“Rejection, Loss and Compassion”

Series: The Gospel Truth

Text: Mt 13:54-14:21

Introduction: (What?)

There is an old Indian saying that goes something like this;“Don’t judge a man until you have walked a mile in his moccasins.”

In our time there is a tendency to think, “Well, Jesus was the Son of God, so He really doesn’t understand my situation.” Nothing could be further from the truth. The writer of Hebrews noted in 4:15 “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tested in every way as we are, yet without sin.” Jesus experienced rejection, loss and showed compassion during His earthly ministry. He can certainly identify with us in our trials today.

Examination: (What?)

1. You can’t go home again. (13:54-58)

Mt 13:54-58 “He went to his hometown and began to teach them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother called Mary, and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, aren’t they all with us? So where does he get all these things?” And they were offended by him. Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his household.” And he did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.”

This resonates with me because after I moved away from my home town of Cullman, AL I found that my identity changed almost every time I returned. Once I went away to school at age 18, I did not live full-time in my home town again. At first I was known as “Bill, Jay and Grace’s son”. I am 5 1/2 years older than my brother and 8 1/2 years older than my sister. I would come home and be ID’d as “Bill, Jerry’s brother”. Then, after my brother moved away I became known as “Bill, Brenda’s brother”. Now when I go back and try to explain who I am some will say, “I didn’t know that Jay and Grace hand another son.” Now they would probably say, “Who are Jay and Grace?”

In Jesus’s day there was no radio, TV, social media or even newspapers. Information and “news” traveled by word of mouth. Since Jesus had left Nazareth and established His base of operations in Capernaum, very little news of His ministry had filtered back to Nazareth. When He came back He did as He always did…went to the synagogue, and as a visiting Rabbi, He was given the privilege of teaching from the scriptures. Also, as was His practice, He healed the sick and delivered the spiritually oppressed from demonic possession. People who remembered Him growing up in the community were mystified at His wisdom and the powerful “miracles” He performed. Rather than embracing His teaching and rejoicing over the healings and deliverances, they were offended that someone of such low estate could be so wise and powerful. As a matter of fact their offence was so great that, according to Luke 4:24-29 “He also said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in his hometown. But I say to you, there were certainly many widows in Israel in Elijah’s days, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months while a great famine came over all the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them except a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. And in the prophet Elisha’s time, there were many in Israel who had leprosy, and yet not one of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.” When they heard this, everyone in the synagogue was enraged. They got up, drove him out of town, and brought him to the edge of the hill that their town was built on, intending to hurl him over the cliff.”

Jesus experienced rejection from those with whom He grew up. You may have experienced rejection from family and friends after you surrendered to Christ. Please know that Jesus understands. He has been there and done that. Even if no one else understands, He does.

2. Loss of a relative (14:1-12)

Mt 14:1-12 “At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the report about Jesus. “This is John the Baptist,” he told his servants. “He has been raised from the dead, and that’s why miraculous powers are at work in him.” For Herod had arrested John, chained him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, since John had been telling him, “It’s not lawful for you to have her.” Though Herod wanted to kill John, he feared the crowd since they regarded John as a prophet. When Herod’s birthday celebration came, Herodias’s daughter danced before them and pleased Herod. So he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. Prompted by her mother, she answered, “Give me John the Baptist’s head here on a platter.” Although the king regretted it, he commanded that it be granted because of his oaths and his guests. So he sent orders and had John beheaded in the prison. His head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother. Then his disciples came, removed the corpse, buried it, and went and reported to Jesus.”

In Jesus’s day extended family was important. Remember that when Mary was pregnant, she went to stay with her relative, Elizabeth, who after having been barren, was pregnant also. The child that Elizabeth bore was John (who became known as “the Baptist” because of his ministry). John and Jesus grew up together as cousins. Later John was the first to recognize Jesus as Messiah and introduce Him to the world. As Jesus began His earthly ministry John’s ministry began winding down. Jesus was aware of this and went out of His way to promote John. He even said in Mt 11:11 ““Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one greater than John the Baptist has appeared, but the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” Consequently the death of John at the hands of Herod hit Jesus hard. In the beginning of verse 13 we find “When Jesus heard about it, He withdrew from there by boat to a remote place to be alone.”

In your time of sorrow at the loss of a loved one, there is no one better to comfort you than Jesus. He has experienced the loss of a close relative. He grieved. He can help you in your grief. In 1 Thess 4:13-18 Paul urged believers; “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, concerning those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, in the same way, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For we say this to you by a word from the Lord: We who are still alive at the Lord’s coming will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the archangel’s voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are still alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.” We have that hope because of Jesus, who suffered personal loss.

3. Moved with Compassion (vv 13-21)

Mt 14:13-21 “When Jesus heard about it, he withdrew from there by boat to a remote place to be alone. When the crowds heard this, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore, he saw a large crowd, had compassion on them, and healed their sick. When evening came, the disciples approached him and said, “This place is deserted, and it is already late. Send the crowds away so that they can go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” “They don’t need to go away,” Jesus told them. “You give them something to eat.” “But we only have five loaves and two fish here,” they said to him. “Bring them here to me,” he said. Then he commanded the crowds to sit down on the grass. He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them. He broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. Everyone ate and was satisfied. They picked up twelve baskets full of leftover pieces. Now those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.”

The word “compassion” means more than just sympathy. The prefix “com” means “with”. The word “passion” means “strong and barely controllable emotion”. True compassion leads to action. Notice that it was compassion that prompted Jesus to heal the sick in the crowd that interrupted His grief over the loss of John the Baptist. He didn’t just feel sorry for them or say, “I feel your pain.” Instead He acted. His passion gave birth to healing the sick and then to feeding the hungry. Jesus’s compassion prompted action. In James 2:15-16 “If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, stay warm, and be well fed,” but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it?” James admonished those whose supposed sympathy went no farther than consoling words. This is NOT compassion. When we have compassion it will lead to doing something about the situation. The compassion of Christ is shown in the lives of those who have surrendered to Him. Another look at the compassion of Jesus shows us that it was directed toward those who were in close proximity to Him. Often our compassion is directed toward those we will never personally encounter. For example, it is easy for us to send money to support those in need around the world…we should do this. However we often ignore those we do personally encounter day after day. These are the ones whose needs we can immediately meet. When my daughter was working at the Christian Ministry to the UN in Manhattan, she would go into a McDonald’s on her way to the subway and get breakfast. As she came out she would see a homeless person hanging around outside the door. One day her compassion led her to buy and extra Egg McMuffin and give it to the man.

Application: (How should I respond to this message?)

Have you been ostracized by former friends or relatives because of your surrender to Jesus? He understands. He will help you forgive and move on.

Have you experienced the loss of a loved one? So has Jesus. But He didn’t allow His grief to side-track His ministry. Neither should we.

Do you have compassion for those who are in spiritual need as much as for those who have physical needs? Does your compassion lead to action?

Is there the possibility that you have never surrendered to Jesus as LORD? If so, you can do that today. Right now if you sense God drawing you to Jesus, just pray; “Jesus, I give you my life”.

Does God want you to be a part of this local church and invest your gifts and abilities in the kingdom through the church? Come and join us today.