A HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS

AA. Christ’s Final Rejection In His Hometown

(Matthew 13:54-58; Mark 6:1-6a)

I. Introduction

A. Jesus found the hardest people to believe in Him were His own hometown people of Nazareth. This commonly occurs, for people who have seen one grow up in their midst often fail to respect his spiritual calling simply because they view him solely from the natural perspective rather than the spiritual viewpoint.

B. We study Matthew 13:54-58 and Mark 6;1-6a on this matter for our insight, application and edification:

II. Christ’s Final Rejection In His Hometown, Matthew 13:54-58; Mark 6:1-6a.

A. Mark 6:1 reported that Jesus came into literally His “fathers” (patris, Arndt & Gingrich, A Grk.-Eng. Lex. of the N. T., 1967, p. 642), a figurative expression for His native place, His hometown. Both Matthew and Mark who recorded this event used this expression (U. B. S. Grk. N. T., 1966, p. 52, 141), emphasizing that the people of Nazareth viewed Jesus as an ordinary Hebrew Whom they knew had grown up in their local town.

B. On the Sabbath, He began to teach in the local synagogue, and many of the hearers were astonished, asking where Jesus had acquired His great knowledge and wisdom coupled with His mighty miracles, Mark 6:2.

C. This astonishment came from their comparing Jesus to His native family, Mark 6:3a:

1. Jesus’ earthly father was Joseph, a carpenter, so his understanding of the Scriptures would have been limited and not at the level of formally educated rabbis, meaning that Jesus could not have acquired His great knowledge from his father Joseph.

2. Jesus’ mother was Mary, and his brothers James, Joses, Jude and Simon along with Jesus’ sisters, and none of them had shown any unusual knowledge and wisdom of the Scriptures or performed miracles.

D. Since there was no natural explanation as to how Jesus had acquired His knowledge and wisdom and His ability to perform great miracles, the hometown people of Nazareth were offended at Him, Mark 6:3b.

E. Christ’s hometown people could not view Him outside of their hometown context, but that viewpoint was still an inexcusable act of unbelief: since they realized that there was no possible human explanation for Jesus’ great knowledge, wisdom and miracles, the only logical conclusion would have been for the townspeople to conclude that Jesus was indeed supernaturally gifted by God for His ministry!

F. Jesus then told them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household,” Mark 6:4 ESV. The word “hometown” translates the Greek term patris as it also appears in Mark 6:1, what Matthew also recorded Jesus as using in this statement (Ibid., Arndt & Gingrich).

G. Consequently, Jesus could not do many miraculous works there except to lay His hands on a few sick people to heal them, Mark 6:5.

H. Christ then marveled at the unbelief of His townspeople, Mark 6:6a. This statement reveals that faith is authored by man, that it is not an immediate gift of God as Calvinism claims. If this were not so, Christ would never have marveled at unbelief but understood it to be a lack of a Calvinistic immediate divine gift of faith!

I. In the end, Jesus branched out to minister God’s Word in other villages in the region of Galilee, Mark 6:6b.

Lesson: Jesus’ own townspeople viewed Him through their knowledge of His earthly family, and when they could not explain His great knowledge of Scripture and divine wisdom coupled with the great miracles He performed when they compared Jesus to His earthly family members, instead of believing that He was supernaturally endowed by God for a great spiritual ministry, they were offended and Him. Consequently, they missed out on God’s great blessing through the Lord Whom they had long known in their midst!

Application: (1) We need to evaluate people who minister not according to natural criteria, but according to the spiritual realm, for “though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds” wrote Paul in 2 Corinthians 10:3-4. (2) If God has saved and equipped you to perform a spiritual ministry, do not be surprised if people you have known all your life may not accept you performing such a ministry simply because they choose to view you through the lens of regular humanity rather than viewing you on the spiritual plane. Rather, you need to go ahead and obey the Lord and minister with His blessing. (3) Christ’s disciples who followed Him into Nazareth (cf. Mark 6:1b) were not discouraged from continuing to follow Him simply because His townspeople refused to believe in Him. The disciples knew from Jesus’ great knowledge, wisdom and mighty miracles that He was Messiah and Lord, so may we accept the spiritual credentials of people we know are godly regardless what others think of them.