“…’A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives and in his own house’…..Now He could do no mighty work there….and He marveled because of their unbelief.” Mark 6:4,5,6
“Jesus said to him: ‘If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes'”. Mark 9:23
So I should start out with a statement of honest humility as it applies to the title. For that I would call any of the posts that I have made “an explanation” or say that they contain an explanation may very well be stretching the definition of the word explanation to incredible limits. If there are any nuggets of understanding that have come from these pages they are the work of the Holy Spirit and not the wisdom of yours truly. Yet this particular instance in the bible so profoundly intrigues plus befuddles me to an astounding limit. Yet the lesson, the observation that we must take from it is vital to the salvation of our very souls.
So let’s begin with a couple of givens:
- It is very clear that Jesus Christ is the one true begotten Son of God. As such Jesus Christ is God. God has come down to dwell on earth with His creation.
- As God, Jesus Christ is omnipotent, omnipresent, perfect without fault always victorious, never vanquished.
Now let’s set the stage for what happens in Mark (also chronicled in Matthew). Jesus is well into His ministry. He has been baptized by John, He has chosen his 12 disciples, He has taught His “Sermon on the Mount”, He has healed countless people throughout the land of Judea. And now He is returning to His home town, Nazareth to teach and heal. He starts to preach in the local synagogue, He starts to heal some people and an amazing thing happens. In so many other places, people marveled at Jesus’ teaching, at the authority that He had. So often they flocked to Him and brought scores of the sick and demon possessed to be healed by Him. Plus upon Jesus healing, they gave glory to God for the miracles they were witnessing.
However, all the marveling, the flocking the praising, that doesn’t happen in Nazareth. No, the people who knew Him best, friends and even some relatives, they took offense at Jesus. They thought Jesus was acting too high and mighty, after all they knew Him, they had grown up with Him, played with Him; how now could Jesus be claiming and doing what He was doing?
Now we get to the truly mysterious perplexing part for me; not that people would take offense at Him, I can certainly understand, not condone, but understand their jealousy. But Scripture tells us, that because of their lack of faith: Jesus could do little in Nazareth. Note Scripture doesn’t say that Jesus got mad and left, that Jesus decided to turn His back on them. No, it appears this loving God, Son of the Most High God Almighty, desired to heal and preach the good news of salvation. Yet, because of their lack of faith; Jesus could do little. Jesus was prevented from accomplishing the blessings that He wanted to bring, because of their lack of faith.
I would not begin to assume that I know or understand the Mind of God, that He, the perfect Creator of all things, would plan it so, that His creation can impact His use of power based on whether they believe or not. And amazingly, when you look at all the aspects of creation, we seem to be the only part of creation with this attribute. One doesn’t get the sense that the sun can say, I don’t think I’ll shine, or planets, I don’t think I’ll revolve because I don’t believe in you God. Clouds don’t decide to rain or not based on their concept of God. Birds or salmon don’t decide to migrate to find food and reproduce based on their agreeing that Jesus is the Son of God. In some mysterious, yet still perfect attribute of God’s plan; our belief in Jesus Christ is a critical component to the release of God’s power in and through us.
Yet here is the vital observation. Whether I understand it or not, scripture is very clear: FAITH MATTERS! And please understand this Dear Sisters and Brothers, it’s not just some faith or as long as we believe in something, it is a very specific faith. In faith we must first believe that Jesus Christ is the One True, born of a virgin, Son of God. We must believe that He is our Savior; that He died for us and rose from the dead. Yes our faith in Jesus Christ not only matters, it is the thing that matters. Without that faith we can not abide in Jesus Christ and He warned us Himself when He declared: “Without Me, you can do nothing”.
Yes, faith matters. Yet I also confess I am too often like the man who cried to Jesus to heal his son by starting the request: “If you can……” Jesus replies to the man that he needs to believe that Jesus can do this. To which the man cries out in desperation: “Lord I believe, help my unbelief!” You see the people of Nazareth, did not want to believe, saw no reason to believe. I on the other hand, want to believe, need to believe, am desperate to believe. However, because of my fallen nature, because I will allow the devil to influence me, I will most certainly have times of disbelief. Yet even at those times, Christ is merciful, our Heavenly Father does not desert us. For we have within us, the gift of the Holy Spirit, who will fight and defeat the devil and bring us back into belief. This is what I have faith in.
Have faith in Jesus Christ Dear Sisters and Brothers. May we never find ourselves in a place or time where Christ can do little because of our lack of faith.
Our Most Gracious Heavenly Father, we proclaim that You are God above all and Creator of all things. We further testify that we believe that You sent Your Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ to dwell with us and to die for us, to be our Salvation. Forgive us Most Merciful Father, when our faith falters and we are tempted to rely on our own understanding. Pour out Your Holy Spirit upon us that we would never take offense at Jesus Christ or You. Bless us with increased faith, that as we abide in Jesus Christ, we may accomplish those things which will bring praise to Your Most Holy Name. We pray in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
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