Jesus Rejected at Home

Introduction

Good morning rivertree and happy fathers day to all the dads out there.

It’s a real joy to be with you. Whether you are at cove, wtaching online or here downtown

If you have your Bibles go ahead and open up to Matthew 13 and in a moment we will start reading together in verse 47.

We’ve been working through the gospel of Matthew of a while here at rivertree and today we getting to the halfway point

we’ve been working through the parables of Jesus.

Parables are pratical stories Jesus uses to illustrate spirtual truths.

It’s often pretty simple but it can be hard to understand.

in order to understand the parables it’s important to listen from the orgianl hearers perspective and allow the truth Jesus is teaching to change our perspective

Up to this point in the text Jesus has taught six parables. Today we will look at parable 7 and 8 and conclude this chapter with the application of these parables play out in real time.

Read Matthew 13:47-58

Matthew 13:47–58 ESV

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. “Have you understood all these things?” They said to him, “Yes.” And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.” And when Jesus had finished these parables, he went away from there, and coming to his hometown he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not 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 hometown and in his own household.” And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.

In verse 47 Jesus starts with a familiar reminder

He says again, the kindgom of heave is like

He has been teaching/and pressing in on what the kingdom of heaven is like

Jesus desire is for the listeners to understand what the kingdom was like, what it was becoming

Matthew pick up on this theme when writing his gospel. He uses the phrase kingdom of heaven 32 times.

Exalting Jesus in Matthew What Is the Kingdom of Heaven?

In short, the kingdom of heaven is the redemptive rule or reign of God in Christ.

It’s what the gopsel writers emphasies over and over.

look at

Matthew 6:33 ESV

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

and Mark 10:15

Mark 10:15 ESV

Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”

This kind of perspective helpus us udnerstand what why Jesus teaching on this is important.

As followers of Jesus we should seek the kingdom of God and enter the kingdom like a child.

so when Jesus is teacihng on the kingdom here in matthew 13 this is what he has in mind

He is reminding them what the kingdom is like. he is reminding them of their present reality the king is here and the kingdom is advancing in all sorts of wonderful and proufoudn ways

this reminder is the same reminder I need. and maybe it’s something you need also

I know I can get lost in the current events of the world/ the good and the bad of my day and the news cyclye of the day

the highs and lows of what my present reality feels like

but the king reminds us He is here, and his kingdom is advancing. and not amount of pain, suffering, disappointemnt, evil can stand agaisnt his kingdom.

as Jesus has been teaching about the kingdom in matthew 13 the stories he has used have been so simple.

It’s most likely the reason his discipels struggled at moments to even understand what he was talking about. But there is majesty in his simplicity

so far he has used stories of famers, weeds, mustards seed, yeast, treasure/hidden and a pearl

to illustrante the most amazing truths ever heard by the ears of men

and for those who would humly and joyfull recive his message about the kingdom of God thier lives would be changed forever.

the same is true today. Dont’ ever think a parable is to simple and you are to far beyond to recive the truth found in them.

so it’s no suprise after using those simple stories to illustrate teh realities of the kingdom he goes back to one more familiar place

fishing.

this parable of the net is very similar to the parable of the weeds.

In fact they are almost identical. The one is about a field and the other the sea but they essetial are saying the same thing.

but it’s important enough for Jesus to remind them of what he is saying.

Remeber the setting. Most of the people in the nation of Isreal saw themselves as part of the kingdom.

but Jesus is making it clear Just becasue they were born in a certain nation at a certain time did not make them part of the kingdom.

this point is worth emphazing.

the sorting of the parables is hard to miss. Jesus is story is simple:

A net was thrownn into the sea and EVERY kind of fish is gathered.

once this net was full men sat on the shore and sorted the fish.

the good ones were kept. The bdad thrown away.

This story was so simple that each person listening this day would have understood what Jesus was syaing. They had probably all expierenced this or witnessed this.

and if you have ever fished at all maybe you’ve expirenced something similar to this

About 10 years ago a buddy of mine got me into fishing. I ahd never really done it before but once I started I was hooked.

I would try and fish on my days off and find spots where fish were

Early on in my short lived fishing career I went down to hays nature perserve to fish in hampton cove.

I would cast my line, draw it back in for a few hours and then that thing happens that anyone who has ever been fishing loves

I felt a tug on my line. My ifrst bit of the day. It was huge.

I was excited and i was already imagine how big this fish was

Fight of my life. I work hard and finally starting getting it to shore. It looked amazing and to be the most rare fish I had ever seen

as it got closer to shore I realized something. It wasn’t a fish. It was a tree log that I had hooked.

Of course when I got it to shore I threw it back in.

no instagram picture. No fishing magizne story

no 30/30 my dreams were crushed

but it’s an expiernce people have been having for thousands of years

Jesus listerns’ new this all too well. When a large net was thrown into the sea

all sorts of things would be caught

some were good for eating and then there was other things that had to be thrown away

it was simple

yet proufound

he is saying judgement is coming. If you think you are in becasue of a birthright

if you think you are in because of the nation you live in

if you think you are in because you have listened to teaching about God

you are wrong. No of those things will save you from the coming Judgement.

and this judgement is real, it’s near and it’s worse then we can imagine.

and as we consider the things Jesus is teaching this morning I want us to also be careful we don’t make the same mistake the listners of Jesus day made

we can see the words good and bad in this text and think I just need to be a good person and I can avoid this judgement I can avoid hell

but the issue is we aren’t really sure how to measure whether or not we are good

so we can make our own rules up

we think. I go to church, I am nicer then most my co-workers, I am born in the right palce, live in the right coutnry, go to the right church so I must be the “good fish” I must be the wheat

and this is the very way of thinking Jesus i swarning agaisnt.

The bible reminds in Romans 3:20-23

Romans 3:20–23 ESV

For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

we’ve all sinned. We’ve all fallen short. we all should be seperate into the “evil” catagory

but there is hope. The king of the kingdom has come to bring his rule and reign into our lives

becasue not only do we need a familair reminder

we need a faithful rescuer.

Jesus came to rescue us from our sin and unrighteounes.

He came to make a way for us to avoid judgement and hell.

He came to do what we could never do on our own.

To deal with death, sin, condemnatinon, shame, hell once and for all for those who would turn to him for rescue.

Jesus was faithful to the task the father had for him.

He came to seek and save the lost

he came not to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for man

he came to teach about Gods grace, mercy, compassion and love

but he also embodied those things.

He came because huminity as a whole was facing judgement.

Huminty was facing weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Our evil dees and wicked ways had seperate us from God and no matter how hard we tried we couldn’t get back to God on our own

we needed a faithful rescurer.

Jesus is the one who has thrown the net of Gods mercy and grace into the sea and we can be sure his rescue is great and magnificent.

and the reason he can rescue is becasue he wasn’t evil. he wasn’t wicked. but he would go through hell so we could avoid it.

Hebrews puts it this way

Hebrews 4:14–15 ESV

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

that’s what his faithful rescue mission looked like.

we couldn’t get to him so he came to us. and he knows what we are going through. He isn’t distant or far off. He is someone who can sympathize with our weakness

the bible says he was tempted in ever respect like us.

Yet he was faithful. He was without sin.

and because of this. Because of his life, death, burial, resurection and asceion we get to do something.

for those of us who have believed the gospel. Who have been brought near by gods great net of grace and mercy

we can know draw near to the throne of grace and we recive mercy and grace in the time of need

for some of you hearing thiese words today hear this.

that’s for you. Gods cast his net towards you

your heart is fertile grouond for the gospel to go

he has showed you the pear of great price and the treasure in the field which is Jesus

and today you can draw near to him. To his throne

and you can recive mercy and find grace for your greatest need of all. Thee need to be saved

the need to be forgiven

the need to have your sin, shame, guilt dealt with once and for all

for some in this room today you should do that.

for others your been saved, you’ve expirenced the sweetness of forgivness. Your life has been transformed by the gospel

and you get to continue to humbly recive the good news of the gospel with JOY and Gladness

no longer are you destined for hell. No longer will your eternity be one of weeping and gnashing teeth. No your home is heaven adn that’s as sure as the air you breath today.

You can have confidence in what Jesus did for you.

You can bodly approach Gods throne the next time you are tempted by sin and still recive mercy and grace to help you.

Why? because This is what the kingdom of God is like.

we have a king whose throne is described as a thorne of grace

think about how coutner culture that was in Jesus day and it still is in our day

we still get to come with child like faith to Jesus each and everyday. Not asking him to save us. That’s settled

but we can keep letting pearl of great price and the treasure in the field to shape and transfomr our lives ever day.

because Jesus really does change everything!

and in verse 51 Jesus ask a clarify question. He looks at his disciple and says have you understood all these things?

in other words do you get it?

and we kind of know they have struggled but they model great child like faith.

the kind of faith Jesus loves

they simply say yes.

he doens’t challenge them. He doesn’t quiz them. He doesn’t ask them to past a test to see if they are sincere

I think their simple answer safegaurded their sincerty. Jesus knew thier hearts

He saw fertile ground for the gospel to grow. and he loved their answer

so he says to them. You are a scrbe you’ve been trained for the kingdom of heaven. You are liek a master of a house

and you are brining treasure out.

that’s awesome. Imagine being one of the discples. Most likely poor, uneducated.

and then Jesus says you are a scribe. you’ve been traind for the kingdom of heaven and you are like a master of the house.

He’s rebuking the religious leaders but he’s buidling his dsicples identiy. He wants them to know who he is creating them to be.

how encourging would these words be? How amazing would it be to have the greatest teacher say these things about you.

amazing. THis is what the faithful rescuer does. He doesn’t just save people from hell so they can go to heaven. And that would be enough.

but he does more then that. He gives those who would follow him purpose and meaning.

and if you believe the gospel today or have beleived the gospel you can be sure your life has purpose and meaning.

you belong to jesus. You are the good fish, you are the wheat, you are the fertile ground and he intends to use you, to use me to spread the good news of the king thorughout the world.

this parable reminds us that our lives purpose and our future belong to God completely. WE can simply trust and obey

he hasn’t come to erase all that’s happened before you meet Jesus. He’s come to enrich everything in our lives.

have child like faith of the disicples and say yes

I wonder what our lives would look like if we just said yes to God.

rather then trying to have all the answers , o

be reminded today, hopefully a familiar reminder

God is the one who has the task of seperating the good from the evil.

and he is faithful and just to do it

but also be reminded today he is a faithful rescure

and as you think about the reminder and rescure

let your respone be YES

even in a less spirtaul way this idea has impacted my life some over the past few years.

I’ve lived a pretty safe life.

I try to cacluate and measure and not risk much at times.

I want to udnerstand and not put my self in any uncomfrtable sitatuion or painful situation.

i’ve done this with expierences, and relationships

but in 2020 I had a chance to be a part of this really special groups of pastors but it would require me to face a pretty big fear of mine at that time.

flying. From around 2006-2020 I had a cripple fear of flying. It had kept me from certain vacations.

but to be part of this group I was going have to fly. SO I made a decsion I was just going start saying yes. When people asked me to do something that dealt with one of my fears I was going to say yes.

it was a buidling of trust in my own heart. In some ways it was a gospel issue whether or not I bleived God was going to take care of me or not

but in other ways it was an issue tha tjust kept me from doing fun things.

so I did it. And it was great. I started saying yes. At times my “yes” has been profound. It’s let me go on mission again. Let me make new friens\ds and even allowed me to preach the gospel to people I love dearly

and in other ways it’s put me in some scary situiatons. One of those was a carinval ride at the huntsville fair where me and my youngest daughter got on a ride that was ducttaped together. I think we both laughed and cried the whole time of the riede

but an ever scary expince for me

I had a frined invite me out to the coloroda rockies with him to camp/and go offroading in a side by side off road vechile. SOMETHING i had never done and if I’m honest never wanted to do.

but I simply said “yes”

fly out to denver. Drive a few hours to a national faorrest and then was in for the ride of my life.

we traveld for a little while and then started ascended up. Here’s a picture of me on the top of the mountain. 12.835 feet. All cause I said yes.

it was amazing. but then I cam to the realaztion. The road we went up we have to go back down. And that fear came back in.

Here is a video to show you that my kind frined took.

in that moment. I am thinking about my life insurance policy. who might speak at my funeral and what songs will be sung.

but my friend he was at easy. He wasn’t worried at all. he was videoing.

why? His job. To drive these roads and make maps

I was with probably the best person in the world I could have bene with.

as far as a human could be

I was with the mpamaker. and I was safe.

we made it off the mountain and I’m hear to tell the story about it.

all because I said yes.

when we think about our life with Jesus. Isn’t that sometimes what Yes looks like.

we aren’t sure where he will take us. We aren’t always sure what we are getting into. But becasue of who he is we are safe and secure.

He’s like the map maker friend of mine.

he’s ready to see how we will react. He has joy seeing us say yes

and we can be sure not one thing will happen to us that he doesn’t allow

Paul puts it this way in Colossians 1:15-23

Colossians 1:15–23 ESV

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

that’s who Jesus is. What we do with him is important.

my hope is we can simply say yes

Prayer