Jesus is Rejected in His Home Town

An enterprising shoe store owner in New York decided to try an experiment. He put two identical pairs of shoes in his show window side by side, and above them a sign reading: “There is absolutely no difference between these shoes. One pair is priced at $6.95 and the other at … More

Rejection

Jesus had been ministering in and around Capernaum for about a year, using it as His home base.  When Jesus finished His parables He went to His hometown of Nazareth (v. 53). Upon arriving there He taught the people in the synagogue. The people were impressed by His powers and teachings, but they rejected Him (v. 54). They remembered Him as the carpenter’s son and surely anyone so “ordinary” could not be the promised Messiah. Early in His ministry, Jesus had preached at Nazareth (Luke 4:16-31) and had been rejected and now He was rejected again.

They said that He is just a carpenter’s son and we know His mother and His brothers and sisters (vv. 55-56). These are Jesus’ half brothers and half sisters, the children born to Joseph and Mary after Jesus virgin birth. Two of them, James and Judas (Jude), wrote New Testament epistles and played a prominent part in the early church. Jesus was not surprised and said “a prophet is not honored in his own hometown and family” v.57). The big question was how could the people for the second time reject Jesus as the Messiah, when it was so obvious that these things at which they marveled could only have been accomplished by God’s power. Because of their unbelief He did only a few miracles (v. 58).

The main reason was because they were  willfully unbelieving. Those who heard Jesus did not reject Him for lack of evidence but in spite of overwhelming evidence. When a person willfully rejects the Lord, even the most compelling evidence will not convince Him of divine truth. This is the case of cultists and liberal theologians who find various ways to explain away the most obvious truths of Scripture.

Application

If I was to suddenly become president of the United States how do you think this would effect my relationship with my friends and relatives? I have never really experienced being in a place where I felt separated? If that was the case I wonder how I would handle the problem?

Matthew 13:53-58 (English Standard Version)


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