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Thread: Jesus in his hometown and the nature of unbelief

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    Jesus in his hometown and the nature of unbelief

    Mat 13:53 Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these parables, that He departed from there.
    54 When He had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, “Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works?
    55 Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas?
    56 And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?”
    57 So they were offended at Him.
    But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house.”
    58 Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

    But what does that mean and how did that happen ? What was the nature of their unbelief ? I noticed that throughout chapter 13 he is said to go from his house to sit by the sea, which is a situation described elsewhere, the house is his house in Capernaum which is by the sea of Galilee. So in 13:53 he departed from Capernaum and went to Nazareth, his hometown.

    Mark 6:1 Then He went out from there and came to His own country, and His disciples followed Him.
    2 And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue. And many hearing Him were astonished, saying, “Where did this Man get these things? And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands!
    3 Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?” So they were offended at Him.
    4 But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.”
    5 Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them.
    6 And He marveled because of their unbelief. Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching.

    In the previous chapter he is on the sea of Galilee and then in Gadarene which is another village by that sea. Same event again.

    Luke 4:14 Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region.
    15 And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

    The synopsis here : https://bible.org/assets/pdf/White_ntsynopsis.pdf doesn't place the account in Luke at the same point in time but there are several things that indicate that it is the same event as the one described in the accounts above and we know that the gospels don't always arrange the accounts chronologically.

    16 So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.
    17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:
    18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
    Because He has anointed Me
    To preach the gospel to the poor;
    He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
    To proclaim liberty to the captives
    And recovery of sight to the blind,
    To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
    19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord."
    20 Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him.
    21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
    22 So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”
    23 He said to them, “You will surely say this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in Your country.’”
    24 Then He said, “Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country.

    As in the other accounts, he teaches in their synagogue and they take notice of the fact that his family lives in their town. Jesus himself notes that he was in Capernaum previously and performed miracles there, which the other gospels record even though Luke doesn't mention him being in Capernaum until after this account. Jesus also mentions that a prophet is not accepted in his own country in all three accounts.
    If the three accounts do not reflect the same event then it is very strange that they all react the same way both the first time and the second time that he visits them. No, it must be the same event and the account in Luke adds information that isn't found in the other two accounts, as is often the case in the gospels - the various accounts emphasize different aspects of the same event. This is very apparent with the resurrection accounts.

    25 But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land;
    26 but to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.
    27 And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”
    28 So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath,
    29 and rose up and thrust Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff.
    30 Then passing through the midst of them, He went His way.

    In this account he addresses their unbelief and the result is that he is nearly killed but he escapes miraculously. But what was it that Jesus told them just as they had taken offense at him ? Let's have a look at that again :

    23 He said to them, “You will surely say this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in Your country.’”

    So their unbelief wasn't a matter of ignoring him, of not wanting him to (try to) minister to the sick, as some have suggested. Rather they refused to accept him as more than "Joseph's son" and wanted to test him just like the Pharisees asked for a sign from him even though they had just watched him heal the sick. The same way the James Randi foundation wants to test people who claim that God works miracles by having them perform them under lab conditions. That isn't faith in God, nor is it seeking him for grace or mercy. It's just unbelief, a testing kind of unbelief. An attitude of expecting him to fail under their given conditions.

    Jesus counters this attitude by comparing them to Israelites during the time of the kings who didn't receive miracles rather the Gentiles around them were the only ones that actually received any miracles (in the positive sense, that is). See verses 24-27 above. What is the common denominator ? Why weren't Elijah and Elisha sent to the many widows and lepers of Israel to work miracles among them ? Why were they instead sent to a Sidonian widow and a Syrian leper ? It must have had to do with the same attitude. The attitude among Israelites was often one of unbelief and the ones Jesus commended the most for their great faith were a Gentile woman and a Roman centurion, as other accounts mention.
    Last edited by Colonel; 05-01-2018 at 03:15 PM.

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    If you click on the video you will see two scenes (from 1:06:20) where they pray for people that I perceive to have the same kind of rejecting unbelief that's described above. They will technically let them pray for them but in their hearts they have rejected the message or possibility that the power of God will flow before they are prayed for, as can be seen by their immediate dismissal of any positive results. And in the latter scene, their mocking attitude towards the whole thing.

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    It's the heart difference of Mary when the angel told her she was to have Jesus and John's father....they both asked similar questions...how can this be? But Mary's was in expectant faith and his was unbelief.....

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    Quote Originally Posted by Quest View Post
    It's the heart difference of Mary when the angel told her she was to have Jesus and John's father....they both asked similar questions...how can this be? But Mary's was in expectant faith and his was unbelief.....
    Luke 1:18 And Zacharias said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.”
    19 And the angel answered and said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings.
    20 But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time.”

    That doesn't sound like a rejecting unbelief to me, rather it was doubt. Why did the angel react so strongly to his doubt ? That could be because Zacharias was talking to a physically revealed heavenly being which should have led him to believe rather than doubt...

    The angel who spoke to Mary told her far greater things than Zacharias was told so when she believed the message that was great faith.

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