Familiarity and Unbelief

Sometimes a reflection take more than a couple of days, and this is one of those times.  This morning I am continuing my reflection from a few days ago...

I was reading in Luke's Gospel and I turned to the 4th chapter and read about his visit to his former hometown of Nazareth.  Here are the verses - Luke 4:13-30 NIV:

[13] "When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time. [14] Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. [15] He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. 

[16] He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, [17] and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: 

[18] “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, 

because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. 

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, 

[19] to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.” 

[20] Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. [21] He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” 

[22] All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn't this Joseph's son?” they asked. 

[23] Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: 'Physician, heal yourself!' And you will tell me, 'Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.' ” 

[24] “Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown. [25] I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah's time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. [26] Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. [27] And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed---only Naaman the Syrian.” 

[28] All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. [29] They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. [30] But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way."

Both Mark 6:1-6 and Matthew 13:54-58,  have similar descriptions of Jesus' visit to Nazareth after He began His ministry.  Luke gets more into the details of what Jesus said,  which seems to be why they were offended at Him.  Mark and Matthew have very similar more expansive descriptions of the people's familiarity with Jesus.  There is something deeply true about how familiarity can lead to unbelief.  They knew Jesus, and they were clearly amazed at His "gracious words" and the authority of His teaching.  The crowds reaction was interesting, they ask one another, "isn't this Joseph's son?"  In other words, they were familiar with Him as the son of the carpenter, and had no high esteem of him in that roll, and certainly not of His ability to speak publicly.  I have written several times about the offense that I think they felt towards Jesus, and that clearly led to unbelief, or as Mark and Matthew write, "their lack of faith".

I was just thinking back over my life, and the times I have been aware of how familiarity has led to contempt, and how that has led to offense.  I was thinking about how familiarity causes us to be blinded to other aspects, options, or ideas.  We think we know someone and we stop thinking at that point, and reject anything else.  We label them, and expect nothing else from them, and reject anything that doesn't agree with our judgment.  I know there have been times where I was labeled, and essentially put in a box, and not considered for anything else.  I know how frustrating that was to me personally.  I think that is the danger of familiarity, it blinds us or others to a person's true identity and capabilities.  

It is a beautiful thing to know another person deeply, but we must maintain an open mind and heart towards them, for we all are immensely capable and beautiful people created in God's image.  We need to be willing to allow people to grow, mature, and decide to be different. We need to recognize where we are limiting someone through our own "familiarity" with them.

It seems to me that the people in Nazareth couldn't get past their previous labels of Jesus, and missed out on fully benefitting from His ministry and relationship!  What a terrible thing to have the Messiah in your midst, and your familiarity with Him previously, causes you to rise up in anger when He reveals Himself,  and to the point you want to kill Him.  I heard a preacher recently talking about how Nazareth would always be known as the town that rubbed-shoulders with Jesus but rejected Him (or something to that effect), and reading these passages one would think that is true, for they tried to kill Him.  

What I find so interesting, and so hopeful is the fact that Jesus referred to Himself as Jesus of Nazareth, even after His Resurrection and Ascension.  We find this in Acts 22:8,  where Paul is describing his experience when He got knocked off the horse.  This happened to Paul after the stoning of Stephen, so probably somewhere between 2 and 4 years after Jesus' death, resurrection and ascension.  In fact, seven time in Acts we find Jesus referred to as Jesus of Nazareth!  

The very fact that Jesus refers to Himself as being from Nazareth certainly redeems the name of that town, and I think that reveals the heart of Jesus.  While the fact that He was from Nazareth emphasises His humanity and humble beginnings, I believe His using the title 'Jesus of Nazareth' reveals His love and redemption of the very people that rejected Him.  He refuses to allow His familiarity of them to be His final word, or judgement.  In fact, later in His ministry when He is proclaiming woes over some of the towns He did so many miracles in Luke 10:13-15, He leaves Nazareth off the list.

Now I am not trying to force any theological point here, I am just thinking about Jesus and His willingness to forgive.  On the cross He prayed for those that had crucified Him (See Luke 23:34), He took upon Himself the sins of the world, and His treatment at Nazareth would be included. 

Finally, this gives me great encouragement today that Jesus does not label us and cast us aside, He does not proclaim "this one is only capable of..." He knows us, knows our weaknesses, our limitations, and yet He is always calling us, always inviting us higher up and farther in, He does not hold our sins against us, but forgives us and encourages us!  In spite of the wickedness of man, He chooses to be identified as one of us, Jesus of Nazareth!  

I am also encouraged to look at my thoughts about Jesus.  Do I think I know Him, and does this in some way limit my expectations, my faith, even my belief?  Am I willing to press past what I know about Him, into knowing Him fully?  Have I settled for head knowledge and judgment of Him, rather then pressing into the depths of who He is?  Have I settled for the words of other people, rather than getting to know Him truly for myself?  Have I let my past experiences of Him, or His Church limit my belief, my faith, my hope or my desire?

Oh Jesus, help me to press past any limitation, any familiarity, any judgment I have made about You and Your love for me!   Help me to press into the limitless knowing of You, Your splendor, Your majesty and Holiness!

Amen and Amen!