“A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.” – Mark 6:4

The passage goes on to say that He could do no mighty work there and marveled at their disbelief.

The Son of God was walking among them and of ALL the communities in which Jesus ministered, He was most-poorly received in his hometown. I mean….why? And, “He could not”? God, “could not”?

There are a couple of things we need to understand: First, I think they failed to receive him well because of what they THOUGHT they knew about Him. They’d watched this child grow, having noted nothing exceptional about Him in His youth. For us, perhaps it’s not our ordinary-ness but our history, our mistakes. We often disqualify others, and ourselves, based on a history that is well-passed and we have no business looking back on…and neither do they. How much GOOD in someone’s character and insight do we miss because of what we think we know, what we’ve assumed, and our judgement of the person in question?

Second, “He could do no mighty work”. It feels counterintuitive to say He “could not”, since we know, “all things are possible with God.” Yet, both are true. Our trinity is all-powerful, yet also gentlemen. Christ told us to “Believe. Believe and do not doubt”. He’s hinged SO many of His promises to us on our faith, our belief.

Now, let’s be realistic. Haters gonna hate. We need to learn to be comfortable in our skin, knowing it’s not perfect, nor is it our true identity. Good news! What other people think of us is none of our business, nor is what they think about us true. Be awesome anyway. And, as discussed before, Jesus knows we experience doubt (“I believe! Only help my unbelief!”) and is merciful to us. Do your best and trust His grace to suffice for the rest. He is sufficient for you.

Rest in grace today. When you find yourself worried about what others think, ask yourself what your Father thinks…because He thinks you’re pretty great….and really…what He thinks is all that matters.