And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips; and they were saying, “Is this not Joseph’s son?” And He said to them, “No doubt you will quote this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal yourself! (Luke 4:20-23).
Just before Jesus came to Nazareth, He had performed miracles and was teaching to large crowds. He had garnered a following. He had become newsworthy. He was a big deal. It was time in His ministry to come “home” and share God’s message and work with the people of His hometown.
Yet, there is a strange principle at work in people. We often don’t cherish that which we find ordinary. To them, Jesus was ordinary. The boy next door. And because of that, His neighbors and old friends didn’t have room in their hearts for His message.
Jesus knew what was happening inside their private thoughts. When He revealed it to the crowds that had gathered, they got angry with Him. Were they mad because their consciences were pricked by the truth?
Or were they angry because they desired the special wonders they heard Jesus had performed but just couldn’t stand the thought of all the fuss over someone they knew so well? Whatever the reason behind the emotion, they were angry with Jesus.
He reminded them they were not alone in these feelings. God’s children had often responded to the Lord in the same way. Jesus listed other times when God’s work required people “outside” His chosen people because His children were unwilling to be part of what God was doing. This only angered them more. And they drove Jesus out of town.
Matthew’s gospel records the same incident:
But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.” And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief (Matthew 13:57).
This passage challenges and convicts me on a number of matters.
1. Be Open to God’s Work No Matter its Source
God has always delighted in using that which is common in uncommon ways. Let’s not miss His handiwork just because it isn’t packaged in the way we expect or want.
Jesus ultimately wasn’t what many people of the time were looking for, yet He was God in flesh come to live with and give life to all people. We can miss God’s work when we stubbornly refuse to allow Him to do it in the way He decides.
For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God (1 Corinthians 1:26-29).
There have been a few times in my life when this principle became vitally important.
One time in particular, I remember praying hard for both personal revival and corporate revival in our church. I felt so dry and weary. I sought God in every way I knew, and His refreshing seemed a distant memory.
Sometimes, God allows these seasons in His children’s lives for many different purposes. But I couldn’t make sense of it, and it seemed so very long. Eventually, after studying revivals in history, my attention turned to studying revivals in Scripture.
This is where I should have turned first. Surprisingly, the word meant more and different things to God than it did to me.
Studying the concept in Scripture opened my eyes to the many ways God was indeed answering my prayers; I was just missing the answers because they weren’t packaged the way I expected!
We can far too easily miss God’s miracles, blessings, encouragement, wisdom, and all the things we pray for just because He delivers them in commonplace packaging.
2. Being Angry with God Makes Room for the Enemy to Work
We can miss God’s work because we are shortsighted or don’t understand, but we can also reject it.
The people in Jesus’ hometown not only despised God’s work because of its packaging (Jesus), but they also angrily rejected it. When we feel angry with God, we are wise to not shove those feelings under the emotional rug but rather process them.
We are also wise to work through them with the Holy Spirit through prayer, Scripture reading, asking a fellow believer to pray with and for us, and fasting.
Too often, we stop short in our angry feelings, not wanting to deal with them. We just push God away instead of dealing with our emotions. In short, we reject God.
Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity (Ephesians 4:26-26). Anger not only robs us of God’s presence, but it gives the enemy’s presence influence or opportunity in our lives. What a price we pay for holding on to this emotion when we could be holding onto God!
3. Unbelief Limits God’s Work
In the passage from Matthew, we are given one more tidbit of information about the people’s response: they had unbelief. And because of that unbelief, Jesus was not able to do many miracles.
Missing God’s work can lead (doesn’t necessarily have to, but it can lead) to rejecting God’s work. Rejecting God’s work can lead to anger and rejection of God. Rejecting God leads to a closed heart of unbelief.
Of all the things in Scripture that seem to negatively impact God’s best plans, it is unbelief. From the Garden of Eden, when the Serpent led Eve to wonder, “Did God really say?” to the moments Jesus was not able to do many miracles during His earthly ministry.
It is hard to imagine turning from God’s way to Satan’s temptations when God was there with Adam and Eve, but they did it. It is hard to imagine missing Jesus’ words, work of freedom, and healing, but people did despite God being right there in front of them.
We are wise to pray soberly through the places in our hearts where disappointment, hurt feelings between us and God, and even anger might be harboring the seeds of unbelief. We are all so grievously susceptible to it.
Paul prayed these words over the believers at Ephesus, and as this devotional closes, it is my prayer for all of us as well:
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe (Ephesians 1:18-19).
To read more about God’s work in places and ways we least expect, check out When God Meets You in Desert Places.
For further reading:
Why Did Jesus Want His Miracles to Stay Secret?
Does God Perform Miracles Now as He Did in the Bible?
What Miracles Did Jesus Perform?
Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/ljubaphoto
April Motl is a pastor’s wife, homeschool mom, and women’s ministry director. When she’s not waist-deep in the joys and jobs of motherhood, being a wife, and serving at church, she writes and teaches for women. You can find more encouraging resources from April here and here.
