Faith is Believing
Matthew 13:53-58
New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)
53 When Jesus had finished these parables, he moved on
from there. 54 Coming
to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were
amazed. “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they
asked. 55 “Isn’t
this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers
James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? 56 Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this
man get all these things?” 57 And
they took offense at him.
But Jesus said to them, “Only
in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor.”
58 And he did not do many miracles there because of
their lack of faith.
Often times I have
wondered what it must have been like for Jesus growing up. He was the oldest son in this family and was
most likely favored for being so. Above
all else, He was the son of God and His parents do it. He didn’t sin so He must
have never gotten punished for anything.
The most trouble He got in was probably the time that He was at the
temple and not with His parents. I have
known of parents leaving their child sleeping in the pew at church thinking the
other one had gotten them but never have I heard of a parent forgetting their
child only to find them sitting on the steps at the temple and amazing the
teachers of the law. I have often
wondered if Jesus got blamed for doing things just because His brothers and
sisters were sick of Him being so perfect.
I am sure they had a different perspective thought when they saw Him being
crucified on the cross, knowing all along that He did not deserve this
punishment.
The only indication that
I have that life might not have been perfect in Joseph, the carpenters home, is
the verse 57 where He mentioned not
only the hometown but also the home.
This tells me that not all of His family was particularly pleased with
in perfect being. They did not all honor
Him even in His own household. Maybe
that is one reason that He didn’t drop everything to come to their side when
they made a visit to Him while He was ministering to others.
The verse that really
stood out to me though was the last verse.
He did not do many miracles in His hometown because people did not have
faith. Even though they had seen Jesus
grow up before their very eyes, they did not see Him as the Son of God. There are many people who have grown up being
taught about this amazing God but yet they too are blinded and have no
faith.
I can only minutely
relate to Jesus. I was raised in the
same town in which I now live. For a
short time I worked as an interim consultant for our State Department of Education
and I had people calling me from across the State to ask questions of me. I presented teaching strategies to
participants from across the State including presentations to graduate students
at two major colleges in our state and worked with other professionals on some
intense studies. I spent some time in
Washington, D.C., as well as Little Rock, Arkansas where I networked with
people from across the United State as a part of an advisory board. People were interested in what I had to say
and actually listened to me and heeded my recommendations. Yet, in my own town, I have found that people
are not as receptive to my instruction.
They would call people in from the other parts of the State who would
give the same advice as what I had already given. Why is it that sometimes the people we care
about the most are the ones that could care less about what we have to
say? To me, that makes no sense at
all. It happens in our families and in
our churches as well as the workplace.
You would think people would understand that those closest to us are the
ones that will go to the ends of the earth to help yet we have to call in the
expert that knows nothing about us and get their opinion on the “important” matters. I can sense the frustration that Jesus must
have felt but that is not why He performed very few miracles there. He didn’t perform them because they didn’t
ask. If you notice in the Bible Jesus
healed those who had enough faith to ask or enough faith to touch the hem of
His clothes in order to be healed. They
had enough faith to lower their friend into the house from the rooftop but in
Jesus hometown they didn’t ask because they didn’t have faith.
What about us? Do we have faith enough to ask? Or are we the ones saying that Jesus would never
provide us with a miracle? If we don’t
ask, it is a sign of lack of faith and the miracles will not happen. What are you afraid of today? Sometimes I think we are afraid that we might
not get the answer we want when we ask and yes that is a lack of faith. For you see, faith is believing, believing
that God will do what is best for us in all circumstances. The miracle is not getting what we ask for
but knowing that all that He does is for the good. I can remember questioning why God wouldn’t
bring my sister back to life for me for just a short while so I could talk to
her. Can you imagine the therapy I would
have had to go through if I would have claimed that I got to see my sister and
talk to her? Wow, He protected me and my
faith has become stronger through that.
I remember asking Him to heal my mother and He did. Not in the sense that I wanted but He gave
her the ultimate healing when He took her home to be with Him. Joseph, a man of such great faith, did not
get to ever go back to his homeland to live, his bones were carried back over
400 years after his death, but he had faith that God was in control. As you seek Him, I pray that you will have faith
to put your faith in Him and Him alone.
Seeking Him with all my
heart,
Sheila
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