Jesus Rejected at Nazareth
Series: The Gospel of the Kingdom
Speaker: Lead Pastor Dustin Aguilar
Scriptures: Matthew 13:53-58
Jesus Rejected at Nazareth (Matt 13)
Faith - our modern picture has become “acting as though something is true when it isn’t.” But that is not faith!
(much like Starbucks selling fall drinks when it’s 100+ degrees outside)
v.54 - “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works?” - the people in his hometown knew Jesus personally. They are not impressed. This is disdain and offense!
In our modern culture, we have a mindset that you can be whatever you want to be. But in Jesus’ time you could not. You were destined to live the same cycle and career as your parents.
v.55 - “Is not this the carpenter’s son...?”
They believed that whatever the father is, the son is too. Understanding this makes John 5:18 make more sense! (Jesus was equal to the father.)
The people are offended because they think He’s equal to His earthly father, the carpenter. Little do they know He’s equal to His Heavenly Father! It’s even possible the people may have complained about Jesus’s or Joseph’s carpentry work.
(Much like we look in the mirror and find fault with what God has made. It’s not impossible to imagine people would have found fault with what Jesus made.)
v.57 - “they took offense at him”
Familiarity destroys discernment.
The people of Jesus’s hometown are too familiar with him to honor Him.
But our church today is not much better. We often struggle to fear Him. It can be difficult to maintain a holy fear of someone who is so good and loving or who died for us. But His commands challenge us.
v.58 - “And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief”
unbelief - it robbed them of the Messiah itself
This final verse of ch.13 connects back to the Parable of the Sower near the beginning of the chapter!
Unbelief is one of the great enemies of the Christian life. But Nazareth’s problem was not a lack of information. The people are trusting what they think they know based on what they’ve
seen.
UNBELIEF & FAITH
Unbelief comes from competing information mixed with pride.
Nazareth’s problem. Often our problem too.
Pride is viewing the world through your own lens. (“I know best”)
Pride can be a high view of oneself or a low view.
Either way, you’re viewing the world through your own lens.
You may have been taught that certain things are “unbelief”: don’t go to the doctors, don’t take medicine, etc. – this “have more faith” idea is NOT the answer to unbelief
The answer to unbelief is reverence and submission to God.
Pray like our Lord prayed, “not my will, but yours be done.” “If you are willing” (Luke 22:42)
Faith is listening to God & obeying.
Hebrews 11:8 - by faith Abraham obeyed. Most of the controversial stories of faith cut out the listening-to-God and obedience piece.
We like to turn individual testimonies into formulas. But if there’s a formula, it’s just listen & obey.
Hearing from God:
Hearing from God starts with Scripture
If the people of Nazareth had searched the Scriptures, they would’ve seen that Jesus was doing the signs of the Messiah. But Scripture also points to hearing from God in other ways.
Hearing from God looks like dreams, visions, signs, prophecy, and listening to wise counsel.
This helps because we can sometimes misunderstand a sign or interpret things wrong. It also requires community and relationships!
Invitations:
If you’re feeling convicted as a “complainer,” repent.
If you’ve been “offended” at Jesus and gotten too comfortable with Him to fear Him, say so.
If you have been disillusioned by “faith teaching” and don’t know what faith looks like anymore, invite your church family to help you through it.