Just the Hometown Boy



Matthew 13:53-58
53And when Jesus had finished these parables, he went away from there,
54and coming to his hometown he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works?
55Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?
56And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?”
57And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.”
58And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.


Those of us (well, at least some of us) who walk with Jesus today have no problem imagining the time when people got to experience Jesus in His human form. We would love to have witnessed Him healing a lame man, or feeding the crowds. But even Jesus had people in His life that saw those events with their own eyes and still didn’t believe He was the Savior; those with whom He had grown up and spent His entire life. They assumed this guy wasn’t anyone special. They knew Him when He was just a little kid. But they missed the boat by holding to that assumption.

During His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus had taught the people “Do not throw your pearls before the swine.” (Matthew 7:6) Even Jesus knew that He wasn’t going to force people to believe in Him and His message. Their choice to reject Him was their own. As a result, He chooses not to perform many miracles in His hometown. It wouldn’t help the people see Him as the Messiah. They already had a preconceived notion of what He was, and it wasn’t anything important! (Later in the story, Jesus own brothers and sisters do indeed become believers in Him as their Messiah, but not until after the resurrection.)

Perhaps all of us should examine our preconceived notions of who Jesus is and what He means in our lives. Without careful study of the Word, we are left as victims of bad teaching, wrong thinking, and our own self-delusions. It is imperative that we allow Jesus to define Himself, which He does for us in the Word. Can we still be deceived or wrong? Certainly. But if we remain in the Word, even those deceptions and wrong ideas can be corrected by the Holy Spirit.

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