Jesus could not do any miracles there … And he was amazed at their lack of faith (Mark 6:5-6). 

Wait, what?  Jesus could not do any miracles on this particular visit to his hometown of Nazareth?  

How could you tell if someone was living supernaturally or not?  Would there be some kind of holy glow or aura about them?  A halo? Angels hovering all around? CGI-type waves of energy pulsating from them?  Celestial music constantly playing in the background?

None of these phenomena accompanied Jesus.  That’s what caused the good folks of Nazareth to stumble, to be offended by him.

I think what’s going on in this passage, and the reason Mark includes it in his Gospel, is a warning against thinking we have Jesus all figured out.  Look at what the hometowners say: “Isn’t this the carpenter, Mary’s boy, whose brothers and sisters live right here among us?” (verse 3).

In other words: “He grew up here, we know him – who does he think he is?”

And then the key: “And they took offense at him.”  

There are different ways we may be offended by Jesus: we have become too familiar, too comfortable with whatever boxes we have put Jesus in. Or we have been indifferent, never having spent any time or effort to get to know him.  Or we have decided to “plateau” in our journey to truly and deeply “know the Lord,” we have stopped following Jesus.  Or we have clung to disappointment, even anger, about our unanswered prayers.  Or we have been taken advantage of by unscrupulous church leaders or ministries.  Or –

The results are pretty much the same: we stop paying attention to Jesus.  He might pay us a visit, as he did in Nazareth, but we’re so sure we already know him that we stop paying attention.  We may continue being involved in church, but we have stopped really listening to Jesus.  We reset our expectations to what we feel like we can see, understand or control, to what we’re familiar with.

And so: we stop asking.  

Why didn’t, why couldn’t, Jesus do many miracles in Nazareth?  Apparently, no one asked.

If only ...

God grant that Chatham Church – and you! – become a community that asks and keeps on asking for growth in living supernaturally, seeks and keeps on seeking, knocks and keeps on knocking!  What is your step into that this week?