Isn’t This Joseph’s Son?

Luke 4:14-44

After spending 40 days in the wilderness overcoming constant temptation, Jesus begins His public ministry in his hometown of Nazareth. It was likely that Jesus was very familiar with the synagogue where he preached and probably personally knew many people in the crowd.

Jesus reads a passage from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah and boldly claims in front of the listeners that He is the anointed one Isaiah speaks of in his prophesies. The crowd is immediately filled with doubt – “Isn’t this Joseph’s son,” they ask.  

They couldn’t understand how someone they had watched grow up in their town, someone so ordinary in their eyes, could possibly be the Messiah. Their perception of Jesus was based on what they have always known of Him, and they were unable to see the new work God was doing in His life. Why is it that the people who know us the best oftentimes doubt us the most?

If we were in Jesus’ shoes, we likely would have given it all up right then and there, feeling crushed by the weight of doubt surrounding us. Thankfully, Jesus didn’t. He continued to walk faithfully in what God had called Him to do.

Everyone’s walk with God looks different, but most of us can recall a moment or a period of time in our lives when we truly decided to give our hearts to the Lord. When we make that decision, God begins to transform our hearts, and our lives start to change. For some people these changes are slow, for others they’re rapid – but almost all the time they’re noticeable to the people closest to us.

As in Jesus’ case, those closest to us can sometimes doubt these changes. After seeing us at our worst and watching us choose sin again and again, it can be hard for them to believe that we have really changed. For this reason, sharing our faith with those who know us best – those who have known us from a time before we gave our lives to God – can feel especially difficult. We may be tempted to stay quiet and keep our experiences to ourselves. But what if these are the very people God wants to reach through us?

It's inevitable that we are going to face doubt in our walk with God – even Jesus did. But take heart: God is always at work. He can do miraculous things through us when we continue to walk with Him in the face of doubt.

Carmen K