Nazareth 2 - Matt 13:54-58; Mark 6:1-6

 It’s not clear to me, though it probably to someone else, if Jesus goes to Nazareth a second time before he sends his disciples out on missions, or after, with them or alone. But Jesus goes back to Nazareth to give the people there, the people that he grew up with and loved, his family, another chance to accept the gospel and be happy. He has done much work between now and when he was there preaching for the first time, maybe some have changed their minds, maybe some hearts had been softened. JTC comments, “He returned to the town of His youth, and again raised His voice in the synagog, thus mercifully affording the people another opportunity to learn and accept the truth.” He was again, not received kindly, “and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? And what wisdom is that which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands?” I just want to point out here that the only miracle the Savior performed that no other prophet ever has is the atonement. Other prophets have healed, raised from the dead, cast out devils. Those miracles are clearly done with the power of God, but Jesus wasn’t the only one who did them. He taught no doctrine that couldn’t be taught by any other person, and we’ve seen it taught by others both anciently with the Bible and the Book of Mormon, but also with the modern prophets we have. The purpose of all this is to say that except for the atonement, everything Jesus did had been done by someone else, meaning that Jesus did all the amazing things he did with the same authority and power that is given to others, if they will approach God in humility and a lifetime of servitude.

The people of Nazareth wondered, “Where did this guy get the power to do these miracles? Where did he learn all this wisdom?” The answer is the same as it is for any other person, “he got them from God.” We know that Jesus wasn’t born knowing who he was or what he was going to have to accomplish to save us. His testimony and power came the same way that they came to Alma, and Alma the Younger, and Joseph Smith, through fasting, prayer, and scripture study, and that’s the same way that we can get them. What’s ironic here is that people who marveled how a kid they grew up with had spiritual power, the same people could have had that same spiritual power if they would just make the commitment and do the spiritual work themselves. The Nazarene’s ask, “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” I feel like this same attitude is had among those who think that a 14 year old boy couldn’t have seen God and Jesus, or that a milk delivery truck driver couldn’t be a good bishop. People do make things up, they try to tell stories that make them feel important, and we must be careful with whoever comes with hard to believe tales, but we must not discount them simply because they come from modest backgrounds.

The people of Nazareth rejected Jesus and the gospel for a second time and Jesus “marveled because of their unbelief.” Matthew tells us that Jesus “did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.” But Mark makes an important distinction saying, “He could there do no mighty work,” the difference being that one implies Jesus chose not to heal there because he was hurt by their rejection, the other implies that Jesus was no physically or spiritually able to perform any miracles because the people did not believe he could. This again teaches that miracles do not convert, they only strengthen existing testimony. If Jesus were to perform great miraculous feats, the people would either be compelled to believe because of the magnitude of the work, or they would be forced to deny his power despite the blatant display of it. This reminds me of how Joseph Smith defined the sons of perdition, that they will deny the sun while they see it shining. If Jesus were to do mighty miracles, despite their disbelief, it would be gratuitous, it would not be to glorify God or to strengthen the believers.

If the people rejected Jesus, then they were telling him that they didn’t want any of the things that he was capable of. Jesus would have to go against their will to perform these displays and either force the people to superficially accept the gospel, which puts them under condemnation when they give up on it later, or it forces them to deny it while it is on display in front of their faces, which would put them on the road to perdition. Jesus didn’t do these things because he values people’s agency, he knows that we are all at different places at different times at different levels, and wants us to build a strong relationship with him and strong testimony of the gospel when we are ready and able to fully embrace it. He doesn’t want compulsion, because he knows that it doesn’t last and leads to resentment. He doesn’t want to push those that he loves to perdition, simply because they weren’t ready for his message when he wanted them to be.