A Prophet Without Honor

March 1

Leviticus 17-18

Psalm 28:6-9

Proverbs 6:30-31

Mark 6:1-20

A Prophet Without Honor

“Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon?  Are not His sisters here with us? And they were taking offense at him.  And Jesus was saying to them, ‘A prophet is not without honor except in his own hometown and among his own relatives and in his own household.’  And He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them.  And He was marveling at their unbelief.”  Mark 6:3-6 LSB

Jesus experienced what many Christians experience.  Unfortunately, for many believers those who know them best have a hard time believing them when their life changes and they begin to follow Jesus.  They may encounter friends and family members who don’t want to accept their new faith either because they don’t believe they have really changed or because they don’t want them to change.  If they are not believers they may not want anything to do with God and a change may be convicting to them.  This can be disheartening and especially challenging if the new believer doesn’t have a strong support system of believers who can disciple him and help him grow in his relationship with the Lord.  When they are not supported by family members and friends, it is critical that they are able to find friends in the body of believers who will encourage and support them.  There may also be friends and family members who are believers that may be skeptical of the change and not ready to accept that it is authentic.  If there has been a pattern of hurtful behavior before their conversion, it may be hard for those who have been hurt to accept their new faith.  It may take time for them to see that the conversion is real.  They will need the support of friends in the body to help them grow and mature. 

For some of us, we may experience this even if we are not a new believer.  Members of our family and those who know us best, see us at our worst.  They see the good, the bad and the ugly.  They may not respect our faith because we don’t deserve respect.  They see things in us that don’t reflect Jesus and therefore they don’t listen when we try to talk to them about matters of faith.  Obviously, that was not Jesus’ problem.  He was perfect and always conducted Himself in a way that reflected His Father in heaven.  Those in His hometown chose to reject Him possibly out of conviction for their own sin, or because they were just blinded to the truth of who He was.  We should examine ourselves and see if there are things we need to confess and ask God to help us deal with in our behaviors toward and around our family members.  It is also important to recognize that sometimes we are not the person who is going to be able to reach those closest to us.  We may be living a godly life and doing everything right in our relationships with them, but they do not want to listen to us for whatever reason.  The best thing we can do may be to pray for them and pray that God will bring someone into their life that will be able to reach them.