50 Miles or Faith? by Chris White

There is a great piece of American folk wisdom which states that an expert is merely someone who happens to be more than 50 miles from home.  Mark chapter 6 offers an interesting perspective of this phenomenon in action.  It starts out with Jesus paying a visit to Nazareth where he grew up and where many of his siblings still lived.  He taught as He had done elsewhere but there the people were offended.   He prayed for people as He had done elsewhere but in Nazareth very few miracles happened.  At this point the scripture tells us that Jesus marveled at their unbelief.  After Jesus leaves Nazareth he heads towards the region around the Sea of Galilee where he teaches and miraculously feeds the multitudes with the loaves and fishes, He walks on water, and then ends with multitudes surrounding Him and bringing the sick to lay in his pathway that they might even touch Him or at least His clothing and be healed.  What a difference a few miles makes.  Jesus was more than willing to do these same astonishing things to bless the people of Nazareth but it was they who were unwilling to both believe and receive.  There is a lesson in here for all of us about underestimating and undervaluing those with whom we are most familiar which seems patently obvious.  How often have you written off the advice of a parent or sibling when in fact they said pretty much the same thing as the paid expert you consulted?  But what I find striking is how the unbelief of Nazareth seemed to restrict and hold back what God would have gladly done for them as He did elsewhere.  And this begs a question:  is there a blessing God might be desiring to give you but cannot because of unbelief?  Sometimes it’s not about a lack of asking but a lack of trusting and that’s the main point of the Christian life.  Think about it.

[An expert is] somebody who is more than 50 miles from home, has no responsibility for implementing the advice he gives, and shows slides.
ATTRIBUTION:	NY Times 24 Jan 84