Road Warriors: Isaiah—A Message of Redemption - Tuesday
Mark 6:4-6
Then Jesus told them, “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his relatives and his own family.” And because of their unbelief, he couldn’t do any miracles among them except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their unbelief. (NLT)
We’re focusing this week on the people God put in place to prepare the world for the coming presence and message of Jesus. We often refer to these people as prophets, not solely because they could see ahead, but also because they have a way of helping us see so clearly the way things are now.
This topic in general led me to look again at the time when Jesus described himself as a prophet. Mark 6 tells the story of Jesus returning to his hometown of Nazareth to teach in the synagogue. At first, those hearing him were “amazed” at his wisdom and “power to perform miracles.” But how quickly things changed. The same people a moment later were saying (and I paraphrase here), “Wait a minute. Don’t we know this guy? He’s just a carpenter from here in town. Yeah, we know his family, too! What does he know? Nothing to see here!” I’ve always wondered what made people take such offense and suddenly turn on Jesus. The Bible doesn’t tell us. My best guess is that Jesus said something they couldn’t handle and weren’t ready to hear. They must have thought that he was asking too much of them. Jesus’ message was always one of descent—moving down the ladder, not up. We’re the ones always trying to climb up. Maybe that was it. And the people just weren’t ready. Mark 6:6 tells us that Jesus, like the people, was also amazed. Amazed at their unbelief. The whole story causes me to think about my own faith. Could Jesus say that He’s amazed at my unbelief? He most definitely could.
Tuesday’s Reflection
A prophet’s message is only as effective as the hearers’ willingness to humbly receive the message and respond. What is your response to Jesus’ invitation to move to the back of the line, and His command that we love others today?
