God Knows…When My Faith is Shaky – Part 2
One day Jesus returned to Nazareth, His boyhood hometown. People there had heard about His preaching and healing. But they were full of doubts. They expected the Messiah to be a powerful king who would use armies to free them from Roman rule. How could a poor carpenter’s son do that?
As usual, Jesus went to the synagogue on Sabbath. Someone brought Him the scroll of Isaiah, and He stood to read to His boyhood friends and neighbors: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord” (from Isaiah 61:1-2).
Then Jesus announced, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” The people started thinking. Were THEY in darkness, needing to see the light of truth? What Jesus wanted to do for them wasn’t what they had in mind. He had said nothing about delivering them from the Romans and making them rich and powerful. Doubt shook them and they said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?” (Luke 4:22)
Jesus knew exactly what the people were thinking: Perhaps if He performed a miracle, they would believe in Him. But Jesus never performed a miracle just to prove He was the Son of God. Instead, He reminded them that miracles come to those who have faith. He reminded them of the stories of Elijah and Naaman. Jesus wanted His listeners to see that God’s mercy is for ANYONE who has faith.
The people responded to Jesus’ message in anger. They didn’t want God’s miracles to be available to just anyone. They were sure that they were God’s chosen people, and they despised everyone else.
The meeting broke up as angry people shoved Jesus out of the synagogue and through the village. Murder was on their minds. Shouting and throwing stones, they edged the Savior toward a cliff outside town. But suddenly the crowd stopped. Confused, they shouted, “Where’s He gone?” Jesus had vanished. “Passing through the midst of them, He went His way” (Luke 4:30).
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