Wisdom and Miraculous Power
Matthew 13:54 – Then he came to his hometown and began to teach the people in their synagogue. They were astonished and said, “Where did this man get such wisdom and miraculous powers? 55 – Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother named Mary? And aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas?
Verse 56 – And aren’t all his sisters here with us? Where did he get all this?” 57 – And so they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own house.” 58 – And he did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.
It was unfortunate that the astonishment of the people in Jesus’ hometown did not lead to faith but to offense because of their prior knowledge of Jesus and his family. They were unwilling to look beyond Jesus’ local history and peer into His prophetic past. We can only pray that as the world rushes onward towards fulfilling the final moments of history as described in Bible prophecies, our astonishment at the signs and wonders of the enemy will lead to a Godly skepticism.
Let us not be swept up at the demonstrations of wisdom and miraculous power that will soon be unleashed upon our senses.
Jesus gave this warning in Matthew 24:23 – then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe him. 24 – For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 – Remember, I have told you ahead of time. 26 – So then, if someone says to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe him. 27 – For just like the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so the coming of the Son of Man will be.
May we follow the urging of God to look beyond our senses into the warnings of Jesus through the law and prophets in the Bible. Let’s get to know Jesus more each day and look forward to the east-west lightning of his arrival. Thank-you Jesus for telling us ahead of time!
Where two are gathered 