Dear brothers and
sisters in Christ, may the Peace and Love of Jesus Christ be with you all!!!
In today’s Gospel passage,
we witness something both deeply human and profoundly sad. Jesus returns to His
hometown of Nazareth, to the very streets and houses where He grew up. The
people there had seen Him as a child, a neighbor, a friend. But when He stood
among them as the Messiah, teaching with authority, bringing the Good News,
they could not grasp who He truly was. They only saw “the carpenter,” a man of
ordinary upbringing, forgetting that He was also the Son of God.
Familiarity and Unbelief: How
often do we, too, become so familiar with our religion that our hearts grow
dull? Sometimes it can be easy to walk into church, pick up our Bibles, or hear
a sermon without pausing to truly believe that God can still do
mighty works in our midst. Like the people of Nazareth, we might say, “We
know these stories. We’ve heard them all before!” But familiarity can breed
complacency and even skepticism. We risk missing out on the living power of
Christ when we reduce Him to a distant figure from a Sunday sermon or a name on
our lips that we repeat out of habit.
Jesus’ Astonishment at
Unbelief: Scripture tells us
Jesus “was amazed at their lack of faith.” Think about that for a moment:
the Son of God, the One who knows our hearts, stood there amazed at how little
His own townspeople believed in Him. Many times, in other parts of the Gospels,
we see people amazed at Jesus (e.g., Mark 7:37), but here the situation is
reversed: it is Jesus who is astonished at the coldness in their hearts.
This reversal is a sober
reminder for us today. The people’s unbelief did not simply disappoint Jesus in
an emotional sense; it limited the miracles He would perform there. They
blocked themselves from receiving what He came to give. So, we see that Faith
is the channel through which God’s grace and power flow into our lives. As
Hebrews 11:6 reminds us, “Without faith it is impossible to please God.”
The Power of True Faith: While
Nazareth’s unbelief grieved Jesus, let us not forget that throughout the
Gospels, faith in Him opened doors to healing, miracles, and transformation.
When the Roman centurion believed Jesus could heal his servant from a distance
(Matthew 8:5–13), Jesus marveled at that man’s faith. When the hemorrhaging
woman reached out in desperation to touch just the hem of His garment (Mark
5:25–34), it was her faith that made her well.
Even if your faith today
feels weak and weighed down by trials, remember the father who brought his
demon-possessed son to Jesus in Mark 9:24: “I do believe; help me overcome my
unbelief!” Jesus met that small seed of faith with compassion and healing. You
don’t need a perfect faith; you just need a mustard seed of it (Luke
17:6), a sincere heart that says, “Lord, I trust You, help me grow in trust.”
Real Struggles, Real
Savior: Some of you might be
thinking, “I’m wrestling with so many doubts. My prayers go unanswered. My pain
doesn’t go away. How can I keep believing?” Beloved, that is the
struggle many of us face. Yet, we must be reminded that God is not turned off
by our genuine questions. He doesn’t scold us for our weakness; rather, He
invites us to draw near with whatever faith we can muster.
Jesus Himself knows
human struggles. He walked our dusty roads, felt exhaustion, wept tears of
sorrow, and endured rejection from His closest kin. He fully understands when
we feel beaten down by life. We have a sympathetic High Priest (Hebrews 4:15)
who intercedes for us. Don’t let disbelief isolate you from Him. Instead, bring
your doubts and fears to the same Lord who was once “amazed” at lack of faith. He
longs to replace our doubt with hope.
An Invitation to Renew
Your Faith: Even now, Jesus
stands ready to do great things in our hearts. He yearns to heal, restore, and
fill us with His peace. We might be struggling with finances, relationships,
health, or a painful past. But if we come before Him with the prayer, “Lord, I
want to believe, help me believe more,” He can light a fresh fire of hope in
our souls.
Do not shut the door
because of past disappointments or because you have become too familiar with
the routines of church life. Open your heart anew. Let Jesus speak into your
everyday, humdrum places, yes, even in Nazareth-like spots where you feel stuck
in unbelief.
Friends, if you feel
your faith is faltering, take courage: you are not alone. Our God delights in
turning shaky faith into steadfast trust. He invites you to look beyond what
your eyes see and to grab hold of the promises in His Word. Remember
that the same Jesus who once stirred wonder in the hearts of many is still at
work today. Repent of unbelief if your heart has hardened, and ask God
to renew your awe of Him. Reach out with even the smallest seed of
faith, and watch God provide grace upon grace.
God has not finished
with you yet. May His Spirit breathe fresh life into your soul, so that you,
like those who truly believed in Christ, can witness His power and love in ways
that renew and transform you from within.
“I do believe; help me
overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24)
Amen.🙏🙏🙏
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