Who Is This Carpenter’s Son?

Note: On Fridays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.

In today’s Gospel reading from Matthew, Jesus finds out you can’t go home again. Rather than thrilling to his return and his ministry success, people openly question how the carpenter’s son can be such a man of wisdom.

What do we do in situations like this? We might ramp up exhibitions of our talents, whether they be singing, acting, parenting, or general do-gooding and ministry, just to show them how great we are. Or, we might be inclined to argue with those silly fools who don’t appreciate just what they’ve got before them.

Jesus takes another tack. He doesn’t get angry, nor does he storm off and leave town. Nor does he whip up a bunch of miracles to prove his powers. He simply chooses not to waste miracles on those who have openly doubted him because they knew him way back when.

We can learn from Jesus’s example. We needn’t waste our gifts on those who deride us for our faith or who reject what we bring in Christ’s name. But the lesson goes both ways. There is no problem, no challenge, no tragedy that God will not see us through. Perhaps it won’t be in the way we desire, but he will be there with us every step of the way, as long as we don’t reject him. We run into trouble, however, when we attempt to micromanage the situation and question God’s ability or desire to care for us. When we lose faith, we lose everything.