A Man of Rejection and Sorrow
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Recap
Recap
Sower and the 4 soils
Wheat and the tares
Hidden treasure
Pearl
Net
What does it look like for you to “go home”? Where is that? Is it a place of peace? Do you feel comfort when you go there? I’m sure that after all of Jesus verbal tussles with the Pharisees, part of him was ready to go home to Nazareth and chill for a bit, hug his mom and family and get back to spreading the good news about the kingdom.
Coming Home
Coming Home
53 And when Jesus had finished these parables, he went away from there, 54 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? 55 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? 56 And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” 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.” 58 And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.
This is the same passage as in Luke 4 when Jesus goes to the Synagogue to worship and ends up reading a passage from Isaiah that is a messianic prophecy.
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,
and the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn;
Astonished - greek word ekplesso - to strike with astonishment:—amaze, astonish.
blinded by familiarity and the commonness of who they thought they knew Jesus to be, an ordinary son of an ordinary family, other than that whole scandal about the assumed premarital sex and pregnancy thing.
No doubt that story caused whispers about their unique family drama to circulate for years.
took Offense - the greek word skandalizo - to entrap, i.e. trip up (figuratively, stumble (transitively) or entice to sin, apostasy or displeasure):—(make to) offend.
Biblical Usage
to put a stumbling block or impediment in the way, upon which another may trip and fall, metaph.
to entice to sin
to cause a person to begin to distrust and desert one whom he ought to trust and obey
11 For the Lord spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: 12 “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. 13 But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. 14 And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15 And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.”
Even in his home town, where everyone knew Him he found no respect. The one place where we would normally think we would be warmly received and loved by all because we are known by all, He found himself not just alone, but rejected. Even by his own family. His mother knew who he was, but his siblings didn’t believe in him until after his resurrection.
They let their familiarity with Jesus and his somewhat ordinary family keep them from seeing him for who he really was.
This wasn’t like someone who goes home and wants everyone to see how they’ve really made a name for themselves. This is going home and not really wanting to draw attention to yourself, but you still really desire for people to believe and repent to be saved.
6 And he marveled because of their unbelief.
And he went about among the villages teaching.
He marveled because of their unbelief. Don’t think for a second that he was surprised.
Marvel - “A wonder; that which arrests the attention and causes a person to stand or gaze, or to pause.” Their blatant disbelief caused Jesus to have his attention arrested to where he would have been standing there gazing at them.
There had to be disappointment in that standing gaze. Sadness even. Disappointment and sadness but not surprise.
From Rejection to Grief
From Rejection to Grief
Jesus sadness doesn’t stop there. Matthew turns the page in chapter 14 we pick up with a new story line. Matthew changes scenes and finds Herod the tetrarch trying to figure out who this was performing all of these miracles.
1 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard about the fame of Jesus, 2 and he said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead; that is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.”
This Herod was known as Herod Antipas and was one of the sons of Herod the Great who reigned when Jesus was born. He ruled over Galilee and therefore heard much about Jesus. His brother Archelaus ruled to the south, and his brother Philip ruled to the north.
Barclay cites the ancient Christian writer Origen, who said that Jesus and John the Baptist closely resembled each other in appearance. If this were true, it would give more reason for Herod Antipas to believe that Jesus was John come back from the dead.
3 For Herod had seized John and bound him and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, 4 because John had been saying to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” 5 And though he wanted to put him to death, he feared the people, because they held him to be a prophet. 6 But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company and pleased Herod, 7 so that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. 8 Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” 9 And the king was sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to be given. 10 He sent and had John beheaded in the prison, 11 and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. 12 And his disciples came and took the body and buried it, and they went and told Jesus.
John spoke out against Herod’s marriage because he had illegally divorced his previous wife and then seduced and married his brother Philip’s wife named Herodias. The father of Herod’s first wife was the King of Petra, and he later made successful war against Herod Antipas because of how he had disgraced the King of Petra’s daughter.
“This infamous woman was the daughter of Aristobulus and Bernice, and grand-daughter of Herod the Great. Her first marriage was with Herod Philip, her uncle, by whom she had Salome: some time after, she left her husband, and lived publicly with Herod Antipas.”
Herod feared the multitude, Herod is like many people today. They fear the opinion of people before fearing God. The only thing that kept Herod from even greater wickedness was the fear of man.
“The dancing of a mere girl would have been no entertainment to the sensual revelers. The treat lay in the indecency.” (Bruce)
“The dances which these girls danced were suggestive and immoral. For a royal princess to dance in public at all was an amazing thing.” (Barclay)
“In these days mothers too often encourage their daughters in dress which is scarcely decent and introduce them to dances which are not commendable for purity. No good can come of this; it may please the Herods, but it displeases God.” (Spurgeon)
Because Herod was afraid to go against his wife or to lose face before his friends, he did something that he knew was wrong.
Herod had a terrible end. In order to take his brother’s wife Herodias, he put away his first wife, a princess from a neighboring kingdom to the east. Her father was offended and came against Herod with an army, defeating him in battle. Then his brother Agrippa accused him of treason against Rome, and he was banished into the distant Roman province of Gaul. In Gaul, Herod and Herodias committed suicide.
Jesus’ response is our example
Jesus’ response is our example
What happened when Jesus heard of John’s death?
Matthew 14:13a (ESV)
13 Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself.
Jesus knew the truth of His own Word.
18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
and saves the crushed in spirit.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Jesus did the one thing He know would help most. To go and find solitude to be alone with His Father in heaven. To be able to rest in the comfort that only comes from the God of all comfort. Through it all, as we will see next week, Jesus didn’t get to rest at all.
What’s going on in your life right now that grieves you? Has you worried? Has you wrapped in Anxiety?
With everything going on in the world, sometimes we don’t know what to think. Let the words of this Psalm wash over you!
7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;
fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,
over the man who carries out evil devices!
8 Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!
Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
9 For the evildoers shall be cut off,
but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.
10 In just a little while, the wicked will be no more;
though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there.
11 But the meek shall inherit the land
and delight themselves in abundant peace.
Next week we will be covering Matthew 14:13-21 if you want to read and study ahead.