A Messiah You Can Believe In
Text: Matt. 13:53-58
Introduction
1. Illustration: One of the greatest tragedies for people would be to live in darkness when they could live in the light…
Rose Crawford had been blind for 50 years. Then she had an operation in an Ontario hospital. She said, “I just can’t believe it,” as the doctor lifted the bandages from her eyes. She wept - when for the 1st time in her life she saw a dazzling and beautiful world of form and color greeted her eyes and she could now see.
The amazing thing about her story, however, was that 20 years of her blindness was unnecessary. She didn’t know that surgical techniques had been developed, and that an operation could have restored her vision at the age of 30.
The Dr. said, “She just figured there was nothing that could be done for her condition. Much of her life could have been different.”
2. It is sad that Rose continued in blindness because of ignorance. However, what is even sadder is that some people choose to live in the darkness by continually rejecting Jesus the source of real light.
3. Unbelief does many sad things to us.
a. Unbelief makes us Capt. Obvious
b. Unbelief makes us unjust critics
c. Unbelief makes us unreceptive to the power of God.
4. Read Matt. 13:53-58
Proposition: Unbelief is detrimental to living the abundant life.
Transition: The first thing it does is...
I. Unbelief Makes Us Capt. Obvious (53-54).
A. Where Does He Get This...?
1. Jesus was use to rejection and unbelief. So it is no surprise that his ministry in Capernaum ended the way it did.
2. Matthew tells us "When Jesus had finished telling these stories and illustrations, he left that part of the country."
a. Jesus had been ministering in and around Capernaum for about a year, using it as His home base.
b. But the majority of the people who saw and heard Him in that region eventually fell away, manifesting their rejection either by indifference or direct opposition.
c. Because of that rejection, His last teaching there was done entirely in parables, in order that, "while seeing they [would] not see, and while hearing they [would] not hear, nor... understand" (MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Matthew 8-15).
d. So Jesus moved on to minister to people who would receive Him.
3. During the interim between Capernaum and the next phase of His ministry, "He returned to Nazareth, his hometown."
a. Sometimes going home is a good thing. However, sometimes it isn't.
b. When we lived in IL and AR I used to look forward to coming home to Akron, but what I looked forward to was the Akron I remembered.
c. Unfortunately, Akron didn't stop just because I moved away.
d. When we would come back we would find that many of the places that we used to go to no longer existed.
4. Jesus had a similar experience in coming back to Nazareth. When he came back this time, "he taught there in the synagogue, everyone was amazed..."
a. Jesus had been away only a short while and was still a familiar figure in the synagogue, where it was "His custom" to be every Sabbath.
b. The crowd assembled on this particular Sabbath was essentially the same as it had been for many years; but Jesus was not the same.
c. It soon became evident on this trip to Nazareth that their basic attitude about Him had not changed.
d. In a town of probably five hundred or fewer inhabitants, everyone would have thought they knew Jesus already; indeed, Nazareth was a small town from which even Nazarene's would not expect a great prophet.
e. They never expected the kingdom to come in a hidden way or to come as close to them as it did; hence those closest to the kingdom did not recognize it, and it passed them by (Keener, IVPNT: Matthew, 249).
f. The word amazed carries with it the idea to be "overwhelmed" (Rogers and Rogers, 31).
g. They were absolutely dumbfounded that Jesus had such wisdom and power.
5. As a result they said, “Where does he get this wisdom and the power to do miracles?”
a. They were still astonished at His wisdom and His miraculous powers, and they still refused to recognize the obvious, asking again, Where then did this man get all these things?
b. Like the scribes and Pharisee's, the people of Jesus' home town synagogue refused to make the logical and obvious connection between His power and His divinity because they were willfully unbelieving (MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Matthew 8-15).
c. At first glance, we might think that they question was genuine intrigue.
d. However, v. 57 shows us that this is not the case. They were suspicious of Jesus because he was one of their own and did not have any more education or training than they did.
e. They were indignant because even though he grew up with them he possessed a power and authority that they did not (Horton, 293).
f. Now most modern teenagers read this and say, "Well duh! Hello!" Because any idiot should be able to tell the Jesus wisdom, power and authority can only come from one place...God!
B. Overlooking the Obvious
1. Illustration: Anytime that I say something to my children that in their minds, should be obvious they say, "Well thank you Capt. Obvious!"
2. Unbelief makes us Capt. Obvious because we ignore what is plain.
a. Matthew 16:16 (NLT)
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
b. People reject the only one who can save them.
c. People reject the only one that can heal them.
d. People reject the only one that can set them free.
e. And when they do it make them Capt. Obvious!
3. Unbelief makes us Capt. Obvious when we choose to walk in the darkness.
a. John 1:9-10 (NLT)
9 The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
10 He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him.
b. The didn't recognize him because they would rather be in the dark.
c. They didn't follow him because they would rather stumble around in the dark.
d. They didn't come to him because they would rather be lost.
4. Unbelief makes us Capt. Obvious when we choose to live a lie.
a. Acts 4:12 (NLT)
There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”
b. You can't get there from following Buddha, but people choose to follow him because it's easy.
c. You can't get there from following Muhammad, but people choose to follow him because it is easier.
d. You can't get there from doing your own, but people choose to do their own thing because do whatever you want is easier.
e. Following Jesus is never easy, but it is the only way of life that leads to eternal life!
Transition: The second thing that unbelief does is...
II. Unbelief Makes Us Unjust Critics (55-56).
A. He's Just the Carpenter's Son
1. Unbelief makes instant experts out of people.
a. People will tell you that the Bible is full of contradictions, until you ask them to show you one.
b. People will tell you that all you have to do is live by the Ten Commandments, until you ask them to name them.
c. People will tell you that Jesus is a myth, until you ask them to prove it.
d. People will tell you that you don't believe in God, until you tell you don't believe in atheists, therefore, they don't exist.
2. The same was true in Jesus' day. Matthew says, "Then they scoffed, 'He’s just the carpenter’s son, and we know Mary, his mother, and his brothers—James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas.'"
a. Joseph had been a tektōn (carpenter), which was the general term for a craftsman who worked with hard material, including wood.
b. When Jesus was growing up in Nazareth, the demand for carpenters there was great; thus it is not surprising that this was Joseph’s occupation ((Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary – New Testament).
c. He may also have worked with bricks and stones. In any case, he had surely built many houses, windows, doors, yokes, and other things for his neighbors in Nazareth; and many products of his workmanship were probably still being used in the village (MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Matthew 8-15).
d. It was customary for father's to teach their sons the family business, and it was also expected that a Rabbi would have a trade that he did with his hands in order to support himself.
e. Therefore, Joseph must have taught Jesus his trade and Jesus must have been known as a good carpenter until he was 30 years old and entered into public ministry (Horton, 293).
f. Instead of accepting the obvious and overwhelming evidence that Jesus was the Messiah, the people of Nazareth focused their attention on the irrelevant.
g. It was indeed surprising to see someone they had watched grow up and with whom they had gone to synagogue all His life suddenly come on the scene as a great leader—with no formal training and no recognition by the accepted religious hierarchy.
h. Instead of feeling highly honored that God chose to place His Son in Nazareth to grow up into manhood, the people were skeptical, jealous, and resentful (MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Matthew 8-15).
3. In addition, they scoffed at Jesus because they knew his family well. They said, "All his sisters live right here among us. Where did he learn all these things?”
a. Jesus sisters are only mentioned here and in a parallel text in Mark 6:3.
b. Their names are never mentioned, and the word "all" indicates that there were at least three of them.
c. Most likely they were married and lived with their families in Nazareth (Horton, 293).
d. Their thinking was how could such a common person be the Messiah?
B. Ignorance
1. Illustration: A few years ago the Spokesman for the American Atheists Inc. entered into a debate with William Craig a Christian with a PH.D in theology, in front of 8000 people and with 100+ radio stations broadcasting this event. During the debate people were amazed to find out that Christianity can stand up to rational analysis and rugged scrutiny.
In the end it was no contest. Among those who had entered the auditorium that evening as avowed atheists, agnostics or skeptics an overwhelming 82% concluded that the case for Christianity had been most compelling, and an amazing 47 people came to Christ, and absolutely nobody became an atheist!
So what was so compelling? What did William Craig say that turned so many people to Christ? And what evidence was given for the resurrection of Christ?
What was so compelling was that William Craig defended the resurrection with common sense. William Craig saw, that the only thing that makes sense after looking at all the evidence for and against the resurrection, is that Christ is alive!
2. Unbelief and skepticism turns seemingly intelligent people into fools.
• Psalms 14:1 (NLT)
Only fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and their actions are evil; not one of them does good!
• The case for Jesus is overwhelming and undeniable.
• The case against Jesus is found less, baseless and arrogant.
• Those who reject the gospel and Jesus do so because they are prideful, stubborn, and lost in sin.
3. Belief turns fools into wise people of faith.
a. 1 Corinthians 1:18 (NLT)
The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.
b. To the world it is foolishness, but to us it is power.
c. To the world it is blind faith, but to us it is the truth of the gospel.
d. To the world it is a crutch, but to us it is the loosing of the chains!
Transition: Another thing is...
III. Unbelief Makes Us Unreceptive to the Power of God (57-58).
A. He Did Only A Few Miracles
1. Unbelievers and skeptics don't realize how they are hurting themselves.
a. They are rejecting eternal life in a land whose streets are paved with gold.
b. They are rejecting abundant life here and now.
c. They are rejecting God's healing and provision.
d. That's exactly what happened in Nazareth.
2. As a result, "And they were deeply offended and refused to believe in him."
a. The term "deeply offended," is from skandalizō, which has the basic idea of causing to stumble or trip up and is the term from which our English scandalize is derived.
b. The word occurs frequently in Matthew to describe serious sin, unbelief and even apostasy (Turner, Cornerstone Biblical Commentary: Matthew, 197).
c. Jesus' friends and former neighbors were offended by His claims.
d. They were offended by His ordinary background, by the commonness of His family, the limits of His formal training, His lack of official religious status, and many other irrelevant or secondary issues.
e. It is tragic that small issues can be used as great excuses for not believing.
f. The people of Nazareth were like people throughout the history of the church who can find every foolish reason to justify their rejection of the gospel.
g. As a means of escape or self-justification, unbelief diverts attention away from the truth (MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Matthew 8-15).
3. Therefore, Jesus responded to their skepticism by saying, “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his own family.”
a. In what was likely a proverbial saying, Jesus uses the title of prophet to refer to himself.
b. Jesus, in other words, aligns himself with the Old Testament prophets who revealed God’s will for the nation, which was not always palatable.
c. Those messengers had consistently been rejected by the people of Israel. Jesus is likewise rejected.
d. No prophet had spoken in Israel for hundreds of years, but even now in Jesus’ hometown, the people harden themselves against his ministry of declaring God’s truth (Wilkins, 510).
4. Therefore, "he did only a few miracles there because of their unbelief."
a. Because of the hardness of their hearts, they are not open to Jesus’ ministry.
b. While Jesus could apparently heal people elsewhere whose faith was not a significant factor in the miracle, hard-heartedness and rejection prevent the ministry of the Spirit’s healing, even as it prevents the forgiveness of sin (Wilkins, 510).
c. Mark says that Jesus "could not" do a miracle in Nazareth because of the people's unbelief, probably meaning that Jesus refused to act as a mere magician but demanded faith.
d. Matthew clarifies the wording: Jesus did not (would not) act because of their unbelief.
e. One of the early church Father's, a man named Origen, said, "The complete work resulting in a healing is not displayed with those being healed exercising faith. Faith, of whatever quality it might be, does not produce a healing without divine power (Ancient Christian Commentary, vol. 1, 294).
f. Those who are hostile to God's purposes cannot complain because they do not receive the attestations of his power that appear regularly among those who believe him.
g. We should keep in mind, however, that the issue here is the hostility of anti-belief, not a young Christian's struggles with doubt (Keener, 249).
B. Rejecting God's Power
1. Illustration: What is 750,000 miles long? It could wrap itself around the earth 30 times and it grows an additional 20 miles longer with each passing day? It is the line of people on earth who do not know Jesus.
2. Make sure you are not rejecting the power of God.
a. Hebrews 3:12 (NLT)
Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God.
b. Make sure you are not doubting the power of God.
c. Make sure that you are not being deceived by the lies of the devil.
d. Make sure that your faith is strong and you are pressing on toward the higher calling of the Lord.
3. Warn those you know who are rejecting the power of God.
a. Hebrews 3:13 (NLT)
You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God.
b. Warn them not to reject the abundant life that can be theirs in Jesus.
c. Warn them not to reject the healing that can be theirs in Jesus.
d. Warn them not to reject the salvation that can be theirs in Jesus.
e. Warn them not to reject the eternal life that can be theirs in Jesus.
Conclusion
1. So what can we conclude from all this?
a. Unbelief turns us into Capt. Obvious
b. Unbelief turns us into unjust critics
c. Unbelief makes us unreceptive to the power of God
2. What are you today? Are you a believer or an unbeliever?
3. Are you a critic or are you convinced?
4. Are you Capt. Obvious?
5. IF you are a believer what are you going to do about the unbelievers in your life.
