Familiarity Breeds Contempt?

In the beginning of Mark 6, Jesus returned to his hometown of Nazareth and started teaching in the synagogue. At first, the people were "amazed" and wondered about His wisdom and power to perform miracles. Then they began scoffing and questioning Him. "Isn't this the carpenter?" may very well have meant "Isn't he just a commoner like the rest of us?" "Isn't this the son of Mary?" could have even been a thinly-veiled reference to a long-standing rumor of Mary bearing an illegitimate son. Scripture said the people " were deeply offended and refused to believe in him".

It seems as though word of Jesus' teachings and miracles had reached Nazareth ahead of Him, but when He was finally "home", the people simply could not overcome an undercurrent of doubt and their knowledge of who He once was - just a simple boy who grew up with them. In a similar light, I wonder how many of us have struggled to share our faith with the people we know the best? It can be an enormous challenge to find the courage to witness to those in our inner circles, especially our families. Many Christians have examples of family members and old friends who have scoffed at their testimony, doubted their sincerity or questioned their motives when sharing their faith. Do you think this is similar to what was happening with Jesus? In this case and in our lives, does familiarity breed contempt?

I don't know that I have ever read another statement in scripture like verse 5, in that it states something that Jesus could not do. "And because of their unbelief, Jesus couldn't do any miracles among them except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them." Do you wonder, as I do, what exactly that means? Does couldn't actually mean wouldn't? No, it would be inconsistent with the rest of scripture if Jesus would somehow be vindictive and refuse to perform miracles as a punishment on the people of Nazareth. So, does it mean that He couldn't perform miracles because he didn't have enough power? Again, we already read in Matthew that Jesus had "been given all authority in heaven and on earth.", so we know it is not lack of power that prevented Him. So, I have to conclude that the reason Jesus "couldn't" perform miracles was because of the unbelief of the people.

In a climate of unbelief, Jesus could not/would not/did not perform many miracles. As we read in Matthew and will continue to see in Mark, Jesus performed many miracles in response to faith. He did not perform miracles in order to prove himself to people, but rather to express His great love and compassion.

Jesus was "amazed" at the unbelief of the people of Nazareth, and I'm guessing he may have been saddened, as well. Leaving His friends and family behind in a state of unbelief would have been very difficult; sadly, this is a situation many of us know all too well.

Karen Peikert