Missing The Son.

In this past Sunday's sermon, Pastor Benji made a reference to the time when Jesus was not accepted by the men and women of His community. These were those who had watched Him grow up, who knew His earthly family, and who could not reconcile their image of Him with the reality of His true status as the Son of God, the Messiah, the Anointed One.

How often do we do the same thing? How many of us identify the members of the pastoral staff as "Pastor" except for Pastor Richard Griffiths, who grew up at Bronx Bethany and who most people refer to as "Richie" with virtually no mention of his title? Or worse, how many of us identify Jesus as merely a good teacher and miracle worker, without granting Him His proper title? Is He our King? Is He our Ruler? Or is He just our spiritual convenience store, at our service 24 hours a day in case we get the urge to access His storehouse?

"Coming to His hometown, Jesus began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. 'Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?' they asked. 'Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother's name Mary, and aren't his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren't all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?' And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, 'Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor.' And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith." (Matthew 13:54-58)

It's an interesting thing to consider: when we miss the Son, we miss His benefits, even if we acknowledge His power. The question asked by Jesus's community was "Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?": so they knew He was wise, and they knew He worked miracles, but they did not put their faith in Him- for them, seeing was not the same as believing, and they lost a wonderful opportunity to experience God in a profound and life-changing way.

LORD, help us to not just see Your works, but to believe!