He was amazed at their lack of faith!

Mark 6:1-6

Jesus went to his home town and his disciples accompanied him. With the coming of the sabbath he began teaching in the synagogue and most of them were astonished when they heard him. They said, ‘Where did the man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been granted him, and these miracles that are worked through him? This is the carpenter, surely, the son of Mary, the brother of James and Joset and Jude and Simon? His sisters, too, are they not here with us?’ And they would not accept him. And Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is only despised in his own country, among his own relations and in his own house’; and he could work no miracle there, though he cured a few sick people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith.

Food for thought!

Our meditation will focus on the last verse: "He was amazed at their lack of
faith." As you may know, in his entire earthly life, there are only two recorded instances of Jesus being amazed! And both these two instances were in relation to FAITH. It means that, the only thing about us that amazes Jesus, is our (lack of) faith.

The first time Jesus was amazed was / is in today's gospel (Mark 6:5-6). The
gospel says that because of their unbelief, he couldn’t do any mighty miracles
among them except to place His hands on a few sick people and heal them. And He was amazed at their unbelief.

The second Jesus was amazed is found in Luke 7:2-3, 6-10. There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. So Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.”

As you can see, in the first place, Jesus was amazed because of a gross
demonstration of unbelief. In the second place Jesus was amazed because of
a great demonstration of faith! What amazes Jesus is our faith, or lack of it.
Please note that because of their lack of faith, Jesus was unable to perform many miracles there. Only a few sick folks were healed. This fact shows us that without our faith Jesus can't do much; just a little; "because of their unbelief he couldn’t do any mighty miracles among them." Without our faith Jesus can't help us. It means that faith is the starting point and the basis of all “miracles.” Faith is the only known antidote for failure! Faith is the element, the “chemical” which, when mixed with prayer, gives us direct communication with God. Faith is the only agency through which the divine force of God can be harnessed and used by you and me. We miss much by our lack of faith in Jesus.