It’s all a matter of perspective. Jesus went and taught in his home town of Nazareth and many who heard him were amazed at his teaching. I find it ironic that at the very same time Jesus too was amazed by the people…
amazed at their lack of faith. (Mark 6:2, 6)
1 comment:
Gail;
-----We seek to become knowledgeable and familiar with the Word. But knowledge and familiarity can be a dangerous thing. Not that they in themselves are dangerous, but that we have limited capabilities to deal with facts and information. And from these limitations we build misperceptions that come to be accepted as the truth. Then we go about using our misperceptions as guidelines for dealing with new information, which merely leads to more misperception.
-----When Jesus came to Nazareth, “…all spoke well of Him, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth; and they said, ‘Is not this Joseph’s son?’” (Luke 4:22). Nazareth was a small town in a time when a community like Olathe would be considered a city. Everyone in such a small community is quite familiar with everyone else, and they knew Jesus well, too. Some watched Him grow up, and others grew up with Him. I am sure His unimpeachable behavior was noted, but I am also sure He did not go about wearing a fluorescing white robe with a beaming halo above a glowing face. He was the good carpenter down the street whose hands, feet, and clothes got as soiled as everybody else’s. Although He must have been known as a great guy, as far as their life long experience with Him revealed, He was certainly a guy.
-----Their expectations of the Messiah were for something more than just a guy. What is amazing is how much we fall for all the embellishment our imaginations add to simple truth. Somehow it got into the Jewish mind that they would not know where the Christ came from. At the feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem they were saying, “…we know where this man comes from; and when the Christ appears, no one will know where He comes from.” (John 7:27.) They were obviously expecting the Christ to come in such glorious and overwhelming fashion that the very sight of Him would provide conclusive testimony.
-----But God is a sorter of hearts. He looks for hearts like David’s. David’s heart was not right for God because it knew and grasped truth innately, but rather, it was right because it pursued truth relentlessly. It examined even the simple evidences of its surroundings and leaned not as much on its own perceptions for guiding principles as it did upon the God Who was immerging from its experiences. And that God guided David’s heart into enough truth to make significant contributions to the Psalms. It makes sense that Christ came from a remote corner of the land as a common wood worker. The heart God searches for would delve into Jesus honestly, considering more than how outright appearances might fit preconceived expectations. Humility is necessary in the heart God searches for, because fact always seems to be stranger than fiction, and humility is willing to consider even the strange.
-----But the folk of Nazareth were fraught with the human frailty of fictionalizing the scant facts they owned, both about this neighbor, Jesus, and about what the appearance of the Messiah might be like. Their hearts did not immediately sort it out humbly. But like Jesus’ brothers, who also did not believe at first, yet believed after more facts came to light - a crucifixion and a resurrection and such - more probably got it right and believed later.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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