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And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief. — Mark 6:5-6
Why was it that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, could do no mighty work in his hometown of Nazareth?
Preaching the good news, not performing miracles, was Jesus’ main focus during his earthly ministry.
Jesus had the divine power to heal, but his work was focused on proclaiming the good news of the coming of God’s kingdom. The common factor we see in Jesus’ miracles is faith. According to biblical scholar Herman Ridderbos in his book The Coming of the Kingdom,
…there is a close connection between a miracle wrought by Jesus and the faith of the people. They are mutually dependent. On the one hand a miracle serves to strengthen faith in Jesus’ mission and authority (cf., e.g., Mark 2:1-12). On the other hand there is no room for a miracle if it is not expected by faith. (p. 117)
Jesus’ miracles were a powerful, real sign of the cosmic reality of God’s kingdom.
While Jesus had the power to perform miracles, his “first and highest aim is not the cure of as many people as possible in order to manifest the kingdom of God on earth, but his real task is preaching” (Ridderbos, p. 117). Miracles are inextricably connected and subordinate to the preaching of the gospel (Ridderbos, p. 120). Recognizing the relationship between Jesus’ miracles, faith, and the coming of the kingdom helps us to understand why Jesus did not perform the miracles people asked or expected him to do to prove that he was the promised Messiah when he visited his hometown of Nazareth.
Jesus’ miracles were a powerful, real sign of the cosmic reality of God’s kingdom. Christians can rejoice that these miracles served to bolster the faith of not only the people who witnessed them during Jesus’ earthly ministry but also the saints throughout the centuries who have read about them in God’s precious word. Praise God for the perfect saving work of our Lord Jesus Christ, who lived, died, conquered the grave, ascended to heaven, and will return to consummate God’s kingdom at his second coming.
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Recommended:
The Coming of the Kingdom by Herman N. Ridderbos
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