One of my favorite fables is about a scientific experiment on monkeys.
Once upon a time, a group of scientists decided to observe the behavior of monkeys in a unique setting. They placed five monkeys in a large room. At the center of this room stood a tall ladder, and at the very top of the ladder hung something irresistible: a bunch of golden, ripe bananas.
The monkeys, as you can imagine, were thrilled. They chattered excitedly, their eyes fixed on the delicious prize. It didn’t take long for one monkey to make a bold move. It scampered up the ladder, eager to grab the bananas.
But just as the monkey reached for the fruit, an automatic sprinkler sprayed the monkey with icy cold water. The monkey screeched in shock and ran down the ladder immediately, shivering as the water drenched it.
Soon, another monkey tried its luck. It climbed the ladder, determined to succeed where the first had failed. But again, the sprinkler sprayed it with freezing water.
One by one, each monkey attempted to climb, and each time, the hero was drenched. Before long, something remarkable happened: the monkeys stopped trying altogether. Even when tempted by the delicious bananas, they avoided the ladder entirely.
The scientists then removed one of the original monkeys and brought in a new one. This fresh monkey had no idea about the water spray. Spotting the bananas, it immediately started climbing the ladder.
But before it could reach the top, something unexpected happened. The other monkeys sprang into action, pulling the newcomer down, screeching and flailing their arms, as if they didn’t want the new monkey to suffer the water drench!
Shocked and confused, the new monkey quickly learned climbing the ladder was forbidden.
Over time, the scientists replaced another monkey, then another, until none of the original monkeys remained.
Now, the room was filled with monkeys who had never experienced the spray of water. Yet they continued to enforce the unspoken rule. Anytime a new monkey tried to climb the ladder, the group would pull it down and teach it not to try.
The bananas still hung untouched at the top of the ladder, and no monkey questioned why climbing was forbidden. They had simply inherited the behavior. (End of the story.)
This tale isn’t just about monkeys and bananas. It’s a mirror held up to human behavior. I’d call it the “Wet Monkey Syndrome.”
When you aspire to fulfill your dream, you will encounter those wet monkeys trying to tear you down and inject their trauma into you. It’s like misery loves company.
Understanding this human behavior can set you free to live life to the fullest, accomplishing your life mission without obstacles.
So, today, we will look at how Jesus deals with these wet monkeys based on this week’s scripture lesson so that we know when to let go of the losers and how to invest our precious time on earth on the low-hanging fruits and ripe harvests. Let’s begin!
The scripture lesson for today is from the Gospel According to Luke 4:21–30. [Listen to the Word of the Lord!]
Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” 23 He said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will say, ‘Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.’ ” 24 And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown. 25 But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; 26 yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. 27 There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.” 28 When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. 29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. 30 But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way. (Lk 4:21–30).
[Blessed are those who delight in God’s Word. Thanks be to God!]
Jesus was almost killed by the wet monkeys that tried to hurl him off the cliff. Last week, we talked about Jesus’ Mission Possible, but immediately, Jesus encountered the mission obstacles.
This passage is the continuation of last week’s lesson. Jesus read the scripture from Isaiah stating the Messiah’s mission,
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Lk 4:18-19)
Prophet Isaiah forecasted the golden age would begin with the arrival of Christ. Then Jesus says:
“Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Lk 4:21).
That means the golden age, or the year of the Lord’s favor, is being realized from this moment. Implicit in Jesus’ declaration is a call for his hearers to recognize and respond to him as the Messiah. The next verse says,
All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” (Lk 4:22).
All is well up to this point. People felt his words were gracious. Everyone thought it was good news until they discovered who he was, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” It reveals that people don’t care as much about the message as they do about the messenger.
They thought the message was excellent, but unfortunately, the messenger was just a hometown boy. That spoiled their excitement.
Matthew’s and Mark’s version said, “They took offense at him.” They were mad to find out Jesus was from the hoods. You might wonder why they despised Jesus for being the hometown kid.
There was a saying in those days that nothing good could come out of Nazareth. John wrote,
Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (Jn 1:46a).
Unfortunately, these Nazarites allowed that belief to sink into their mind. They were like wet monkeys. They didn’t believe a prophet could rise from their neighborhood. In their ears, “Christ from Nazareth” was an oxymoron.
That’s a sad story about the Wet Monkey syndrome. They despised Jesus because they despised themselves. It’s also a sign of an inferiority complex.
Here’s a lesson on handling rejection. People often reject you not because you are inferior but because they are projecting their inferiority on you. The wet monkeys don’t want you to succeed because your success makes them feel like losers.
People with high self-esteem are usually appreciative and supportive. Only people with low self-esteem tend to belittle others. The wet monkeys will belittle you.
I don’t mean you should despise them in return, but understand that they are wounded beings. Their past trauma may keep them from accepting you. I used to feel guilty and depressed when people put me down, but later, I learned to sympathize with them.
That’s why Jesus said on the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Lk 23:34). If Jesus could forgive those who crucified him, the rejection we face for our mission would be nothing compared to it.
Another lesson we need to learn from this story is not to let their projection infect your mind. Don’t let yourself become a wet monkey. What Jesus did was leave the wet monkeys alone. But before he left, he tried to spar with them. He said,
“Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will say, ‘Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.’ ” (Lk 4:23).
They wanted Jesus to prove himself in his hometown by performing similar miracles he did in Capernaum. Jesus explained to them that their doubt made miracles impossible. In fact, their unbelief was so deep that it amazed Jesus. Mark and Matthew’s version says,
And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. And he was amazed at their unbelief. (Mk 6:5–6).
The power of human unbelief could block any miracle from happening to them. Can you imagine human unbelief can amaze God? Even God can’t help the doubters.
In science, it’s called the nocebo effect, which is the opposite of the placebo effect. The placebo effect is when you believe something can help you; it will increase the positive outcome. The nocebo effect is when you believe something will never help you; it will decrease or even eliminate the success.
Jesus gave three reasons why they could not receive miracles.
And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown. (Lk 4:24).
That’s another way of saying, “familiarity breeds contempt.” Jesus is teaching us to read the audience with empathy so we can avoid letting others’ rejection and contempt infect our minds, preventing us from becoming a wet monkey like them.
One of the reasons people reject you may be because they are too familiar with you. They want novelty. It’s also called the shiny object syndrome. When they discovered he was a hometown boy, Jesus was no longer shiny for them.
Jesus gave them two classic examples from the Old Testament where God couldn’t perform miracles among God’s own people. He said,
But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. (Lk 4:25-26).
This story is about outstanding hospitality. (Jesus’ audience knew this story. I won’t retell the whole story here. You can find it in 1 Kings 17. It’s a very inspiring story.) The point Jesus is making here is that their lack of hospitality prevents them from receiving miracles. Paul said,
Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. (Heb 13:2).
The widow at Zarephath ended up entertaining an angel because of her hospitality. Abraham also provided hospitality to strangers, and they turned out to be God and two angels. Contrarily, these Nazarites missed the opportunity to entertain the Son of God because of their lack of hospitality.
Jesus is teaching us that the success of your mission relies on people’s hospitality. As a church, we provide medical missions, clean water, and other humanitarian projects. Each mission’s success depends on local hospitality. So, find the hospitable people and be hospitable!
Then Jesus gave another example explaining why they could not receive miracles.
“There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.” (Lk 4:27).
This is a story about faith. (You can find the whole story in 2 King 5. I won’t retell it here for time’s sake.) Naaman was a Syrian army commander suffering from leprosy. His wife’s servant was an Israelite who told him Prophet Elisha could cure him. So, he went to Israel to find Elisha.
Elisha gave him a prescription for the cure, which sounded absurd to him. He was initially reluctant to believe the prescription, but he eventually decided to give Elisha the benefit of the doubt and found him cured miraculously.
We all know the saying, “God helps those who help themselves.” The minimum you can help yourself is to exert some belief. Jesus said all you need is a mustard seed size faith to move mountains.
The success of your mission depends on the recipient’s faith. Jesus didn’t find that kind of faith among the Nazarites.
The Nazarites didn’t take Jesus’ teachings kindly. They even tried to kill him.
When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. (Lk 4:28-29).
That is a perfect instance of Jesus’ saying, “Don’t throw pearls at the pigs.” Not only do the pigs despise the pearls, but they will also attack you for your kindness. That’s how the wet monkeys behave. They will pull you down and beat you up to prove that hope doesn’t exist.
Just because you have a divine vision, never assume you will have a smooth ride. Even the Son of God encounters mission obstacles in his hometown at the outset. So, don’t complain about rejection when you try to fulfill your calling. Jesus teaches us to move on.
But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way. (Lk 4:30).
We must know when to stop engaging with the wet monkeys and move on. Jesus didn’t abandon them; it was just not the right timing. The harvest there wasn’t ready. Bringing in the unripe harvest will destroy the crops. Jesus moved on for the ripe harvest. He also taught,
“See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” (Mt 10:16).
We can reword it: “See, I am sending you out into the wet monkeys, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”
We are celebrating Chinese New Year this week—the year of the snake. Snakes represent wisdom. Their shedding process, or ecdysis, also represents renewal or letting go. We must be as wise as snakes to know when to let go of the wet monkeys and let God lead us to the dry monkeys.
There are more than enough ripe harvests and good people you can serve in your lifetime elsewhere. Don’t dig your heel in the ground because the world gets cheated if you get entangled with the wet monkeys, wasting your precious time on earth.
So, beware of the wet monkeys and realize many low-hanging fruits await you.
There we have it! Until we meet again, keep your light shining brighter and broader, harvesting the fruit of felicity, freedom, and fulfillment.
Amen!
Bye now!
