Day 58 - Jesus Finds Little Faith in His Hometown
Mark 6:1-6a

After reading the past two days about people who received miracles from Jesus through their faith, today we read about an entire town that, for the most part, missed out on receiving any miracles from Jesus because of their lack of faith. This once again proves that God's will coming to pass in our lives is dependent on our faith. Naturally, Jesus wanted to bring blessings to the people in the town where He had spent most of His life. The Bible, however, said that He couldn't do any mighty miracles there because of the people's unbelief (see Mark 6:5). This clearly indicates that He desired to do mighty miracles there. Notice also that the Bible said Jesus couldn't , not wouldn't do any mighty miracles there. It wasn't because He didn't want to perform mighty miracles for them, it was because He was actually limited by their unbelief.

All Christians know this is true concerning salvation, so why don't they realize that it's true concerning anything else we receive from God? It is God's will for everyone to be saved, but God's will doesn't come to pass in a person's life unless that person believes the gospel. That means there are people in hell right now whom God wanted to be in heaven. Likewise, if a person is ill, we should not conclude that it's God's will for that person to remain ill. God expects us to believe His Word, but so few do when it comes to healing because they've been wrongly taught that it may not be God's will for them to be healed. Thus they have no faith for healing, and Jesus is hindered by their unbelief.

Even when they pray for healing, many Christians confess their unbelief, saying, "Lord, if it is Your will, please heal me." They are admitting that they aren't sure what God's will is, which makes it impossible for them to have faith. Faith can only be born from God's promises. Only when God's will is not revealed is it appropriate to say, "If it is Your will." Otherwise, we're saying to God, "Lord, I know what You've promised, but in case You were lying about it, I don't want to hold You to what You said." The Bible says, "Are any among you sick?...prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make them well" (James 5:14-15). How can any Bible-believing Christian argue with that?

The reason the majority of people in Nazareth didn't believe in Jesus was because they had known Him and His family for decades. They knew He was a very good person, but they had no idea that He was God's Son. They refused to believe in Him, even though they had heard about His miracles in other places and heard Him speak before them with great wisdom. Thankfully, however, there were a few people in Nazareth who apparently had some faith, but who, as the original Greek indicates, had only minor ailments. Jesus laid His hands on them and healed them. But for the majority of people in Nazareth, Jesus was "amazed at their unbelief" (Mark 6:6).

Q. How do you think Jesus feels about the lack of faith in people today?

A. He is probably amazed at everyone who doesn't believe in Him because of the overwhelming evidence that He was a historical person whose life story is accurately recorded in the Bible. However, Jesus once wondered if anyone would have any faith when He returns, saying, "When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8, NASB).

Application: Could it be that you may have hindered Jesus from working more in your life by your unbelief? In prayer today, ask the Lord is this is so, and if it is, ask Him to help you grow in faith.

Family Devotion Subscription

To subscribe to the Family-Style Devotions by David Servant, simply submit your e-mail address below. You will receive a family devotional each weekday morning.