28th. April. 2022. Daily Devotion.

⁵³ When Jesus had finished these parables, he moved on from there. ⁵⁴ Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. ‘Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?’ they asked. ⁵⁵ ‘Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? ⁵⁶ Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?’ ⁵⁷ And they took offence at him. But Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is not without honour except in his own town and in his own home.’⁵⁸ And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.  Matthew 13:53-58

The people of Nazareth, including Jesus’ family, have fixed him in their minds as a working-class boy, respectable but not in any way prominent. Like societies everywhere, there is a tendency to keep him in his place. Having the idea of him fixed in their minds, they cannot consider evidence to the contrary.

One great lesson for meditation is the difficulty of challenging a preconception. It is a trick of the human mind, and a fault. Once we get an idea in our head, our mind rejects even compelling evidence to the contrary. For some reason, we identify ourselves with an idea, and we take evidence that might challenge or modify the idea as a personal attack against us.

An offshoot of this principle is especially appropriate for Bible study. There are few (if any) people in the world who can read what is written in the Bible, for we come to it with contrary ideas so deeply implanted in our personality that we cannot bear to read what is written. When we do manage it, it is very painful. Our eye skips over the plain meaning of some passages. Other passages we expand to support something we want them to say, even though it is a fabrication.

Jesus would not heal in Nazareth. How, then, will He treat people who will not read his Word with an open mind? It is imperative that we set aside what we think we know and try to read what is written in the Bible, without allowing our minds to add to it or subtract from it. We must allow it to change us, not vice versa.

Give me grace, Lord, to read your word with a mind open to the instruction of your Holy Spirit. Amen.

It ain’t those parts of the Bible that I can’t understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand. ~ Mark Twain

Praise to you, O Lord, for the jewel of sight, the treasure of hearing and the glory of speech. Open our eyes to your glory, our ears to your word and our mouths to proclaim your goodness; now and for ever. Amen. Thomas Traherne (1636-74)

God of all grace, you do not need us to agree with one another, but you do call us to love one another just as you love us. We know your love to be generous and gracious. You created us to be a part of your diverse creation, richer for being a gift, not a threat, to one another. So, give us courage every day, not just to worship you but to follow where your love leads. Amen.