Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. 2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.
“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? 3 Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.
4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” 5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 He was amazed at their lack of faith.
-Mark 6:1-6
Don’t let your preconceived notions of Jesus keep you away from him. Our society and pop culture have not been kind in the way they present Christianity. And for many of us that’s where we learn about Christianity—TV shows, movies, the news. Our society teaches us that Christianity is narrow-minded, backwards, antiquated, and bigoted.
In Taylor Swift’s Shake It Off hit, the singer addresses being misunderstood without being known in her lyrics: “That’s what people say. That’s what people say.” She’s making the point that people stay stuff about her without really knowing her. In the same way, a lot of people say stuff about Jesus without knowing Jesus.
Some of us might have even experienced this ourselves. Have you ever felt judged by someone who might have never even ever spoken with you or engage you in conversation? They already made up their minds about you without bothering to get to know you.
Quite a few of you have shared with me how you get frustrated with your friends from school when they judge Harvesters or AYL without ever coming to a single meeting. They have preconceive notions and stereotypes about Harvesters and AYL without checking it out for themselves.
That’s what’s happening here with Jesus in his hometown. The people had these preconceived notions about Jesus—“Isn’t he just a carpenter? Don’t we already know his family?”—and they already made up their minds about who Jesus is without actually engaging with Jesus.
Maybe you have some negative preconceived notions about Jesus or about Christianity. Before just accepting them, would you consider engaging Jesus first before making a final opinion about him?
Reading this devotional and reading words that Jesus actually said is a great start!
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