¹ Jesus went out from there and came into His hometown; and His disciples followed Him. ² When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue; and the many listeners were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands?  Mark 6:1-2

If Nazareth had a hometown paper, it probably would have read “Jesus the Carpenter Could Do No Miracles Here!”  Some have taught Jesus couldn’t perform any miracles in His hometown because the people lacked faith.  The scripture records in Mark 6:6, “He wondered at their unbelief.”  Wow!

The reason for their spiritual ineptitude is obvious…they watched Jesus grow up.  They knew His entire family and possibly even had a chair or table built by Jesus’ family.  So how could this son of a carpenter be a miracle-working, prophet of God.  It just didn’t make any sense to the natural mind.

All prophets, teachers, and men/women of God have to originate from some location.  Right?  There is no way around the issue.  I’m from Nashville.  Occasionally you’ll see a country music star around town.  Hey, they have to live someplace.  When I was a teenager I stopped by a drug store to pick up something.  I was in line to check out and Roy Acuff was checking out too.  I think he was getting cough drops or something.  I remember thinking…he is short.  Well, he was kinda short.  My point is this….everybody is from somewhere.  It’s not “where you’re from” but “what the Lord has done in your life” that makes the difference.   I have come to appreciate the verse in Acts 4:13 which says,

Now as they observed the  confidence of  Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and  began to recognize them  as having been with Jesus.

    There was a light,  a glow, and a presence in the disciples’ eyes that revealed where they had been hanging out.  It didn’t make any difference what town they were born.  The difference was they had spent three years with the Lord.

Jesus’ hometown couldn’t discern that Jesus received His teachings, power, and authority from His Heavenly Father.  They could only remember His earthly father and mother.  Bottom line, the people couldn’t detect God at work.  Therefore, no works of power were performed in their lives.

It is a dangerous thing to treat the Holy works of God as something common or ordinary.  God calls us to honor the prophets, teachers, pastors, etc. in our lives. ( By the way… the real ones never announce themselves as such.)  If we neglect to give honor to the Holy things of God, the Lord’s blessings pass us by.  It is easy to say Jesus couldn’t work miracles because the people didn’t have faith in Him.  The greater truth is that the Lord will not work in situations when people treat the Holy things of God as common.

Can God move in power in your life?  Is there any issue present preventing the Lord from radically moving?  Do you honor the things God honors?

“…but now the LORD declares, ‘Far be it from Me—for  those who honor Me I will honor, and those  who despise Me will be lightly esteemed.”  1 Samuel 2:30

This is one of the first conditions we all must meet to see the work of power in our life.  If Jesus’ hometown would have simply “Honored Him“, events would have played out differently.  The same is true for all of us living in this generation.

Blessings,

Pastor