

You can grow up going to church and never know who Jesus really is. Yep, the Nazareth Syndrome. Remember: You have to discover Jesus for yourself.

– Eliezer Gonzalez