A Prophet Without Honor
Matthew 13:53-58
September 24, 2006
Introduction
Have you ever been in a situation where maybe you’re well-known in a certain place, and maybe pretty popular, but when you get home, you find out that maybe you’re not all that great after all?
Me either. Just kidding.
Actually, I’ve never felt like I was all that well-known anywhere, but I did find out that no matter how incredibly popular I thought I was, coming home brought me back to reality in a hurry.
Our Scripture passage today tells of an episode in Jesus’ life where this sort of thing happened.
But there’s a huge difference in this and what I described a moment ago. And that difference is the fact that Jesus wasn’t some puffed-up, self-important religious guy who was drawing a crowd.
He was the Son of God – God in the flesh, who came down from Heaven to save mankind.
But when He came to His hometown, things got tense.
I’ve printed out the passage in your note-taking guide, and I’d invite you to follow along as I read it.
53 When Jesus had finished these parables, he moved on from there. 54 Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. "Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?" they asked. 55 "Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? 56 Aren’t 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, "Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor."
58 And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.
I’ve made it a point over the time we’ve been going through the book of Matthew to point out whenever it says that people were amazed at Jesus.
Here’s another instance, but this time the amazement wasn’t that Jesus had just told them some great and wonderful things. They were amazed for another reason, which I’ll discuss a bit later.
I think I’d better warn you that this isn’t going to be as fun a message as I’d like to give.
It’s a tough message, because this passage of Scripture is tough. Not because it’s hard to understand – I think it’s pretty straightforward – but because of what we can learn from it.
I’m going to try and lighten it up a bit, but this is serious stuff, folks, and we need to listen to it.
“Why don’t you just skip over it then, PB?” Because I can’t. When I felt God leading me to preach through the gospel of Matthew, that meant going through all of it, including the tough stuff.
We’ve recently talked about some tough stuff Jesus said regarding judgment, but that’s because that was next in the book.
I think one of the reasons God is having me preach through Matthew is so that we’ll have to deal with this kind of stuff. And the question each of us has to ask is whether or not we’ll take it seriously.
That’s something only you can decide. I can’t decide for you, as much as I’d like to.
You’ll notice that your note-taking guide is a little sparse today. That’s because I was too lazy to put more stuff in there.
Actually, it’s because I want you to spend more time listening to me than in filling in the blanks.
And if something jumps out to you as we’re going along, you’ve got room to put that down.
Today I want to share with you three observations from this passage that transcend over 2000 years and are just as relevant today as they were back then.
Any my intention is to bring you to the point where you’ll really do some soul-searching about how you respond to Jesus.
Here’s the first observation:
1. Not everyone welcomes the message of Jesus.
When I first came to put my faith and Christ and start to live for Him, I figured that everyone would want the same thing – forgiveness of sins, and home in heaven, and real purpose and significance in life.
Boy, was I ever in for a surprise. I figured I pretty much knew what rejection was like, given my horrible track record with girls in high school and college…
You know what I found out? I found out that there are gajillions of people who don’t give a rip about Jesus or what He has to offer.
And there are lots of reasons – maybe they didn’t grow up hearing about Jesus and their need for Him.
Sometimes its because they were hurt by someone who called themselves a Christian and it caused them to refuse anything to do with Christianity.
Or maybe it’s that they felt that a person had to give up all rational thought to be a Christian – they only live by faith and don’t use their brain.
Of course, Jesus said we’re supposed to love God with all our minds, so I guess that means using our brains…
Another reason might be that they just don’t see that they need Jesus to forgive their sins, because they figure God wouldn’t send anyone to hell, even though Jesus Himself said He would.
And there are other reasons, and I’ve probably heard most of them.
But whatever the reason, people continue to reject Jesus today, just as they did when He walked the earth.
And while I’m always optimistic when I’m talking to someone about Jesus, I’ve learned to not be so surprised if they say they don’t want Jesus.
It breaks my heart – but it doesn’t surprise me anymore.
You know, as much as it breaks my heart, can you imagine what it does to Jesus and the Father, who totally laid it on the line for our sake and for the sake of those who reject Him?
It’s bad enough to be rejected by someone you don’t care much about, but to be rejected by someone you love really hurts, doesn’t it?
But until Jesus returns, He’s going to be rejected by some people, just as He was when this incident happened.
Here’s a second observation I wanted to make from this passage:
2. Sometimes the hardest people to convince are those who know you best.
Look back at verses 55-56 –
"Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? 56 Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?"
Were they asking for information? No! They were basically asking, “Why should we listen to this guy? We don’t care about Him!”
They had already made up their minds about Him. They weren’t interested in finding the truth – they had already rejected Him.
I mentioned in the introduction that the people were amazed at Jesus. But it was because they just couldn’t get past the fact that this guy that they all knew would be able to teach in the synagogue.
They’re like, “You might be able to get away with that stuff in Jerusalem or Capernaum, but you’re home now, boy, and you have no right to speak to us like that.”
You can almost hear them sneering.
Remember how I said that I thought early on in my Christian life that everyone would want what Jesus offered, and that I was in for a surprise?
Well, that surprise was really magnified when I went home from college for Christmas and tried to tell my family and friends about Jesus.
I was all excited about Jesus – and in all actuality, maybe a little too excited. The Bible says that zeal without knowledge isn’t the best thing.
I was full of zeal – but I was clueless about how to share Jesus with my family in a meaningful way. I talked to everyone who would give me some time.
I must have come across like some weirdo who joined some off-the-wall cult. It wasn’t pretty.
These people looked at me as if to say, “Look, Brian, you’re nothing special, so just lay off with the Jesus stuff, okay?”
Those closest to me didn’t want what I had to offer, even though it was the greatest thing in the entire world.
So what was standing in the way? They hadn’t seen what a difference it could really make in a person. In their minds I had gone away to college and come back a religious nut.
And I wasn’t qualified to talk about Jesus, as far as they were concerned, so they didn’t feel they should have to listen.
And I didn’t help the situation very well.
This is embarrassing, but I think it’ll help illustrate why this is so important.
Remember, I had just spent a ton of energy trying to convince my friends and family that they needed Jesus.
That same Christmas vacation I met up with an old high school buddy of mine for New Year’s Eve.
We got together and started drinking. Heavily. I got so drunk that I don’t remember anything until by buddy hauled me into my house and got sick all over the bathroom. I was bawling, and literally afraid I was going to die as my dad and step-mom got me to bed.
And if you don’t have experience in this, you need to know that alcohol doesn’t generally cause a person to become quiet and withdrawn. It usually makes people talk louder and be even more aggressive than they were without it.
So here I am, eighteen years old, a baby Christian, and drunker than I had ever been in my life. Not the best example of the life-changing message of Jesus, huh?
The next morning I really paid for it. Of course, I was sick with a horrible hangover.
But what was worse was that I had totally blown it with my family in regard to Jesus. From that point on, I was basically a joke to my family, and nothing I could have said about Jesus would hold any weight.
And it took years of my living for Jesus and making many choices that spoke of my allegiance to Him before my family figured out that I was really serious.
In spite of that stupid mistake, I was moving on and living for Jesus whether or not they liked it or understood it, which they didn’t for quite some time.
And that’s what it usually takes to overcome the resistance of those who are closest to you.
I think it helped that I married well!
And little by little, my family is coming around, and some of them have given their lives to Jesus. Not because of me, necessarily, but they’re coming around.
In fact, because I knew that I didn’t have a ton of credibility, I began to pray that God would bring other people into their lives that they would listen to, because then they’d actually consider taking Jesus for themselves.
One of the issues that Jesus was facing here was that people thought He was unqualified to teach them about the things of God.
Keep in mind that though He WAS God, the vast majority of people didn’t get it. All they saw was a carpenter’s son – not a trained religious teacher like the rabbis and Pharisees.
In their eyes, He was an ordinary man from an ordinary family, with nothing special about Him except His extraordinary words, which they take offense to.
"Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?"
Maybe you’ve heard this saying before: “familiarity breeds contempt.” That was certainly the case with Jesus.
But you know what? Just as it’s been the case in my family, it happened in Jesus’ family as well.
Two of his half-brothers we believe wrote a couple books of the Bible – James and Jude, called Judas here in Matthew. By the way, this isn’t the same Judas who betrayed Him later.
These brothers had rejected Him at first, according to another passage of Scripture, but they came to believe in Him, and to even have an impact for Him.
So let me encourage you that if you come from a background where your friends and family don’t understand your love for Jesus, just keep on going. Live for Jesus regardless, and let Him do the convincing for you, okay?
Here’s the third observation I want to make that’s relevant for today just like it was back in Jesus’s day.
3. Rejection of Jesus prevents His working in a person’s life.
Look back at verse 58 –
he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.
You know what one of the most intriguing parts of being a pastor is?
It’s when someone who doesn’t claim to love Jesus comes to me and says that God won’t answer their prayers.
They don’t love God, they don’t read the Bible, they don’t live lives of obedience to Him, yet they want God to move on their behalf.
They pray for something good – like their marriage to be saved, or a loved one to be cured of a disease or whatever. It may be something like wanting God to help them find a good job.
All of these are good things. And my guess is that those who came to Jesus had some real issues they needed help with.
But when these people come to me, they complain that God’s not helping them, and I just have to wonder: why should the one you reject do your bidding, like some genie in a bottle?
Folks, it just doesn’t work that way. God is ready to answer the prayers of those who love His Son and endeavor to live for Him.
But just a when Jesus walked the earth, rejection of Him puts up a barrier that God won’t break through, because God refuses to force Himself on people.
So if you’re looking for help from God, it starts with responding to Jesus in a positive manner, and I want to spend our last few minutes discussing just that.
Conclusion
The question to be asked is this: how will you respond to Jesus?
Will you receive Him and listen to Him or will you just blow Him off?
But I need to be clear about something: Jesus doesn’t come to us on our terms. We come to Him on His terms.
You’re not doing Jesus any favors by coming to Him. You’re not the one who came from heaven, allowed yourself to be rejected by his family, friends, and strangers, and finally crucified on a cross.
You’re not the one who secured heaven for those who would want forgiveness of sins.
So don’t think you’re doing Jesus any favors.
It’s really quite the opposite, don’t you think?
The Bible says that love isn’t shown by us loving God, but rather that He loved us and sent His Son to be the sacrifice for our sins.
So let me just lay it down for you. Jesus loves you so much that He was willing to die for you. He did that so your sins could be forgiven and so you could have a home in heaven.
You don’t deserve that. I don’t deserve that. So who’s doing who the favor?
Here’s the cool thing: Jesus gives an invitation to all who will come to Him.
Here’s one way He put it:
28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
Is your soul in need of rest? Are you tired of going through life with no sense of purpose, wondering if there’s anything after this old life of hurt and trouble?
Do you want to know for sure that you’re going to heaven when you die? Jesus says you can have rest for your soul – which means a place in heaven for the future and meaning in life for the here and now.
So whaddya say? Will you receive Jesus? Will you take the offer?
Here’s how it works:
You come to a point where you admit to God that you’ve blown it – you’ve broken His laws – you’ve sinned, just like everyone else in history except Jesus.
And believing that Jesus died for your sins and rose from the grave, you call out to God saying, “I want the forgiveness Jesus bought for me – save me from what I deserve and give me the eternal life Jesus offers. And help me to live for you instead of myself from now on. Be my forgiver and my boss.”
Maybe you’ve spent your life rejecting Jesus, but you’re still drawing a breath, you can make the move from rejecting Jesus to receiving Him.
So do yourself a favor that will affect your eternal destiny and surrender to Him.
But before we go, I want to mention just one last thing:
It may be that you have already asked Jesus to be your forgiver, but you’ve rejected Him as your boss.
You have the opportunity to correct that today, too. Just tell Jesus that you’re ready for Him to run the show.
I’m going to pray here in just a moment. And if you want to pray for either of these things – forgiveness and eternal life and/or Jesus to be the boss of your life here on earth, then you can follow along with me in your heart as I pray.
And then I’m going to ask you to do something for me, and here it is: if you’re serious about those things, then come see me after the service. I’m not going to ask you to raise your hands or come up front or anything like that. Just come see me after the service.
I’d like to set up a time to visit with you and give you some things to help you get on solid footing, okay?
Let’s pray, and then Lowell and the worship team are going to dismiss us as we sing one last song.
Let’s pray.
