Matthew 13:53-58; Mark 6:1-6; Luke 4:16-21
For our devotional today, we turned our attention to Matthew 13:54-58.
Let’s read it:
[54] Coming to His hometown, He taught the people in their synagogue, and they were astonished. “Where did this man get such wisdom and miraculous powers?” they asked. [55] “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t His mother’s name Mary, and aren’t His brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? [56] Aren’t all His sisters with us as well? Where then did this man get all these things?” [57] And they took offense at Him.
But Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown and in his own household is a prophet without honor.” [58] And He did not do many miracles there, because of their unbelief.
From this story, I call your attention to two great thoughts.
1. Jesus was rejected by his own hometown.
Luke writing tells us more, On hearing what he said, “all the people in the synagogue were enraged. They got up, drove Him out of the town, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw Him over the cliff.” (Luke 4:28-29).
To say they were unbelieving is an understatement. In fact, the hometown folks became “enraged” at him, drove him out of town, and tried to thrown him down. They became so angry with him that they tried to kill him. This is the first time that anyone tried to kill Jesus. (Luke 4:28-29).
The people of Nazareth rejecting Jesus is especially ironic because they themselves were looked down upon. A popular saying was “can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46). Yet, these social outcasts looked own on the Lord.
2. Think about what Jesus did on a regular basis, what his habits were. We might surmise there were many, but the Bible only mentions three.
From our story today,
- He went to the synagogue every Saturday “as was his custom.” Luke 4:16
There are only two more things that the Bible mentions.
- He prayed “as usual.” Luke 22:39
- He taught others “as was his custom.”Mark 10:1.
Reflecting on these three things, I leave you with this question: When people look back on your life, what are the things that they would say you did on a regular basis?
Lonnie Davis