Expectations

In several of the gospels the story is told of Jesus returning to Nazareth to preach and to heal as he has in other towns and villages. Unfortunately the people of Nazareth are convinced they know all about Jesus; his mother, his brothers, the kind of work he does. Because they knew what to expect from Jesus, they left no room for him to do anything new. There are few if any healings in his hometown and when he preaches in their synagogue, they run him out of town.

Are we sometimes guilty of thinking we know Jesus so well, who he is and how he works, that we allow no room for him to do anything new in us? Are we so sure of the Jesus we know that when he does something new in someone around us we do not even recognize that it is God at work in their lives? Have we confined Jesus to our preset definition of who he is and what he does? If we have, be sure that, just as Jesus does in the gospels, he will walk right through our limitations and continue his work elsewhere.