A Lack Of Faith
Matthew 13:53 When Jesus had finished these parables, He moved on from there. 54 Coming to his hometown, He began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked. 55 “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? 56 Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” 57 And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in His own town and in His own home.” 58 And He did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.
It’s amazing how fickle people can be. People can be caught up one minute in amazement and applaud someone, and then the next minute offer ridicule or bring into question the person they were just amazed by and applauded. That’s what happened to Jesus.
The people questioned His authority based on what they knew of His family. Even though they heard Him speak and knew of the miracles He had done elsewhere, they struggled to believe Him.
They knew His family, they knew He was raised by a carpenter. They knew Jesus after the flesh (so to speak), and they leaned on their natural knowledge of Him, so much so, that they struggled in their faith towards Him.
Their lack of faith resulted in Jesus not doing many miracles there. To me, that lends itself to the idea that Jesus had just as much desire to do miracles in his home town of Nazareth as He had anywhere else. But a lack of faith resulted in that desire not being met. Does that mean that a lack of faith made Jesus powerless?
I do not believe for one minute that a lack of faith rendered Jesus powerless, nor could it diminish His authority in anyway. I believe it rendered the people powerless to receive what He had to offer them.
For examples sake let’s pretend I desire to send you a large amount of money just to bless you. I let you know that I need you to download a specific app on your smart phone for me to do so. If you do not believe me you will not download the app to your phone. But in this instance the app is the only way for me to bless you. So although I desire to bless you, and have the ability to do so, I cannot do so because you are in no position to receive it.
Faith is the pipeline through which the things of the Spirit flow. The kingdom operates on this earth according to faith. Without faith a person is not able to receive what it is that Jesus wishes to give. It doesn’t rob Him of His power, willingness or ability, it simply offers no place to receive what it is He wishes to give, or to do. This is proven by the fact that a person cannot be saved without believing.
When Jesus said, “Be unto you according to your faith” He wasn’t saying faith made Him do things. He was already willing to do them, a persons faith simply offered a place for them to happen.
It is why the Scripture says that without faith it is impossible to please God. A lack of faith gives no place to what it is that God wishes to do, or to give.
It is never that God is unwilling or reluctant when it comes to His will to bless and empower us for His purposes. Heaven has been open since the cross. There’s an eternal readiness at the throne of grace to offer mercy to help. But, for us to be able to walk in the fullness of Who He is, and what He wishes to do, we must have faith to receive. Those who walk in faith are often blessed by the willingness they encounter on the part of Jesus.
