[In this new series, Making Contact, I present a series of short (almost) daily considerations of Biblical texts that I hope you'll find helpful. The idea behind the name is that in the Bible, we make contact with the God Who has revealed Himself to humanity to millions of people over thousands and thousands of years. God can make contact with us today. The texts are based on the daily lectionary found in the Lutheran Book of Worship.]
Making Contact: Matthew 13:53-58
When Jesus had finished these parables, he left that place. He came to his hometown and began to teach the people in their synagogue, so that they were astounded and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these deeds of power? Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all this?” And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honor except in their own country and in their own house.” And he did not do many deeds of power there, because of their unbelief.
A Few Thoughts
Jesus went back to His hometown, Nazareth. At first, the people of Nazareth, a tiny village that probably never housed more than fifteen or twenty families, are dazzled. But that doesn't last for long. They find it hard to believe--as a man named Nathanael found it hard to believe when Philip told him where Jesus was raised--that anything good could come from Nazareth.
Besides, if Jesus really was all the things the rest of the country claimed He was--a teacher of wisdom, a worker of miracles, it would raise Him above the rest of the townspeople. And, after all, they knew Jesus' family. They were just ordinary people. Now Jesus was supposed to be some hot commodity? When they thought about it, they could only think of Jesus as cheeky and arrogant, His prominence seeming to mock their "lives of quiet desperation."
Jesus, apparently, was ready for their reaction. “Prophets," He said, "are not without honor except in their own country and in their own house.”
Nazareth found it impossible to believe that Jesus was the Lord and Savior people were calling Him. They couldn't imagine that God would embody Himself in someone they knew or that God would come that close to them. They couldn't conceive of God bothering with them.
Sometimes the biggest impediment to faith is our low self-esteem and our impoverished capacity to accept how much God wants to connect with us.
"And he did not do many deeds of power there, because of their unbelief." God can do anything. God can even help repentant sinners experience forgiveness, hope, and everlasting life. But only if we're willing to trust God more than we trust our fears, low self-image, sins, or doubts.
PRAYER: God, through Jesus Christ, Who came right down into our lives, help me to believe that You care about me. Amen
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