Matthew 13:53-58

We are Returning to Our Series in the Gospel of Matthew

We’ll Be Looking at:

Matthew 13:54-58

First, I’m Going to Do a Recap of Matthew’s Account so Far

Recap

The Book Begins By Telling Us What it’s All About:

Matthew 1:1 (NASB95)

1 The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham:

Matthew’s Account is All About How Jesus is the Messiah - Anointed King

He Relives and Fulfills the History of the People of Israel

And Every Step of the Way, He Does What is Right…

Where Israel Did What was Wrong

After His Baptism and Reception of the Holy Spirit…

He Began His Gospel Ministry

Matthew 4:17 (NASB95)

17 From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

That is to Say: “Turn From Your Sins and Make Yourself Ready…”

“The Reign and Rule of God Through His Messiah is Almost Here”

And His Mission is to Bring the Reign of God From Heaven to Earth

That is: to Make Earth More Like Heaven

We See How He Does this in Matthew 4:23

Matthew 4:23 (NASB95)

23 Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.

He was Teaching and Preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom

We See What this Gospel Consisted of in the Sermon on the Mount

This is How Citizens of God’s Kingdom Ought to Live and Behave

And He Healed People

Jesus was Teaching People How to Live the Way God Intends

And He was Reversing the Effects of the Fall (Sickness, Disease, etc.)

The Gospel of the Reign of God is All About Making Earth More Like Heaven

Through Transforming People and Erasing the Effects Sin

After the Message of the Kingdom in Chapters 5-7…

We See the Power of the King Through His Miracles in Chapters 8-9

In Chapter 10, Jesus Instructs and Sends Out His Disciples…

To Multiply the Ministry of the Kingdom

In Chapters 11-12, We See the Jesus the Messiah Experiencing Rejection

This Leads to Chapter 13, Where He Begins Speaking in Parables

This Type of Teaching was to Conceal the Message of the Kingdom…

From Those Who Reject the King…

And Reveal the Message to Those Who Accept the King

We are Picking Up Right After Jesus’ Parables

The Way Matthew has Structured His Gospel Account…

Is Around 5 Major Teaching Discourses of Jesus

We’ve Already Looked at 3 of the 5:

1.) Sermon on the Mount

2.) Instructions for Evangelism

3.) Parables

Now We are Starting a New Narrative Section

And this Section is All About Answering the Questions:

Who is Jesus?

In this Section, We’ll See:

His Hometown Reject Him

King Herod Mistake Him for John the Baptizer

His Disciples Mistake Him for a Ghost

And the Section will Come to it’s Grand Conclusion with Peter Making the Great Confession:

“You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God”

Matthew 13:54 (NASB95)

54 He came to His hometown and began teaching them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?

After Speaking in Parables at Capernaum, Jesus Traveled to His Hometown, Nazareth

Nazareth was a Small Village with an Estimated Population of 1,500+ People

He Followed His Custom of Going to the Synagogue to Teach

But this will Be the Last Time Jesus Teaches in a Synagogue in Matthew’s Account

The People of His Hometown Were Amazed at Him

The Wisdom that He Taught with was Unearthly

And His Miraculous Abilities Were Unlike Anything They’d Ever Seen

Naturally, They Weren’t Just Amazed…

They Were Curious About These Things

Where/How Did He Attain This Wisdom and Abilities?

Matthew 13:55–56 (NASB95)

55 “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?56 “And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things?”

“We Know this Boy’s Family!”

“They’re All Just Like the Rest of Us”

“And We’ve Known Him Since He was a Little Boy”

“He was Always a Common Villager Like the Rest of Us”

“He was Never a Preacher or a Miracle Worker”

“And He Certainly Wasn’t the Long-Awaited Messiah!”

“But Now He Comes Back Home and Claims to Be All the Above?”

It’s Easy to Imagine the Thoughts that Were Running Through Their Heads

Whenever You’ve Known Someone Their Entire Life…

And Then They Suddenly Seem to Be an Entirely Different Person…

It’s Natural (and Okay) to Have Some Questions and Be a Little Skeptical

But What They Do Next is Not Okay

Matthew 13:57 (NASB95)

57 And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.”

Instead of Allowing Their Questions and Skepticism to Lead to Further Investigation…

They Took Offense at Jesus

They Were skandalizō - They Were Scandalized

They Were Shocked in the Such a Way that They Were Offended By Jesus

Have You Ever Heard the Phrase: “Familiarity Breeds Contempt”?

The Better Acquainted You are with Someone…

The Less Respect You Tend Have for Them

Instead of Rejoicing that One of Their Own is the Messiah…

They are Scandalized and Refuse to Accept Him as the Messiah

This is Why Jesus Spoke this Proverb to Them:

“A Prophet is Not Without Honor Except in His Hometown and in His Own Household”

Jesus is Not the Only Messenger of God Whose Experienced this

Prophets Like Jeremiah Experienced the Same Treatment in Their Hometowns

Matthew 13:58 (NASB95)

58 And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.

Because They Rejected the Messiah and His Message…

He Chose Not to Work Many Miracles Among Them

Mark 6:5–6 (NASB95)

5 And He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them.6 And He wondered at their unbelief.

Jesus Did Heal Some in Nazareth…

But He “Couldn’t” Do Any Other Miracles

This Doesn’t Mean Jesus’ Power Depends on the Faith of Others

He Likely Healed Those Who Believed He Could Do So

Those Who Didn’t Believe, Wouldn’t Receive Anything

Just as They Were Amazed at Jesus’ Wise Teaching and Miraculous Power…

Jesus was Amazed at Their Unwillingness to Believe in Him…

Despite that Mountain of Evidence

Applications

There are Several Applications that We can Take Away from this Passage

Don’t Believe or Disbelieve a Message Based on the Messenger

The People of Nazareth had Known Jesus Prior to His Baptism

Not that He was a Sinful Person Before…

But He had Definitely Changed in Some Extraordinary Ways

His Wisdom and Miraculous Abilities Were Undeniable Proof of Who He Claimed to Be

But Because of Their Prior Knowledge, They Rejected Him and His Gospel

Are We Sometimes Guilty of the Same?

Is it Possible that We Could Deny Truth Based Upon the Messenger?

Have You Ever Refused to Consider Something a Closed Loved One has Told You?

Not Because the Advice or Information was Bad…

But Because of Who Gave it

Or Maybe a Stranger…

Or a Religious Person with Whom You Disagree in Several Areas…

Or Someone Whose Lived a More Sinful Life than Yourself

This is a Logical Fallacy Called “Ad Hominem”

Argument From Authority is Just as Bad

Only Believing Something Because of Who Said it, Not From Evidence

Don’t be discouraged when family and close friends are the hardest to convert. This is how the world works, unfortunately. The more we know someone, the harder it is for us to accept their transformation from darkness to light. It’s also harder for us to take them for seriously.

Jesus didn’t put all His eggs in one basket. Even when that basket was his family and hometown. Whenever people rejected Him, He didn’t waste His time trying to convince them. He moved on and spent more time with those interested in His teaching. We should be open to doing the same.

The people in Nazareth wondered where Jesus got his wisdom and miraculous abilities. In Luke’s Gospel, We learn that Jesus had already given them the answer during a previous visit to Nazareth - the Holy Spirit

Sometimes it can feel awkward around unbelieving family and friends. They know who you used to be more than anyone else. When they see what the Holy Spirit has done in you, it can seem far-fetched or disingenuous to them. They may think you are being fake or a hypocrite. Familiarity breeds contempt. That’s just the way we are.

Maybe we need to view the church the way Jesus did

Matthew 12:48–50 NASB95

48 But Jesus answered the one who was telling Him and said, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” 49 And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers! 50 “For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.”

They are the people who know us best now. They love the person we’ve become. They support the life we’ve chosen. If only we could somehow view the church as our truest family.