Lack of faith

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

LACK OF FAITH

Matt 13:53-58

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.

NIV

We suppose we could make something of the fact that Jesus moved on from there. This might be where some feel they have been called to be traveling evangelists, moving on after giving a teaching of Jesus to a local congregation. But then evangelists are those who proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God and the local congregations already have received that news. So maybe they should be called something else. But that is not the lesson here for us. We could make a case for Jesus having half brothers and sister, having the same mother, but different fathers. Certainly this would fit into the idea that he was tempted in all things. Living, growing up with siblings has enough temptations to test the best of children. We are often amazed how some parents expect near perfection from their children all the while being imperfect parents. They expect their children not to yield to the temptations of life, while they yield to those temptations. There would have been plenty of opportunity for Jesus to have yielded to temptations in a mixed family setting. But this too is not the lesson meant for us today. It is not about the statement he made, yet in a sense it is. The people in his home town could not get past the fact of having seen him grow up in the family there. They knew Joseph and Mary as well as all the brothers and sisters of Jesus. They did not understand the virgin birth of Jesus. They were not privy to it. We would have to conclude that Joseph and Mary kept that secret to themselves. When Joseph found out Mary was with child by the power of the Holy Spirit he married her and sometime after that wedding she gave birth. She did not give birth in their hometown of Nazareth, but in Bethlehem so the exact date did not matter or may not have been known by the people of Nazareth, as after the birth Joseph took Mary and Jesus down to Egypt, by the time they actually arrived back in Nazareth, Jesus was no longer an infant so the townspeople could not be privy to his exact birthday, and thus accepted the fact Joseph was his father. Thus they simply could not see past his humanity. This is why Jesus said what he did. But the lesson for us is in the result of his not doing many miracles. It was because of their lack of faith. Oh boy, this might just open a can of worms. Could it be the same reason why some believers are not really believers? Could it be they believe in Jesus for their salvation, but not for any miracles? How is that possible? If we believe Jesus is the Son of God. If we believe Jesus came in the flesh, was born of a virgin, did all the miracles we are told about in the bible, suffered and died on the cross for our sin. If we believe he was buried and rose from the dead and then ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father. If we believe by all that our sins have been forgiven and we have been granted eternal life. If we believe all that, then why would we not believe for miracles? Why would we every have a lack of faith? If Jesus has made his home in us, which is in the form of the Holy Spirit, then we are in fact the hometown of Jesus. We have been told that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. He dwells within us and so have we gotten past the humanity of Jesus? Do we see him as the divine? Then we have to accept the fact he told us, if we ask anything in his name, we will receive it.

John 14:12-14

12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

NIV

Do we actually believe that? If so then we should see him do many miracle in our lives. It seems some do not like to hear someone tell them the reason you are still sick is because you lack faith. But could that really be the truth? Do we look to the doctors far more then Jesus? There goes that can of worms again. Do we believe God gave us doctors to heal all our infirmities? If so, then they would be able to heal all our infirmities, which they cannot. They are still trying to find cures for many of them. As well as that would have been for people of all times in history and medical knowledge was far less advanced even one hundred years ago then today. So we have to conclude it is not God’s plan for us to expect miraculous healings from the doctors, but rather from him. It may come down to lack of faith. Have we become so distracted by the things of the world, the cares of this life, that we have forgotten our first love? Maybe we trust our own abilities too much. Maybe we trust the ways of the world too much. Maybe we do not trust God enough, which might translate into a lack of faith. Maybe we believe he did all he did back then, but all that is not for today. Maybe we just see it as historical and not relevant for us today. That is not true, we know the scripture is transcultural. It is meant for all people throughout the world in every period of time. So then why did he do no miracle in Nazareth? Because of their lack of faith. So then if we do not see any miracles, it certainly seems because of our lack of faith.