The Anatomy of Unbelief

Imagine that a new family moves to our community and joins our church. The father’s name is David. David is a good man. He is a trusted lawyer and a hard worker. He loves his church and uses his knowledge to help lead a Sunday school class. He is faithful to come every week. He grew up as a Christian so he knows how to talk the talk, we ask him to lead announcements. Every time there is a service project, David comes. Because of his care for the church, he uses his money to build a new building. We name the building in his honor. After 60 years of faithful service to our church, David peacefully passes away in his bed surrounded by his family. He wakes up on the other side in hell.

Is this possible? In today’s passage, we will discover the sobering truth that it is possible to be familiar with Jesus, but lack faith in him.

We will examine the anatomy of unbelief.

I began with this illustration, because tonight, we will talk about unbelievers. If you’ve grown up in church, when you hear the word “unbeliever” you may have the image of someone who goes to bars each weekend and refuses to step foot into a church because they think our beliefs are ridiculous.

That person is not struggling with unbelief. They are struggling with doubt. They are struggling to trust in something that they have never been taught. They wrestle with believing in a Jesus they have never encountered.

In contrast...

In tonights passage, we will witness people who refuse to trust in Jesus not because they aren’t able to believe, but because they do no want to believe.

The first diagnosis of unbelief is a surprising reality...

Unbelievers may experience God and be amazed by him.

He went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. 2 And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished,

When Jesus left his hometown of Nazareth, he was a local carpenter. When he returned, he was a miracle worker, famous teacher, and had a literal following of devotee’s. How cool would that be for a high school re-union resume?

Other towns flocked to see him by the thousands. Some wanted to just touch his robe. How will his home town respond to him? Will he have a home court advantage?

As was his habit, he began to teach at a local gathering on the day of worship. Everything seemed normal, except for one person: Jesus. When they heard his teaching they were amazed. Though they watched him grow up, now he seemed completely different. He was especially different than what they expected him to be like. “Sure, Jesus, you can make a good table. But we didn’t expect you to become the pastor of the church... the teacher of the community....”

They experienced him and were amazed by his teaching.

It is a brilliant strategy of the enemy to make people think that they have Jesus figured out. As long as people do not see Jesus for who he truly is, and believe in him, they will still remain in unbelief.

You can learn about Jesus with your mind, but resist him in your heart.

You can be amazed by some of the ideas of Jesus with your emotions, but refuse to trust him with your soul.

Until you have a love for Jesus, I don’t care if you’ve been to church. I don’t care if you’ve watched the chosen. I don’t care if you’ve heard an tiktok influencer talk about how cool Jesus is. If you do not love him, you have not come to know him by faith.

The people of Jesus’ hometown thought they knew Jesus, but now they weren’t so sure, so they begin to ask questions...

Unbelievers ask questions to strengthen doubt, not trust.

saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? 3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

In verse 2 their questions were on the brink of uncovering Jesus’ identify as the savior of the world. But in verse 3 the questions led them to become offended.

When you are questioning Christianity, it is important to have clarity of the motive behind the question:

Some ask questions out of genuine confusion and hunger for answers.

Others ask questions to dig a deeper hole of stubborn doubt.

His hometown made themselves offended. They do not believe, because they do not want to believe.

If you are resisting faith, be honest with yourself, are your doubts because of genuine intellectual skepticism or stubborn heart.

If you are refusing to believe because of pride, then your doubts say less about Jesus and more about you.

"A tourist, eager to see everything in the art gallery, fled from picture to picture, scarcely noticing what was in the frames. “I didn’t see anything very special here,” he said to one of the guards as he left. “Sir,” the guard replied, “it is not the pictures that are on trial here—it is the visitors.”" Warren W. Wiersbe

If you die and find that your sentence is eternal separation from God, what excuse will you give?

Evidence? Was the credibility of science, creation, and your own conscience not enough?

God’s character? Was the sending of his only Son to die for you and rise from the dead not enough?

The hypocrisy of Christians? Was your exposure to the perfect truth of God’s message despite the weakness of messengers not enough?

My friend, if you wake up to find yourself in hell, the most painful reality will be the realization that it was the destiny of your own choosing.

For those who live in stubborn unbelief, they do so because they do not want to believe.

And this type of stubborn rebellion effected Jesus to his core...

Unbelief makes God amazed and may push him away.

4 And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.” 5 And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them.6 And he marveled because of their unbelief.

This story began with the people being amazed at Jesus’ teaching. The story concludes with Jesus being amazed at their stubborn unbelief.

This was his home town! His family! His people! If any group should have recognized that he was the savior of the world, it should have been them. If any group should have experienced the biggest miracles, the greatest blessings, it should have been them.

Instead, Jesus just healed a few people. Isn’t that a mighty work… healing people of physical sickness? Not to Jesus. The greater work is hearts that are changed. Families that are restored. Broken people made whole.

Their unbelief kept them from the greatest miracle. The miracle of heart transformation through trust in Jesus for salvation.

They refused the greatest miracle, so Jesus moved on to others who might receive it...

And he went about among the villages teaching.

Tonight my prayer is that you will heed the warning of the passage.... don’t assume that you know Jesus if you refuse to trust in him as your savior.

Don’t let the tragic story of David be you.

Sure, Jesus may bless you with a family and job even if you refuse to trust in him. But what good is it to gain the whole world and lose your soul? Jesus is the only source of satisfaction. If you have everything, but don’t have Jesus, you have nothing. If you have nothing, but have Jesus, you have everything.

Do not disbelieve, believe.