The people of Nazara, the hometown of Jesus, were initially so impressed by His preaching in the local synagogue. At this point, Jesus had raised their eyebrows, not their blood pressure.

But the next moment, they were enraged and intended to throw Him down the cliff. It escalated quickly! Their knowledge of Jesus and His words rested on human limitations which St Paul exhorted, "my message and my preaching were not with persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on human (limited) wisdom, but on God's power" (1Cor2:4,5).

Strangely, even in the synagogue, there was no faith encounter and no openness to the Spirit. We learn elsewhere that Jesus could do no great miracles in Nazareth because of their lack of faith. In response to their lack of faith, Jesus quoted two proverbs: "Physician, heal yourself" and "no prophet is ever accepted in his own country," connoting their inhospitable attitude toward the prophets of old.

The primary barrier to the Gospel is self-protective unbelief held by those who think they know everything about you. There can be no open heaven over closed hearts. In spite of unbelief, we pray, like St Paul, for a demonstration of the power of the Spirit.