Amazing Jesus

There isn't a day that passes when I don't think about what an incredible Savior we have. I read the Gospel accounts of His life and I find myself thrilled by His power, amazed by His righteousness and overwhelmed by His sacrifice. What an amazing Lord we serve! There are thousands of posts out in blogland that very eloquently detail this amazing Savior.
A few weeks ago during our public reading of scripture, the first few verses in Mark chapter six were read. You know the passage, Jesus is in His hometown. He has been teaching in the synagogue and the people, although awed by His words, begin to question His authority. "Where did he get this stuff?" "Isn't he that one who works with wood?" "Don't his brothers and sisters still live here?" "He is that hometown boy, isn't he?" At this point, it is obvious they are not ready to accept the deity of Jesus and He tells the disciples that "Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor." The text then says, "He could not do any miracles there except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their lack of faith."
Isn't that powerful? He was amazed by their lack of faith. The same lack of faith that amazed God Incarnate, allowed for few miracles and healings. Think about that for awhile! Obviously they knew Jesus. They'd known Him His whole life. They also could see that He was wise and able to do miracles. He could heal the sick and make the blind see, and yet Jesus calls their faith lacking. The nature of their questions suggests that while they accept His humanity, they are struggling with His deity. Is their faith so immature that they cannot see that this Man of Miracles is from God, is of God, is indeed God?
Sometimes it seems our society is a "prove it to me" society! We are very intelligent and accomplished. We have great faith in all things physical. I mean, we get in an airplane don't we? We accept the laws of physics and of gravity. We understand and believe in the rules of mathematics. But, like those in Nazareth, we sometimes struggle with accepting what we do not understand. Those things spiritual oftentimes seem illogical and difficult to grasp. For many it is difficult to admit we do not understand such things, and so we have become the masters of looking for theological loopholes, as if Jesus needed us to prove His spirituality or His deity. Because we cannot comprehend a sacrificial love, we convince ourselves that our salvation is a matter of checks and balances and we become a people pharasaical in nature, attempting to work our way into heaven. Because christian humility is difficult to understand, we put on a mask of false humility right over the top of our self-righteousness. Because we struggle with focusing on eternal life, we work and work to accumulate treasures here on earth. Because we don't fully understand His deity, we spend time and money on our own immortality. We are masters of rationalizing the spiritual---just like the inhabitants of ancient Nazareth.
Doesn't it make you wonder if we ever amaze Jesus with our lack of faith? Do you wonder if that same lack of faith prohibits His working in our lives? If we just accepted His deity, accepted His sacrifice, and accepted His mercy, would our faith grow? And would He look at us and see a heart and soul, ripe and ready for miracles, ready for His workings in our lives? Or would He just be amazed?

Peace
Neva