verses, is the strange treatment which our Lord received in His own country.
He came to the town of Nazareth, where He had been brought up, and " taught in their synagogue." His teaching, no doubt, was the same as it always was. " Never man spake like this man." But it had no efiect on the people of Nazareth. They were "astonished," but their hearts were unmoved. They said, " Is not this the carpenter's son ? Is not his mother called Mary ?" They despised Him, because they were so familiar with Him. " They were offended in him." And they drew from our Lord the solemn remark, " A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country, and in his own house."
Let us see, in this history, a melancholy page of human nature unfolded to our view. We are all apt to despise mercies, if we are accustomed to them, and have them cheap. The Bibles and religious books, which are so plentiful in England, the means of grace of which we have so abundant a supply, the j)reaching of the Gospel which we hear every week, — all, all are liable to be undervalued. It is mournfully true that in religion, more than in anything else, "familiarity breeds contempt." Men forget that truth is truth, however old and hackneyed it may sound, and despise it because it is old. Alas ! by so doing, they provoke God to take it away.
Do we wonder that the relations, servants, and neigh- bors of godly people are not always converted ? Do we wonder that the parishioners of eminent ministers of the Gospel are often their hardest and most impenitent hearers ? Let us w^onder no more. Let us mark
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the experience of our Lord at Nazareth, and learn wisdom.
Do we ever fancy that if we had only seen and heard Jesus Christ, we should have been His faithful disciples ? Do we think that if we had only lived near Him, and been eyewitnesses of His ways, we should not have been undecided, wavering, and half-hearted about religion ? If we do, let us think so no longer. Let us observe the people of Nazareth, and learn wisdom.
The last thing which we ought to notice in these verses is the ruinous nature of unbelief. The chapter ends with the fearful words, " He did not many works there, because of their unbelief."
Behold in this single word the secret of the everlast- ing ruin of multitudes of souls ! They perish for ever, because they loill not believe. There is nothing beside in earth or heaven that prevents their salvation. Theii* sins, however many, might all be forgiven. The Father's love is ready to receive them. The blood of Christ is ready to cleanse them. The power of the Spirit is ready to renew them. But a great barrier interposes ; — they will not believe. " Ye will not come unto me," says Jesus, " that ye might have life." (John v. 40.)
May we all be on our guard against this accursed sin. It is the old root-sin, which caused the fall of man. Cat down in the true child of God by the power of the Spirit, it is ever ready to bud and sprout again. There are three great enemies against which God's children should daily pray, — pride, worldliness, and unbelief. Of these three, none is greater than unbelief.
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