According to Mark 6:5, while Jesus was in His hometown of Nazareth,
Based upon this statement, some have concluded that Jesus
must have lacked the power to work all manner of miracles in His hometown.
Allegedly, Jesus was not God and the Bible's depiction of Him is contradictory.
Have you ever made the statement, "I couldn't do it"?
Perhaps you repeatedly attempted to open up a tightly sealed jar but just couldn't do it.
Maybe you tried to run a marathon
but stopped from exhaustion midway through the race,
and later you reflected on the race and told someone, "I simply couldn't do it."
Statements made in such context clearly indicate that a person is physically unable
to accomplish the tasks at hand.
it is also possible, however, to make the statement,
"I couldn't do it," yet mean something very different.
Suppose a football coach is beating a team 60 to zero at halftime,
and certain fans are begging him to, "Hang a hundred on 'em coach."
But the coach responds, "I couldn't do that."
Though it is likely within his team's power to score 100 or more points
the situation demands that he not attempt to follow through with his normal game plan.
The coach chooses to adjust his strategy and win in a more gracious manner.
The simple fact is when something cannot be done,
it may very well have to do with the circumstances at hand
and not one's inability to actually perform the action.
In truth, not only are skeptics unable to prove
that Jesus actually lacked power and ability in Nazareth,
the immediate context and the parallel passages in Matthew and Luke indicate that the restraint
Jesus willingly displayed was a result of the particular situation in His hometown.
Consider the many amazing miracles that Jesus worked
that Mark records in chapters 5 and 6 of his Gospel account.
In Mark 5, Jesus heals a demon-possessed man,
as well as a woman with a continual bleeding issue.
He then raises a 12-year-old girl from the dead.
In Mark 6, Jesus gives the 12 apostles power over unclean spirits so that they,
Later, Jesus miraculously feeds 5000 men plus the women and children
with only five loaves of bread and two fish. He then walks on water.
Mark 6 concludes with these words:
Mark's account of Jesus limited miracles in Nazareth is immersed in an overall context
of him working all manner of miracles, including raising someone from the dead.
What's more, Jesus was actually able to heal a few sick people in Nazareth.
Given all these facts one should, at the very least, seriously question critics
who conclude that Jesus was simply not powerful enough to work miracles in His hometown.
The overall context of the passage implicitly testifies to a different conclusion.
That is, Jesus chose not to work more miracles in Nazareth because of the circumstances.
Even though Jesus spoke astonishing words of wisdom like no man ever
and though He performed mighty miracles--
including healing some of the sick in Nazareth--
overall, the town disbelieved that He was the prophesied Messiah.
The inhabitants not only rejected Him, despite the wonders that He had already worked,
but they were so enraged by his teachings that they:
At such hard-hearted unbelief Jesus marveled.
Jesus knew that more miracles was not the answer.
He had provided sufficient evidence for those of His hometown to come to the rational conclusion
that He was not merely the son of Joseph and Mary.
Rather, He was the one on whom Isaiah prophesied the Spirit of the Lord would rest.
Yet they kicked Him out of the city anyway.
He was the miracle-working prophesied Messiah.
Yet it appears that no amount of evidence would change Nazareth's unbelief.
In short, the circumstances of unbelief in Nazareth made it so that,
Perhaps no more than a few people even bothered to come to Jesus for healing.
Or perhaps others came to Jesus,
but they approached Him in a disingenuous, mocking manner.
Whatever the case may have been,
Jesus chose to work no more miracles in Nazareth than He did before being thrown out of the city.
Thus the problem in Nazareth was not one of powerlessness on the part of Christ,
but the inhabitants strong unbelief and all that went along with it.
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