They were saying, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?"
-John 6:42

Have you ever been around someone who said, "Ohhh... I knew you when you were just a toddler! You were so cute then!" - leaving you with the distinct impression that much had gone awry since your toddler days. Or perhaps you've discovered that adults who loved you as a child have a hard time respecting you as an adult; you're still eating holiday dinners at 'the kid's table' long after you feel you've outgrown it.

Reading through the gospels, I get the feeling that Jesus often had the same problem. Every time he goes home to the people who knew him as a child, he gets a similar reaction... "Is this Joseph's kid?" "Isn't this Mary's little boy?" They have a hard time taking him seriously. Of course, it doesn't help that Jesus proclaims such a radical message. And yet, it's also true that he seems to have a much easier time finding followers when he isn't visiting the stomping grounds of his youth. People who didn't know him as a child seem to have an easier time taking him seriously.

As Christians, we say that Jesus was both fully God and fully human. And part of being fully human is growing up, becoming an adult, claiming an identity for yourself, becoming the person that God created you to be. Perhaps these stories of Jesus having a hard time going home can speak to today's college students, trying to find a place in the wider world without cutting all ties to the old home front.

Let's face it: there's very little about the process of becoming an adult that's easy. Exciting? Frightening? Joyful? Stressful? Absolutely. But not easy. I suspect that, like Jesus, many of you have found that leaving home is a momentous occasion. It can be a great experience to be in a new place, where people don't assume that they know everything there is to know about you. Finally: you can start to form your adult life on your own. But, then it can be hard to go back, can't it? Anyhow, it was for Jesus.

I don't know where all of you are with this process. But whether you feel like a totally independent adult, or a totally dependent teenager who dreams about moving out, know this: it's a road that Jesus walks with you, a road that Jesus understands. And it's good to ask yourself: what place in your life will your faith have as you make the transition into adulthood? The choice is yours, and yours alone. No one can make it for you.