Matthew 13:58
And so he did only a few miracles there because of their unbelief. (NLT)

He didn’t do many miracles there because of their hostile indifference. (The Message)

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Jesus was better than average. He could handle timber and stone like his father. He could outwork his brothers. He was kinder than anyone, more responsible than everyone, and an all-round good guy. But he was a local boy, and that’s all he would ever be in some people’s eyes. 

He was no better than anyone else in their opinion. He grew up in the same soil as everyone else. The same people, the same community standards, and the same unwritten rules shaped him, just as they shaped everyone else. 

He was neat and tidy. He was peaceful and purposeful. He was devoted to God and to his family. Big deal. He left the family business for his brothers to run while he wandered all over the place like some kind of itinerant rabbi. He told all kinds of stories and impressed crowds of people who didn’t know him, unlike his hometown neighbors. To the outsiders, he was new and different, exciting even. 

Jesus was just Jesus in his hometown. Expectations were lower. Interest was less. Honestly, some people, even some family members, couldn’t care less. 

Familiarity breeds contempt, they say. Sounds like they are right. 

Believe it or not, there’s a lesson here for us. We can become so familiar with the Jesus we’ve heard preached and taught that we miss Jesus for who he really is. 

Hearing the old, old story, as the hymn says, is good. Tell it to me again, please. And again. Let’s not, however, listen only to make sure whoever is talking tells it just like we’ve always heard it. Maybe we need to mine deeper, soar higher, and ponder longer. Maybe the old familiar stories require our listening on a deeper level. 

Prayerful listening, expectant listening, open up the truth we have all too quickly passed by in our familiarity. Unbelief creeps in when we think we know it all, thereby protecting ourselves from seeing and hearing anything more than what we have already mastered. Hostile indifference grows where we declare that we know all we need to know. 

Jesus has more to teach us, more to show us, more to help us understand. 

This is always true. Only those who are interested in more find it. It might be beneficial to revisit the page and start reading at verse 10, continuing through verse 58. 

A good prayer to pray as you seek and find is, “Show me what I have not yet seen. Help me understand what I have so far missed. Clarify my misunderstanding. Teach me what you most want me to know in this season of life.”

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I will resist the temptation to become locked into my long-held presuppositions and trust God to continue teaching me truths I need to learn. 

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Our Father, show me what I have not yet seen. Help me understand what I have so far missed. Clarify my misunderstanding. Teach me what you most want me to know in this season of life. I want to hear and obey everything you have to say. Amen.