Rejecting Christ

Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples.  When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. "Where did this man get these things?" they asked. "What's this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles!  Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him.

Jesus said to them, "Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor."  He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them.  And he was amazed at their lack of faith.
   
Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village (Mark 6:1-6).

In today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus returns to Nazareth for the first time since He left to start His ministry as God’s chosen representative. Nazareth was the hometown of Mary and Joseph.  God had arranged things so that Mary would give birth in Bethlehem, because that little town was also known as the City of David, birthplace of Israel’s greatest king. God had promised David that one of his descendants would rule God’s people forever; since Jesus was that descendant, it was fitting that Christ be born in David’s City.  But Jesus’ family could not stay in Bethlehem; when King Herod found out that the Messiah had been born, he reacted with jealousy—no one was going to be king of Israel except him!  So he sent armed men to Bethlehem with the order to kill every boy under the age of two.  Warned by an angel, Joseph took Mary and Jesus and fled to safety. When things settled down following Herod’s death, the family moved back to their hometown of Nazareth. 

Jesus grew to manhood in Nazareth, learning the trade of carpenter from His foster father Joseph. You see, Jesus was not the child of Mary and Joseph, He was the child of Mary and God.  Jesus had a great destiny—save mankind from sin, death and Satan.  So Jesus never married.  Instead, when he reached the age of 30, He left town to begin His work as the Savior of mankind.  By this time Joseph had died.  The town must have thought it strange that Jesus would leave His business and family behind; maybe He was suffering from mid-life crisis?

But now Jesus had returned, and He did not come alone.  There were 12 men with Him, disciples who had pledged themselves to Jesus as students and followers.  Jesus had acquired quite a reputation.  He had become something of a celebrity, a man rich in words and capable of miracles. So the folks of Nazareth were curious; Jesus was invited to preach at the next church service.

The people of Nazareth were in for quite a shock. Mark records, many who heard him were amazed. "Where did this man get these things?" they asked. "What's this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles!"  They recognized wisdom when they heard it, and they understood that wisdom and miracles go hand in hand.

Wisdom is not the same as being smart or well educated. Wisdom is more than being able to figure out how the pieces fit together or seeing the big picture. Wisdom is being aware of spiritual things. Wisdom makes it possible to find the truth amidst lies and double-talk. Wisdom makes clear what is important in life. Scripture says, The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 8:10). 

Wisdom trusts in God—trusts in His power and trusts in His love. Wisdom accepts miracles as reality. Jesus said, If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, `Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you (Luke 17:6). If we have the wisdom to trust in Christ, He makes this promise: You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it (John 14:14). Sadly, our faith is weak; we don’t trust in Jesus as we should.  Listen to the words of James: If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does (James 1:5-8). 

Having wisdom pays enormous dividends. Wisdom allows you to live without fear because you can trust in God’s protection. Wisdom shows you how to live contentedly, instead of being enslaved by the desire for pleasures that do not give lasting satisfaction. Wisdom gives you peace amid the confusion because you know that God is in charge. Wisdom understands that life goes on after death, and that heaven is the reward God offers for all who trust in Jesus as their Friend. This is why Christ shared words of wisdom with the people He grew up with. This is why Jesus made sure His words were preserved in the Bible so we could have them too. The Son of God loves us and wants to bless us with His wisdom.

But while the citizens of Nazareth appreciated hearing words of wisdom, they were not impressed with the messenger. "Isn't this the carpenter?" they said. "Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him. 

These words give us a look at Jesus’ family and how the townsfolk felt about the Son of Man who grew up among them.  After Jesus was born, Mary and Joseph had other children—four boys and at least two girls.  Later in life, James would become head of the church in Jerusalem and killed for being a Christian; he also wrote the Book of James. The other members of Jesus’ family are unknown to us. But we do know this—early in the Lord’s ministry, they thought that Jesus had gone off the deep end. They even tried to stage an intervention, as we are told in Mark chapter three: When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, "He is out of his mind."

We don’t often think about Jesus’ relatives. With Joseph dead, Jesus would have been the head of the family. Since He left to preach and teach, it would have fallen to James to run the family business. Which raises an interesting question. Three years later, when Jesus was dying on the cross to atone for our sins, we read these words: When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home (John 19:26-27). Why didn’t Jesus let a member of His family assume the responsibility of caring for their mother? Why give this honor to a disciple?  We don’t know the answer—the Bible doesn’t tell us.  Perhaps Jesus knew that this disciple would outlive Mary’s other children. Or maybe it had to do with love—the disciple Jesus felt personally closest to was John, so it would make sense for Jesus to ask His best friend to care for Mary once Jesus was gone. 

The people of Nazareth knew Jesus’ family—had known them all their lives. They knew Jesus was trained to be a carpenter; other than that, Jesus had no formal education that they knew about.  And Jesus was quietly thought of as a bastard—a son illegitimately born outside of marriage. That’s why the people called Him ‘the son of Mary’, not the son of Joseph. Jesus was a nice guy, polite and hardworking, but there certainly wasn’t anything special about Him.  So when Jesus started speaking about religious things like some sort of expert, the townsfolk got angry. Who did Jesus think He was, anyway? What gave Him the right to tell them how they should live? Just where did He get these teachings from, anyhow? How was it that this common laborer suddenly had the power to perform miracles? They thought that they had Jesus all nicely pigeon-holed, and now He was defying their expectations of Him. They couldn’t have been wrong about Jesus all this time, surely—He must have changed, fallen under a bad influence since He left town. 

It is said that familiarity breeds contempt.  Jesus acknowledged the truth of this when He told them "Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor." The citizens of Nazareth thought that Jesus was just like them; when He turned out to be something much greater, they resented Him for being better than them. It makes one wonder—how would the Nazarenes have treated Jesus if He were a stranger in their town? Not much different, I suspect. As soon as Jesus started saying things that made them feel uncomfortable, some would dismiss His words: “He’s not from around here; he doesn’t understand us or our problems.” When God sends a message that challenges us to make changes in our lives, we are quick to find excuses not to listen.

Mark goes on to say something astonishing: He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them.  And he was amazed at their lack of faith. Jesus—unable to do miracles? Our Lord has unlimited power—that was not the problem. No, it was the people of Nazareth who closed their ears to Him—they were the problem, they were the reason that only a few miracles were performed in their city. 

Without wisdom, we cannot see miracles happening. Without faith we don’t recognize the power of God at work, we only see coincidences and good fortune.  Jesus once said, Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces (Matthew 7:6). Jesus practiced what He preached. He did not cast His pearls before swine; He did not perform miracles for the unbelieving. On Good Friday, when Jesus was brought to Herod in chains, our Lord would not provide entertainment for the unbelieving king. When the religious leaders demanded that Jesus prove His authority to them by performing a miracle, the Lord replied A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah (Matthew 16:4). 

You remember Jonah—when he tried to run away from God, he ended up going overboard in a storm. God saved Him from drowning by sending a huge fish to swallow Jonah alive, and later spitting the man out on dry ground. After three days in what seemed an inescapable grave, God forgave Jonah and restored him to life.  Jesus applied this miracle to Himself—although He was dead in the grave three days, God would forgive the sins that buried Jesus and restore Him to life—everlasting life. On the cross, Jesus would suffer God’s punishment for all our offenses and die—but although dead, Jesus would be reborn, leaving our sins buried in His grave forever. That is the greatest miracle Jesus would ever perform—but we only get value from it through faith in Christ.  If we are so unwise as to reject the cross, we reject eternal life in paradise as well.

It was not Jesus’ habit to perform miracles for the unbelieving. The Messiah saved His miracles to strengthen those who trusted in His love and care. A woman with chronic bleeding touched Him, hoping for relief; Jesus told her, "Take heart, daughter…your faith has healed you" (Matthew 8:22). When a leper begged Jesus to cure his illness, the Lord replied "Rise and go; your faith has made you well" (Luke 17:19). Most of the Nazarenes were not wise enough to see that Jesus spoke and acted in God’s name; even if He did miracles for them, they would not praise God for Jesus’ work among them. And so, because of their hostility, they took a pass on experiencing the wisdom and power of God in their city. Jesus left to bring the Good News of salvation to other villages in the area.

What can we learn from this sorry episode in Jesus’ life? We learn that without faith we cannot see God’s hand working in our lives. It is clear that we need wisdom from God, wisdom that only comes through the words of Holy Scripture, words that we need to read and hear as much as we can. The citizens of Nazareth show us ourselves—people who are quick to reject God’s word if we don’t like the messenger or the words make us feel uncomfortable. And we see the tragedy of rejection—Jesus left to go be with people who welcomed Him. I pray that you will always welcome Christ and His wisdom, even when others around you feel differently.