The people a person welcomes and the people they turn away from can tell us a lot about that person. Who we like to associate with and who we avoid, can offer insight into what we hold as most important. Insight that looks past our capacity for self-justification.

When Jesus speaks of receiving the prophet and the righteous, we might self-assuredly think ‘of course we would receive such people’.

But we should remember, the prophet and the righteous are the people most often shunned and ostracized by their community. To welcome and be associated with them can be risky business!