Hard-hearted Unbelief
Matthew 13:54-58
“When Jesus had finished these parables, He departed from there. He came to His hometown and began teaching them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where, then did this man get all these things?” And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.” And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.”
Because of their hard-hearted unbelief, what they were saying is “We know this guy, we saw Him grow up, He isn’t anyone special. He can’t be the Messiah!” He spoke with authority, because He had the incredible, vast knowledge of all the truth of God, He penetrated the mind and the heart. His words cut right through their traditions and it was convicting and they couldn’t stand it.
Whether positive or negative, the truth will always have an impact. You can be astonished and still filled with unbelief no matter what the evidence.
Notice they didn’t deny that He had miraculous powers, they never even tried to refute that He did these miraculous things, which is one of the greatest defenses of the deity of Christ. They didn’t deny that He did them, they knew wisdom came from God. In their unbelief they were denying the source of where His divine wisdom, profound truth and miraculous powers came from. It was obvious it was God, how can you deny that? So, their unbelief was an act of their will. Folks, unbelief is always a choice! It’s always settled on self-righteous justification and diverts itself from the main issue, moving to that which is irrelevant. Whether or not He was the carpenter’s son, the son of Mary, who His brothers were, who they even named or who His sisters was is irrelevant. They just could not reconcile the Jesus they knew, with the One they now saw. That was the problem.
I have faced similar issues in my own ministry. People look at who I once was, the things I’ve done in the past, and say “Look, I know where you came from. I remember all the things you did, who are you to instruct me about right and wrong?”
I certainly do not deny my past mistakes, but rather I acknowledge them and give the glory to God that through His Holy Spirit, He completely changed my life from what it once was to what it now is. Believe me, human depravity runs deep, only God can accomplish such a transformation! Some people just cannot accept what the power of God can do in a person’s life. I am who I am today because of Him.
I often hear people say, “I am who I am, I was born this way. I can’t change.” While that may be true, you can’t, but God can and I’m living proof of what God can do. If He did it for me, He can do it for you! But you must be willing to surrender all of you to Him.
Brian Monzón grew up attending church with his grandmother. Through her actions, she impressed upon him the power of the prayers of the righteous, as she herself spent many hours kneeling before God, praying for her family and the needs of others. Besides being a pastor, Brian has been studying and teaching the Word of God for many years. He has devoted his life to sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ, praying with and for others, especially the unsaved. Brian is also a proud father of four children. He challenges them to be their best and has strived to raise his family up in church and on the Word of God. To discover more about Brian and his ministry please visit Brian Monzón Ministries.
Image by Brigitte Werner from Pixabay
.” If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
(2 Corinthians 5;17″
But a natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. He can only judge you by what you did in the past.
Isaac Otieno is the founder of ETERNAL FATHERHOOD CENTER in Nairobi, Kenya. He is an Evangelist and a community Development Agent