Chapter 32
The Power of Unbelief
“And it
came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed
thence. And when he was come into his
own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were
astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these
mighty works? Is not this the
carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us?
Whence then hath this man all these things? And they were offended in him. But Jesus said
unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his
own house. And he did not many mighty
works there because of their unbelief.” (Matthew 13:53-58)
We often hear and
read about the power of faith, and rightly so. Our Lord Jesus said, “If ye have faith as a grain of
mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place;
and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you” (Matt. 17:20). But in this
closing paragraph of Matthew 13 the Holy Spirit sets before us the power of
unbelief. Just as faith as a grain of mustard seed, looking to Christ, has the
power to cast the mountains of our sins into the depths of the sea, so unbelief
has the power to ruin your soul, unleash the wrath of God, and drag your soul
down to hell.
The
power of faith in Christ is manifest throughout the Scriptures. Abraham
believed God and it was imputed to him for righteousness. Noah believed God and
built an ark to the saving of his family. Israel believed God and walked
through the Red Sea. David believed God and slew Goliath. Daniel believed God
and stopped the mouths of lions. The centurion soldier believed God and saw his
servant healed. Two blind men believed God and received their sight. The woman
with an issue of blood believed God and was healed of her infirmity. Jairus
believed God and saw his daughter brought back to life. The Philippian Jailer
believed God and received everlasting life. The list could go on and on. The
Bible says much about the power of faith.
But
the Word of God also shows us the power of unbelief. Adam, Noah’s generation,
Lot’s wife, Pharaoh, Israel, Nebuchadnezzar, the Scribes and Pharisees, the
Rich young ruler, Felix, Festus, and Agrippa all stand out as beacons to warn
us of the danger and power of unbelief. All unbelief is a matter of the will.
Unbelief is a matter of choice. Unbelief is saying “no” to God in spite of the
evidence. This is what we see in Matthew 13:53-58.
Capernaum had been the home base of
our Lord’s ministry for about a year (Mt. 4:13; 8:5). The people there had seen
his miracles. They heard his word. They watched his life. But they did not
believe on him. Therefore, the Lord departed, never to return (v. 53). The Lord
Jesus never went back to Capernaum again, except to walk through it to go to
another place.
When the Lord Jesus returned to
Nazareth, he met with opposition and unbelief in his own hometown and among his
own kinsman (vv. 54-57; Luke 4:16-32). The people who heard him preach and saw
the miracles he performed were astonished by his doctrine and his divine power;
but “they were offended in him.” They stumbled at “the stumbling
stone.” That which should have been a stepping-stone for them, the
incarnate Son of God, the sinner’s Friend and Substitute, because of the gospel
he preached, was “a Rock of offense” to them.
Poor souls! Like multitudes today, the things they heard from his lips, by which they were astonished, made him “a savor of death unto death” (2 Cor. 2:16) to them! Because they only knew Christ after the flesh, and not after the Spirit (2 Cor. 5:16), they despised him. He was, therefore, a prophet without honor in his own country and among his own people. The offence of the cross has not ceased; and it never shall.
Time and again our Lord came to
Nazareth. Yet, “he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief”
(v. 58). J. C. Ryle wrote, “Behold in this single word the secret of the
everlasting ruin of multitudes of souls! They perish forever, because they will
not believe.” Let me show you six things about unbelief. May God the Holy
Spirit be our Teacher and give us understanding.
1. Unbelief ignores
the obvious.
“And when he
was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that
they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these
mighty works ?”(v. 54) — Those who heard his doctrine and saw his miracles
did not reject him for lack of evidence, but in spite of overwhelming evidence.
They did not reject him because they lacked the truth, but because they
rejected the truth. They despised the light because they preferred darkness
(John 3:1-20).
When
men and woman willfully reject Christ, the most powerful arguments and the most
convincing facts will not convince them of divine truth. These people, being
left to themselves, would not and could not come to him. The most convincing
preaching, the most unquestionable displays of divine power, and the most
emotional experiences did not produce faith in them. Faith in Christ is the
gift of God (Eph. 2:8-9). It is something that must be wrought in us by the
omnipotent mercy of God the Holy Spirit (Col. 2:12)
2. Unbelief exalts
the irrelevant.
“Is not this
the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James,
and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are
they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?” (vv.
55-56) — These things were totally irrelevant. The Lord Jesus preached the
gospel to these eternity bound sinners; and they began to quibble about his
family, his education, and his qualifications as a preacher!
“They grew sarcastic, and
harped upon the family names of James, and Joses, and
Simon, and Judas. They hinted that he could not have learned much wisdom in a
carpenter’s shop, and as he had not been among the rabbis to obtain a superior
education, he could not really know much. How could he have attained to such
eminence? He was a mere nobody. Why, they knew him when his parents lost him when
they went up to the feast at Jerusalem! They could not listen to the talk of
the carpenter’s son.” (C. H. Spurgeon)
There are multitudes just like them
today. As Paul described them, “Ever learning, and never able to come to the
knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim. 3:7). There are countless armchair
theologians, men (and even women!) who consider themselves the religious authorities of the age, honor bound
to enlighten all with whom they come in contact regarding spiritual matters of
which they have no knowledge. They contribute nothing to the cause of Christ or
the souls of men. But they are always full of questions, questions they spew
out under the pretense of sincerity, with no purpose except to exalt themselves
and slander faithful men.
It
is sad and tragic to see people exalting small, insignificant things, using
them as great excuses for not believing the gospel. They like to discuss
obscure texts, choosing to ignore the obvious. They value their opinions more
highly than the Revelation of God in Holy Scripture. They cling to personal
experience, religious tradition, and religious creeds as coverings for their
rebellion to divine authority and unbelief. By their quibbles, they seek to
divert attention away from the gospel, escape the claims of Christ, and justify
themselves. Pastor Chris Cunningham, in his commentary on John 9, accurately
describes the know-it-all Pharisees of the religious world as
“orangutans with a vocabulary.”
3. Unbelief stumbles
over the truth.
“And they were
offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, save
in his own country, and in his own house” (v. 57). Read Romans 9:30-32;
10:3-4, 1 Corinthians 1:21-24, and Luke 4:20-24. The fact is, all who are left
to themselves in unbelief are offended by Christ and the gospel of Christ. In
Matthew 11:6 our Savior declares, “blessed is he whosoever shall not be
offended in me.” Truly they are blessed of God, blessed with grace and
salvation in Christ, who, rather than being offended by the gospel, believe it
and cannot part with it. Trusting Christ alone as our Savior, we have peace,
joy, and comfort in our souls and look for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ
unto eternal life (Jude 21).
4. Unbelief blocks
the supernatural.
“And he did not
many mighty works there because of their unbelief” (v. 58). — Our Lord
performed some miracles there, but not many, that they might be left without
excuse. John Gill wrote, “He only ‘laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and
healed them.’ Yet, these were such as raised their wonder and astonishment,
but did not command their faith, and were rather stumbling blocks unto them.
Such were their prejudices, their unbelief, and the hardness of their hearts.
And the reason indeed why he did no more was, ‘because of their unbelief.’”
Mark tells us that “he marveled
because of their unbelief,” and ‘he could there do no mighty works’
(Mark 6:5-6). That does not mean that he lacked the power to perform them, or
that their unbelief was too great and mighty for him (the omnipotent God) to
overcome. Some of our Lord’s miracles were performed in direct response to
personal faith. But many, perhaps most of them, were performed without any
expression of faith in those who benefited from them. So man’s lack of faith
does not bind the power of God. Man’s unbelief does not hold dominion over
God’s omnipotence. God does what he will, whether man believes or not!
However,
throughout his earthly ministry our Lord chose not to perform his miracles
where men and women manifest a hardened, willful unbelief. Unbelief became a
barrier to divine blessings. In Matthew 13:58 the Holy Spirit specifically
tells us that it was because of the unbelief of the people that our Savior did
no miracles of significance in Nazareth.
5. Unbelief can never
see the glory of God.
How unbelief robs us! I cannot help wondering, “What might
have been, had I but believed God?” People sit around and debate the issue of
God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility as casually as they debate politics,
so that they may appear very precise and orthodox in their theological opinions
and excuse their rebellion, unbelief, sin, and disobedience, saying, “Well, God
is sovereign. His purpose stands fast. His will is done.” All of that is true
enough; but their rationalization is wrong. In Isaiah 48:16-19 the Lord God
expressly declares what might have been, had Israel simply obeyed his voice. As
Martha stood before her brother’s tomb, “Jesus saith unto her, Said I not
unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?”
(John
11:40).
John Calvin wrote, “Our own unbelief
is the only impediment which prevents God from satisfying us largely and
bountifully with all good things.” Too often we walk upon God’s promises like
children upon ice, always fearful of the breaking and us falling! How shameful!
It is unbelief alone that prevents us from soaring in our hearts into the
celestial city and walking by faith even now across the streets of gold.
6. Unbelief alone
holds lost souls in condemnation under the wrath of God.
If you perish, it
will be for only one reason. It will be because you will not believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ (John 3:13-18). There is nothing else in heaven or earth that
will prevent you from being saved (John 5:40).
“There are three
great enemies,” J. C. Ryle, wrote, “against which God’s children should daily
pray — pride, worldliness, and unbelief.” Of these three, none is greater than
unbelief. Let us ever beware of unbelief, praying for grace to be delivered
from it. Unbelief kept Moses out of the promised land, caused Aaron to fall
under pressure, caused David to behave like a mad man, and caused Peter to
tremble before a little girl! I often wander what blessings, privileges, and
opportunities I have missed because of unbelief! – “Lord, I believe, Help thou
mine unbelief” (Mk. 9:24).