Faith Differential

"And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith." - Matthew 13:58

"For we live by faith, not by sight" - 2 Corinthians 5:7

Jesus came to his own hometown, to those he knew best and who should've known him best, and was questioned, cross-examined and doubted. In response we get the impression that he was saddened and disappointed. In part of Matthew 13:57 Jesus says "A prophet is not without honor except in his own home town and in his own home."  It was the reply to those around him. But the first part of that passage says a lot. The people had taken "offense at him".

Can you believe it? They were offended by the presence of Christ, right there in their midst. Amazing. And yet...how different do we sometimes act in his midst? I mean it. How different? I doubt by much. Some of us have turned to prosperity preachers, a holistic faith or self-help guru's all because we have taken offense at the message of Christ. Maybe we can handle the physical demands of the ten commandments but not the mental or emotional demands that Jesus brought to the table. Moses demanded a steadfastness of faith, firm as a tall tree. Jesus came and talked of faith the size of a mustard seed, then demanded that we grow. On the surface it is a faith differential. Two concepts of faith, one Old Testament based and the other New Testament based, asking us to "be" and to "believe" in radically different ways. Can I be honest? The first time I met Jesus, face to face there in my bible, do you want to know what my response was? I said, "You're kidding, right?"

Growing is painful. It hurts. I'm hurting right now. Maybe you were hurting last week, or last month. Maybe you will be hurting tomorrow. I will spare you the inspirational Pinterest post-it's and cheesy advice to keep a stiff upper lip and instead I will remind you that even Jesus hurt, so much so that he stopped performing miracles for awhile, rejected as he was, cast aside and sneered at. It was a precursor to what the Romans would do to him soon enough and the amazing thing is he knew that. In the midst of his suffering at that moment he knew there was still worse to come and yet he still pushed on.

If that doesn't inspire you? Nothing will.