54 Jesus came to His hometown and began to teach the people in their synagogue, so that they were astounded and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these deeds of power? 55 Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And are not His brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56 And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all this?” 57 And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honor except in their own hometown and in their own house.” 58 And He did not do many deeds of power there, because of their unbelief” Matthew 13:54-58.
Matthew begins a new narrative section as Jesus leaves Capernaum and returns to His native place of Nazareth for the first time since the arrest of John the Baptist (4:13). He teaches the people in their synagogue, and they are astonished. Though Jesus has amazed people with His teaching before (7:28), this time the astonishment is not an expression of admiration but of suspicion and anger. The people in His hometown are astonished in the sense that they took offense at Him. They know Jesus and His family and cannot believe that He is now a great prophet. Is not His mother named Mary and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? How can He be filled with such wisdom and mighty deeds?
Jesus did some miracles in Nazareth, but not many, because of their lack of faith. He refused to perform miracles to convince His opponents (see 12:38–39). The word for lack of faith is literally “unbelief,” a word Matthew uses only to describe those who oppose and reject Jesus. When the Apostles struggle in faith, they are called “men of little faith” (6:30), whereas the people in Jesus’ hometown are outright unbelievers who take offense at Him and reject Him.
Dear friends, sometimes I am a man of little faith, and other times I lack faith altogether. How about you? Consider the difference and bring this to prayer, asking God to give you great faith. Ask for forgiveness when you have just little faith, and return to the Lord.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.
From the Bible:
“And without faith it is impossible to please God” Hebrews 11:6.
“Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” Romans 10:17.
“And Jesus answered them, ‘Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours’”
Mark 11:22-24.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” Ephesians 2:8-9.
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