Now Jesus left
that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue.
Many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did he get these ideas? And
what is this wisdom that has been given to him? What are these miracles that
are done through his hands? Isn’t this the carpenter, the
son of Mary and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And aren’t his
sisters here with us?” And so they took offense at him.
Then Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his
hometown, and among his relatives, and in his own house.” He was not able to do a miracle there,
except to lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them.
And he was amazed because of their unbelief. Then he went around among the
villages and taught. (Mark 6:1-6, NET, emphasis mine)
Pastor Sam also shared that what Jesus was not able to do in His hometown, He was able to do in Capernaum:
After Jesus had
finished teaching all this to the people, he entered Capernaum.
A centurion there had a slave who was highly regarded, but who was sick and at
the point of death. When the centurion heard about Jesus,
he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. When they came to Jesus, they urged him earnestly, “He is
worthy to have you do this for him, because he loves our
nation, and even built our synagogue.” So Jesus went with
them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to
him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under
my roof. That is why I did not presume to come to you.
Instead, say the word, and my servant must be healed. For
I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me. I say to this one,
‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do
this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him. He turned and said to the
crowd that followed him, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such
faith!” So when those who had been sent returned to
the house, they found the slave well. (Luke 7:1-10, NET, emphasis mine)
What a contrast. The "insiders", the men and women of Jesus's neighborhood, took offense at His presence in the synagogue. They refused to acknowledge His status, instead referring to Him as a common laborer. The "outsider", a Roman centurion, recognized that he was not worthy to bear the presence of Jesus in his house. The centurion referred to Jesus as Lord, the One with the authority to impart healing, and the centurion even realized that Jesus could command healing without having to be physically present-- just say the word, Lord, and by Your word healing will occur.
When we speak of Jesus, what sort of climate rules our speech? Is our Lord amazed at our unbelief? Or, is He amazed at our faith?
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