July 11, 2022

The Almost Daily will be on Summer Vacation until August 8th. But fear not! You will receive a devotional each Monday through Friday from the excellent Mockingbird Devotional entitled Daily Grace. Enjoy! - Paul Walker

[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? 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? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all this?” And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honor except in their own country and in their own house.” And he did not do many deeds of power there, because of their unbelief. (Matthew 13:54-58)

What are we to make of the fact that Jesus, the Son of God, “did not do many deeds of power” in his hometown of Nazareth, “because of their unbelief”? Does this mean that He might be unable to do powerful deeds in or for us when we lack faith? This connection can be a slippery slope, and a dangerous one, but Jesus’ experience here must be demonstrating something about the relationship between faith and power.

It strikes me that a key fact here might be that the people of Nazareth think they already know Jesus. They have known him since childhood, and interact daily with his family. It is their arrogance, or lack of humility, that limits his power, and even prevents them from believing in him.

Is it not easy to see this in ourselves, too? When we are overconfident, when we think we know what is right and good, we can fall into playing God; but when we are humble, or even desperate, it is more natural to reach out in faith—to One who knows us better than we know ourselves.

[Mary Zahl, Daily Grace - Mockingbird Devotional Vol. 2]