My wife bought us some multivitamins the other day – the kind you take when you are over 50.  I took one out and looked it over, and frankly I was offended.  It was a ghostly grey color. 

It was like the manufacturer was saying, “Hey, you don’t get a nice blue or shiny red vitamin like the kids, because you are old and grey.  So, deal with it.”  Hey, I’m surprised the vitamins didn’t come with wrinkles!

It is good to know though, that our Lord has power over aging, death, and disease. He proved it in a town called Capernaum.   In Jesus’ day, the town was a prosperous fishing village – the jewel of the Sea of Galilee.  Jesus made it His ministry headquarters calling it His, “own city.” (Matthew 9:1)

The ruins of it exist today.  It has not been buried or bulldozed away.  The foundation of the ancient synagogue is still in place.  It is the stone on which Jesus once stood and taught. 

Why did He choose Capernaum as a base?  It was located on an international highway that reached from empire-to-empire.  Any newsworthy event in Capernaum would have been carried far and wide.

The Jews understood from the prophet Isaiah (35:5, 61:1) that the coming Messiah would be known by the miracles He did.  In fact, John the Baptist once asked if Jesus was truly the promised Messiah. 

This is how Jesus answered, “Go tell John what you hear and see:  The blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news proclaimed to them.”  (Matthew 11:4-5) These miracles were the proof.

It’s interesting that Jesus performed every one of those miracles in Capernaum.   According to the Gospel of Matthew, He healed a lame man there (9:1) and also raised up from the dead the daughter of an official of the synagogue. (9:18-23)

He healed 2 blind men in Capernaum (9:27) and gave speech to a mute/dumb man there. (9:32) and we are told that He preached the good news to those there and elsewhere.  (9:35) 

So there in that tiny seaside town, it appears that every single type of miraculous sign to validate the Messiah had been performed.  He fulfilled the script of Isaiah perfectly.   And it took place before the eyes of the Capernaum populace.  No other place in Israel could boast the same thing. 

The appropriate response to those miracles would have been, “Wow Jesus, you are obviously divine, God in the flesh, and you are so holy and so, so good to us.”

So, we are yours.  We are trading in our sinful pleasures to follow You and your plan for us.  Your priorities are now ours.”

Instead, we read these stunning words in Matthew 11:23-24.  Jesus said, “And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be thrown down to Hades! For if the miracles done among you had been done in Sodom, it would have continued to this day. But I tell you, it will be more bearable for the region of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you!”

The city saw a lot – but responded with little.  In their self-centered world, His miracles became their entitlements.  There was no gratitude or repentance.

Perhaps we need to challenge our own creeping entitlement mentality. 

The Lord owes us nothing – not a thing!  He, however, sometimes does miraculous and wonderful things for us anyway.  Why? To capture our hearts.

Jesus gives us reasons to believe.  He wants our hearts in exchange!   He hopes to be entrusted with our eternal soul.  He wants to help us avoid the condemnation placed on Capernaum.  

That’s who He is.  That’s what He does.  And it’s you and me that He seeks.

A PRAYER: Lord you have done mighty things.  Help our faithless hearts recognize it!

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you!

Scripture references are from the NETBible.com®