A Prophet Without Honour

Introduction

Illustration: swimming with sharks. Swimming away will get you eaten, facing the shark will preserve you.

Our natural fears are not based on reality, but on emotion and inherent beliefs that may or may not be true.

This applies to our fear of man and God.

Jesus Rejected in Nazareth

From here, we see a new section of Matthew begin; one that is focused on the rejection of Christ, mixed with Jesus’ prophecy of his coming death.

Jesus’ Returns to Nazareth

Jesus returns to Nazareth, his hometown. Among the Synoptics, only Luke 4:16 tells us outright that this was Nazareth and not Capernaum.

Jesus’ purpose here is to teach, and he does so in their synagogue. The synagogue was a place of teaching as well as the centre of community life in small towns like this. Jesus’ example of beginning gospel ministry in the synagogues would be followed by the Apostles, even Paul who was an Apostle to the Jews. The formula is that the gospel would come to the Jews in the synagogue, it would be rejected, and then the preaching would move outside the synagogue to whoever would hear.

In Luke’s account, we get more detail about this encounter in the synagogue of Nazareth. Luke 4:16-22

Luke 4:16–22 ESV

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, “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, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?”

So we see the way in which Jesus was teaching the Scriptures. As he has done in his ministry up to this point, Jesus points to himself as the fulfillment of the OT Scriptures. At this, the people marvel and are amazed. Like their response to the sermon on the Mount, they see that Jesus teaches with the authority of God, treating his own Words as equal to those spoken by the prophets of long ago.

It must be emphasized that Jesus was not marveled at because he went around teaching that we should do good and be kind, as some think. That was nothing new to the Jews and nothing seriously different from what other Rabbi’s taught. What was astonishing about the teachings of Christ was the authoritative way he pointed to himself as the apex of all God’s revelation. Jesus was not persecuted for doing and teaching good things, he was persecuted for proclaiming himself to be the Son of God. Nowhere is this more clear than at Jesus’ trial before Caiaphas and the Jewish council in Matt 26:62-65

Matthew 26:62–65 ESV

And the high priest stood up and said, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?” But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy.

This was the sum content of Jesus message, the proclamation of himself as the King of Israel and the establishment of the Kingdom of God through those who believe in him.

The People Respond with Rejection

The people are at first amazed, but their amazement is quickly overshadowed by their unbelief. This unbelief comes out in three questions they ask among themselves:

Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Mark’s account has them call Jesus the carpenter, which is correct since Jesus would have done carpentry with his father and then after Joseph’s death for about 20 years before his ministry (beginning at age 13, which was customary for boys to begin the trade of their father).

Isn’t his mother Mary? This questioned is expounded by the mention of Jesus’ four brothers and his unnamed and unnumbered sisters. They know him and his family well, and this leads to their final question.

“Where did this man get all these things?” Their unbelief stems in the ordinary nature of Jesus and his family. Jesus’ claims do not seem possible when they know him and have known him his whole life as a lowly carpenter in their lowly village. Many of them probably knew Jesus as a baby, and to them there was nothing special about him. The claims he is making seem unbelievable to them because of just how ordinary he is.

What they miss, of course, is that this is on purpose. Jesus came, not to be high among men, but to be just as we are. Jesus’ incarnation and the humiliation of his becoming man would not have been complete if he came as an extraordinary man. He must be relatable to the most ordinary and humble of us, the most ungifted, the least wealthy and powerful. He displays the truth that the Kingdom of God comes with heavenly force that cannot be reckoned or observed by those who judge in fleshly ways. It is their worldly expectations of royalty and power that make them unable to see the lowly and familiar man as indeed the Son of God.

So, verse 57 says, they took offense at him. The word translated “took offense” implies a sinful unbelief. They were not merely unhappy or socially uncomfortable, they decidedly rejected what Jesus was saying in unbelief.

The Response of Jesus

Jesus response is simple: a prophet is not honoured in his own town and among his family. This simple proverb describes not only Jesus’ situation, but a general truth about those whom God uses to bring his truth to people. One would think that when God reveals himself to humanity in the most relatable and condescending way possible, we would be more willing to receive such revelation. Instead, the people of Nazareth are overcome with pride. They ask, “what makes this Jesus so special, since he is one of us? Who does he think he is?” There is a deep pride and jealousy that can sprout up when we see someone else who is similar to us in standing and gifts being used by God in a unique way. This pride of our fellow human being blinds us to the way God means to reveal himself. All pride is a comparing of ourselves to someone else, and when we see someone else being gifted, honoured, rewarded, or used by God the sinful and fleshly response us to jealously reject it. While Jesus became a man, a Jew, and a carpenter in Nazareth in order to save those who can relate to him, the sinful response of unbelief is fueled by pride and jealousy, making the people unable to see the great act of love and kindness God is showing.

As a result, Jesus does not do many miracles in his hometown because of the lack of faith.

John the Baptist Beheaded

Although this next story seems to change the topic, it is not here randomly. Rather, Matthew notes what Herod’s response was to the report of Jesus’ ministry so as to draw a connection to the theme that will continue to develop over much of the rest of the book: that is, the theme of persecution towards Jesus and his followers.

Although Herod is called a king in some places, Matthew uses his correct title of Tetrarch, that is, he was the ruler of four regions as an agent of the Roman government. Even this title is not entirely correct since Herod only really controlled three regions. Nevertheless, there is a parallel here between the kind of King Jesus is and the kind of ruler Herod was, and it becomes clear that these two kings cannot possibly coexist.

We are told at the beginning of this episode that Herod thinks that Jesus is a resurrected John the Baptist, and we are then told how it was that John was arrested and killed.

Without going into too much detail, we can gleam a few things from this story and we can see why Matthew tells us these things.

First, Herod arrests John for publicly denouncing his immoral act of taking his brother’s wife to be his. John is a Herald of the Kingdom of God, and that Kingdom is a holy Kingdom ruled by the Righteous One. Herod shows himself to be an ungodly king through this unrepentant abuse of power.

In fact, Herod wanted to put John to death, but did not do so because he feared the people.

A godly king fears God, and Jesus time and time again, especially in the Gospel of John, shows us that Christ was not afraid to offend people (even as he did in Nazareth) if it was in speaking the truth and proclaiming God’s Kingdom. A godly ruler of any kind, whether they be king, prime minister, pastor, employer, father, or husband, does not live in fear of losing his authority because he sees it as given by God in God’s good, sovereign plan. All power belongs to God, and to live in fear of those under your authority unmasks the fact that you don’t really believe this.

A godly king, who rules with justice and integrity, has no need to fear his subordinates because his fruit is obvious. The only rulers who fear their people are the corrupt and the tyrannical.

Once again, Herod is moved by fear of men, which is opposite to fear of God. He has John beheaded in fear of what his guests will think if he seems to be compromising on his promise made to his niece. Because he remained unrepentant, he continues a path of sin in fear. Even though he styles himself as a great King, he is ordered to do what he is afraid to do by a young girl. See the dehumanizing and entangling web of sin he is caught in which causes him to live in fear of man.

The authority of Christ is authentic and genuine, and he is therefore able to confidently speak the truth without fear of the social consequences, and even the cross. Herod, a man who tries to visibly assert his authority has no confidence in it because he worships the opinions of others. It is not John the Baptist we should feel sorry for; he went to his reward with a clear conscience. No, it is Herod, the miserable worm of a man who pretends to be a great king but is ordered around by his niece. Such is the folly of those who seek the glory of this present age rather than the glory of God in the age to come.

Conclusion:The World’s Rejection of the Gospel

Warning against being “seeker sensitive” which actually is sensitive towards those who are not really seeking Jesus.

Speaking the truth boldly with the expectation of the world’s hostility. The fear of man is difficult to overcome, but it is our calling.

The difference between the godly and the ungodly is who they fear. Even though John was arrested and then beheaded by Herod, John had no fear of man but rather feared God, whereas Herod had no fear of God but feared man.

The fear of man is a sign of unbelief because what it implies is that we believe man is in control of our lives and our fate, rather than submitting to the sovereignty of God. A godly leader is to be an example of one who fears God and not man. That doesn’t mean we don’t care what men think of us at all, there is a place for being “all things to all people”, but this is not driven by a fear of man but rather a fear of God who has commissioned us to make disciples and thus to remove any unnecessary stumbling block to the Gospel. However, if we compromise on the truth, we cannot do that in the fear of God and must therefore be acting in the fear of man.

Who you fear reveals who you worship and what you believe. So what do you fear?