Home and Faith

When Jesus had finished telling these stories and illustrations, he left that part of the country. He returned to Nazareth, his hometown. When he taught there in the synagogue, everyone was amazed and said, “Where does he get this wisdom and the power to do miracles?” Then they scoffed, “He’s just the carpenter’s son, and we know Mary, his mother, and his brothers—James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas. All his sisters live right here among us. Where did he learn all these things?” And they were deeply offended and refused to believe in him. Then Jesus told them, “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his own family.” And so he did only a few miracles there because of their unbelief. [Matthew 13.53-58]

What is it about "home" here that so adversely affects faith?

First, consider this: Jesus' hometown folks all recognized the wisdom and power of God upon Jesus. One would think this would be all the validation people needed to see that Jesus was doing the work of God. But it didn't turn out that way...

Even in recognition of God's wisdom and power at work in Jesus, "they scoffed." Why? Well, let's see what they said, “He’s just the carpenter’s son, and we know Mary, his mother, and his brothers—James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas. All his sisters live right here among us. Where did he learn all these things?” It appears there was some jealousy at work here. They thought they knew Jesus.

Pay close attention to what happened! In the familiarity of Jesus' hometown setting, the people took it upon themselves to "judge" Jesus because they felt like they knew all there was to know about Him. And, you know what judgement is? It is unforgiveness. 

Judgment could even be idolatry! How? If we expect humans to act or be a certain way, are we not putting them 'on a pedestal?' THINK! It is idolatry to expect any human to be anything but human. The very 'expectation' itself is idolatry - trusting in anything or anyone besides God. If we expect a person to be anything - to gratify our expectation of them (whatever it may be), we idolize that person!

Imagine the spiritual ramifications of "judging" Jesus! I believe Jesus was teaching a larger lesson here though when He said, “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his own family.” Jesus was giving a huge revelation here about human nature! When people get 'familiar' there is the tendency to judge (and remember judgment is unforgiveness). What this tells us in glaring revelation is that we must be on high alert to remain forgiving and merciful to those we know best - and especially within our own families. As was the case here with Jesus' hometown folks, we could be dead wrong!

The sad but telling fruit of judging others is unbelief. BOOM! How big a role then does unforgiveness/judgment play in the powerlessness of the Church today?

Father, help us to understand that our judgment (or unforgiveness) of others is in fact power-stealing idolatry. Help us to see that judgment is only effective from the stance of perfection, and so any human attempt at judgment slips over into idolatry and unbelief.