The town of Nazareth where Jesus lived was a poor town and had a reputation then as a bad community. Nathaniel voiced the people's disdain for it when he replied to Philip's invitation to meet Jesus of Nazareth, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" (see John 1:46).
How did Nazareth become a loathsome ghetto during Christ's time? Matthew 13:54-58 tells us the kind of people that lived there:
When Jesus had finished these parables, he moved on from there. Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked. “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town and in his own home.” And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.
Jesus chose to limit blessing the people of Nazareth with his miraculous works because they were critical of Him. People there were critical of Christ. Thus, we can see here a direct correlation between the people's critical attitude and their town's miserable condition.
But now, show me a great city and I’ll show you a family that speaks words of encouragement for good deeds and big plans.
One man did this to seek a cure for his servant's sickness. We can read the account from the Gospel of Matthew:
Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.” And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.” The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! . . . Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that same hour (Matthew 8:5-10, 13 NKJV).The centurion's words of faith amazed the Lord Jesus such that He was encouraged to grant the soldier the miraculous healing that he asked for.
Blessings are borne by words that encourage, and stifled by the lack of it. Therefore my friends, for the good of your community and your family, I say to you, speak the words of encouragement!
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