Wondered

“And He wondered at their unbelief”  Mark 6:6

Wondered – How do you think you would have responded to Jesus if you grew up in his hometown?  Would you have been like the villagers of Mark 6?  They just refused to believe their eyes because they refused to see what was happening.  Mark describes Jesus as incredulous about their reaction.  Not “wonder” as in curious, but “wonder” as in astonishment.  It’s the “how could anyone not see this!” wonder. 

We don’t live in First Century Nazareth.  So, we conclude that we would never be like these people.  But sometimes I wonder (curiosity).  I grew up in Jesus’ hometown just like they did.  Of course, Jesus’ hometown now is called the church.  My family went to church so I went to church.  I heard all the Jesus stories.  I saw all the rituals.  I sang in the choir and listened to the sermons.  I even went to classes.  I walked down the aisle and was welcomed into the family.  But I lived a life of unbelief.  Jesus would have said the same thing to me.  “How could you be around me all your life and not see what I was doing, not hear what I was saying?”  He was probably amazed at my lack of perception.

But then I realize that He knew exactly why I lived in unbelief.  I lived in unbelief because I did not want to change.  I wanted to be my own god.  Oh, I knew all the right religious words and the right religious behavior.  I just didn’t let my heart belong completely to Him.  That’s unbelief.  Calling Him Lord but not obeying.

Do you know the story in this passage?  It says that Jesus couldn’t do many of the things he hoped to do because of the unbelief he encountered in that place.  That’s my story.  Jesus hoped to do wonderful, powerful, God-displaying things in my life.  But I prevented Him.  I refused to believe.  I had all the head knowledge, but that’s not Biblical belief.  Don’t be fooled.  What you know doesn’t matter.  What matters is what you do, and if you don’t surrender who you are to Him, you don’t believe.  Don’t expect Him to be able to do much with a life that doesn’t believe.  It’s not His fault.

I wonder (curiosity) if we really take Jesus seriously.  I wonder if we really think that His way is the only way.  I wonder if we don’t dismiss His demands on us until we run into a wall.  I wonder about a lot of things.  But Jesus wonders about only one thing:  the amazement that He, the Son of God, could show Himself to be the servant of Mankind and we would still refuse to follow.