Learning to see with big boy eyes!

Mark 6:5-6 – “He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their lack of faith.”

We shouldn't be too hard on Jesus' home town. They are a great deal like us.  Joseph was dead and Jesus, being the eldest male child, was expected to take on the role of the head of the household and breadwinner for the family. These people, relatives some, maybe felt that Jesus had shirked his family duties by leaving the family to fend for themselves. He had stepped away from his “role”, what he was expected to do according to the customs of society. And his “extended family” wasn’t too happy to see him striding back into town as a “Rabbi”. That’s not his “role”.

How you perceive it… defines it. How do you perceive Jesus?

Can you imagine it? God in the flesh. Standing right there in front of them. And they’re going, “Ahh! It’s just that carpenter. Mary’s kid. He’s no prophet!” Rejected! “And he was amazed at their unbelief.” Jesus knew who he was. Why couldn’t they see it? We need to remember the image of Jesus that people had in their minds. He had left Nazareth alone, the carpenter, and returned with 12 guys, a prophet. 

I live in Howard, PA. A small community in the middle of the mountains, surrounded by a beautiful lake. Now Nazareth is a town probably not a whole lot bigger than Howard. Probably, like Howard, many of the people were related. And possibly upset because Jesus left his family when they needed him.

We’re the same today as those people were back then. We watch the children of our church and town grow up and we’re amazed at what they become and we are skeptical when they change. We sometimes refuse to believe how they turn out. And, in doing so, refuse to allow them to minister to us.

Again, How do you receive Jesus? All too often we receive Jesus as the impression and perception someone else forced on us. I want to receive Jesus as an adult the thrives in the abundance of His grace, mercy, and healing. You see, when we realize that our impression, our perception, and our reception of Jesus defines our relationship with Jesus, we learned that the only way to receive Jesus is through faith in His ability to be the Son of God in our lives.

You know I love ya, Don