What does it mean that Jesus was “not able” to perform mighty deeds? Isn’t He the God of the universe? Yes, but this passage really shows a deep insight into God’s full nature. God respects our free will, He will never force Himself upon us. Peter Kreeft once wrote “A human act is either free and not forced, or it is forced and not free. It can’t be both unforced and forced, both free and unfree.” But even more than that love requires freedom. Love without freedom is not love…, it is more like slavery. It is like the crowds of people cheering gleefully in front of the North Korean dictator because they dont want to be the first one to stop, for fear of death. Jesus does not want love that does not come freely from the giver, because that is not actually love.
Further, this reading give us insight into the power of prayer, and the affect that it has upon us. Prayer is not a transaction, where I say a prayer and God gives me a grace in return. Instead the grace is poured out equally onto all of us constantly, but it is prayer that actually makes us capable of recieving it. The point of prayer is to orient our mind and body to the Lord, and mostly to open our hearts to Him. The grace of God is guaranteed always, it is like the rays of the sun, poured out on everything. It is our nature that determines what those rays of sun do in our lives. If our nature is like wax those rays will soften us, if our nature is like clay, those very same rays will harden us. All we need do is to turn toward Him in prayer, with a nature that will allow his grace to work in our lives. Start by asking for His forgiveness, guidance, and help. Ask Him to enter into every part of your life, but be ready because He will listen, and His grace will seriously change you.
This is what is happening today in this reading, Jesus is “not able” to do much with these people because their hearts are like clay and not able to recieve the gifts that God wants to pour out on them. Grace is not a transaction, it is the result of trust and a humble request in faith. His kin see Jesus as just a man, that they have known since He was a little child. They don’t see Him as God, who can do anything for them. This is an extreme example, but it definitely rings true for many things that I have seen in my own life. Truth is often filtered by the person that is speaking it. If the person that is living a life that is contrary to the truth trys to proclaim the truth, we disregard the person and all of the truth that they may be saying. Not because we believe that the truth is false, but because that person is hypocrite. But when the person is good and upright, and they speak the very same truth, we tend to sit up and pay attention. Isnt it the same truth, though? Why does it matter who says it? Probably because we are sceptical and suspicious of everything, and because we generally have such a cloudy understanding of what truth is in the first place.
This needs to change, and it starts in the hearts of each and every one of us. We must change our nature to be disposed to God and His teaching. We must then learn our faith, so that we can know and see what is good, true, and beautiful, and we must be ready and able to recognize it whenever, and where ever it appears or is proclaimed in this world. We also need to transform our lives as well, to be guided and informed by the truth fully, so that when people hear us proclaim it they will hopefully sit up and pay attention. But we must always remember, that even under the best circumstances, some did not listen, even to Jesus. So we must accept that many will likely not listen to us either. But if you are a hypocrite, I guarantee they definitely will not hear you at all. So start today, change your life, and get to know your faith. The future of our church and its people depends on it.
