UNBELIEF BECAUSE OF FAMILIARITY

“And they were offended by Him. Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his household.” And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.” Matthew 13:57-58 CSB

Have you ever heard the saying, “They missed heaven by 18 inches”?  It means they knew who Jesus was in their head, but not in their heart. They had knowledge of Him, but they didn’t BELIEVE in Him.  There are a lot of people who fall into this category. They know of Jesus, but they don’t believe in Jesus. That is what is happening here in this verse.  These are the people who knew Jesus. It’s the brothers he grew up with, it’s the neighbors who saw him become a carpenter. For us, it would be our family and friends who we share our lives daily.  They know the best AND the worst about us simply because they have lived it with us.

Here’s another way of looking at it.  In my case, I have four brothers I’ve known my entire life.  If one of them came to me and told me they were the Messiah, sent here to save the world, I’d have a hard time believing him.  Because I know them so well, it would be hard for me to believe in them. People in Jesus’s neighborhood didn’t believe in Him. As a result, He couldn’t perform as many miracles.  What would you think if your sibling came to you this way? You probably would think they were crazy. So did the people in Jesus’ world.

Miracles require belief.

If you need a miracle in your life, you first have to BELIEVE that God can do it.  We can suffer the exact same fate the people of Jesus’ neighborhood did. We know Jesus well.  Many of us have heard of Jesus our entire lives. If we haven’t read the Bible we know Bible stories.  Scriptures are rampant in our vocabulary as sayings, or adages. We know Jesus, but do we truly BELIEVE in Jesus?  Do we truly believe He can heal the sick, feed the hungry, bandage the brokenhearted? If we don’t believe it, we’re not paving the way for a miracle.

Let’s pave the way for miracles in our lives today with this prayer:

Lord, don’t let us be offended by Jesus.  Don’t let us make the same mistake those He grew up with did.  Help us to see His truth. Let us honor Him in our homes. Let our belief pave the way for His miracles in our lives.  Help us Lord overcome our unbelief. (Matthew 13:57-58 CSB). In Jesus name We pray. Amen