"Is not this the carpenter's son?  Is not his mother called Mary?  And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?  And are not all his sisters with us?  Where then did this man get all this?"  And they took offense at him.  But Jesus said to them, "Prophets are not without honor except in their own country and in their own house."  And he did not do many deeds of power there, because of their unbelief.

Evidently living beside Jesus while he walked the earth, hearing his wisdom and seeing his deeds of power did not necessarily offer special advantages to the people of Christ's time.  It is a remarkable warning to us that our faith is not foolproof or unassailable even when we witness firsthand the awesome power of God and hear his wisdom from without and within.  A humble, contrite heart always receptive to his grace is a necessity.

What is the lesson to us who live after the time of Christ?  Perhaps this: that we restrict the ability of Christ's power to act in our lives and (perhaps far worse) for his Spirit of Wisdom to be heard in the depths of our heart when we limit him to the concepts and images we have formed of him in our mind.

How can we receive his full forgiveness when we think he ought to withhold his forgiveness from certain others?  How can we experience the full freedom and joy of his love when we expect him to act in our lives as judge and jury?  We think he ought to act like us and in so doing limit his deeds of power in our lives because of our unbelief in unlimited forgiveness, love and mercy.  We are scandalized that he love evil people and do good to them and therefore feel ourselves far from him when we do wrong; we anticipate a rejection by him and in so doing unwittingly bring it about not because Christ is acting according to our mental model but because we have that mental model we become unbelievers in the God of infinity.  It is this unbelief that shackles Christ and dare we say - sadden him?

Eternal Wisdom, shatter our pride and our mental notions of you, which suggest we know you, have understood who you are and where you come from.  Reopen our minds, restore them to childlike wonder of you.