Matthew 13:53-58 When Jesus had finished these parables, he moved on from there. Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked. “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town and in his own home.” And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.
“A prophet is not without honor except in his own town and in his own home.” A lack of honor is common from people familiar with a family member or an acquaintance who attempts to live a dedicated Christian life. People often doubt the sincerity of a person sold out to Christianity, living totally committed to an unseen God. They shy away from those who say they have the Holy Spirit resident in them and that He talks to them. People are concerned about those who consider the Bible a divine message from God. Unbelievers fear such people have broken from the reality of empirical evidence and rational thought, of perceptions based on the senses: touch, hearing, taste, sight, and smell. Non-Christians do not want to accept that God is involved with the lives of humans, performing miracles for those who pray. The idea that prayer changes reality is strange to them. In today’s account, Jesus does not perform many miracles in his hometown because the Nazarenes accepted him as a good citizen of their community but questioned his claims of being sent from God. To them, He was a carpenter, not a tool of God. Therefore, they wondered about his wisdom and miraculous power. Jesus’ thinking He was a special messenger from God troubled them. How could a carpenter change so much? His previous mission was to build things, now He seemed to think he was building the kingdom of heaven. Jesus’ family viewed his transformation from carpenter to some sort of divine messenger of God as too much for them to accept. Of course, He was performing miracles that no man had done since the beginning of time, but his family must have been suspicious of the reality of these miracles. However, some of the Galileans were clamoring for his attention. Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.” (Mark 3:20-21) Jesus’ family knew him as a man of fleshly pursuits and biological needs, not as an instrument from God or even more troubling, divinity in the flesh. As a member of his family, he was a good, responsible, even spiritual man, but just a man. How could He now change so rapidly into a man performing miraculous deeds and teaching scholarly messages? His metamorphic transformation was so complete that his family had reached the conclusion He was crazy and an embarrassment to them. They wanted Jesus to get off center stage, huddle with them at home until his emotional needs were healed. The community agreed with the family, something was wrong with this common man. “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” And they took offense at him. They took offense with him for they assumed Jesus was using religion to elevate himself above them. They did not want to see him as God’s anointed One. They wanted him in the picture as one of them, not as a special person from the household of God, but Jesus received the anointing of God at the River Jordan when He was baptized by his cousin John the Baptist. As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:16-17)
When people become Christians, they are new creations, born-again entities. To be born again means you are no longer citizens of this existing world as it was first created. Yes, the needs you experience are based on biology, just as Jesus experienced when He walked this world. Jesus’ transformation from carpenter to a man under God’s authority, came with the infilling of the Holy Spirit. He was, is, and ever will be God; but He came in human form, under the dictates of the flesh as a sacrifice for mankind—the perfect love gift to the world. God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. (Romans 8:3 NLT) In essence, Jesus was the first born of many newly born, experiencing a transformation from the physical to the spiritual. He began his life under the dictates of the flesh, completely under the control of natural law. Gravity affected him as it affects us. Authority controlled him just as it controls us. We obey people of authority just as Jesus obeyed in his environment. But Jesus was supernatural in all ways after the Spirit descended on him, breaking through the natural order by performing miracles and healings. He was acting as a new creature to show those present and all who would read about his life that He was different, totally different. God had his hands on him with the Holy Spirit completely active in his life. Jesus was the dynamo of God placed on Earth, the transformer of life from old to new. The power of God’s Spirit radiated from him, bringing change to everything: the climate followed his orders; sicknesses bowed to his words; demons fled from his pronouncements. Jesus epitomized the NEW CREATURE. Alive IN CHRIST, we are new creatures with power determined by the will of the Father. Jesus’ power was always under the auspices of the Father, for He understood the Father’s heart of love for mankind. Jesus’ desire is to perform miraculous deeds in our lives, but we are not always full of faith or confidence in his power in us. We are often short-sighted in our view of God’s purposes in our lives. We want things to change for us or for others because we view those changes as a solution to our needs or problems, but God is working on permanent solutions for our eternal existence. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. (Romans 8:27-28 NLT)
As Christians, we are not to view each other merely as religious humans. No, we are new creatures, living lives full of the Holy Spirit. Paul said we should not see others from a worldly point of view. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! (2 Corinthians 5:16-17) The Galileans and Jesus’ family experienced difficulty viewing Jesus as a divine person sent from God. Often when we interact with each other as Christians, we forget that the Holy Spirit resides in born-again people. The born-again experience is in a different dominion than the world because we are eternal. When we communicate with each other, we should understand that love is the binding agreement in our community. When Jesus told his disciples that He was going away permanently, He said, A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. (John 13:34-35) He knew He was the binding glue in the disciples’ relationships with each other. Would they continue to stay together after He was gone? He tells them they MUST LOVE EACH OTHER. This was a new commandment given to all who are born-again. God’s love was revealed completely in Christ’s sacrifice. He could have used Jesus’ time on earth to win the whole world for himself. Jesus told Pilate He could send thousands of angels to defend him on that day of sacrifice. He was telling Pilate if God wanted to He could judge the whole world right then. He said, since He was there, He could use his powers to take over every kingdom of earth. But God does not function that way, for force would not change the hearts of men. Obedience, forced subservience to God, is not what He wanted. Instead, out of GREAT LOVE, He put his Son on the cross to make new creatures, to change the hearts of men from rebellion to lovers of God. Believers are new creatures, born again for eternity. The Galileans could not envision Jesus’ new life. They were satisfied with their present life in the flesh and the former Jesus. They resented this new Jesus with miraculous power and authority in teaching the scriptures. His teaching that the Kingdom of God was at hand seemed hard for them to swallow. But this Good News of the kingdom was accepted by many such as Paul. He preached it everywhere. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” (Romans 1:16-17) The Galileans missed out on the power of God, unwilling to accept the dynamo of God, Jesus Christ on Earth. Therefore, he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith. We who are IN CHRIST possess this power, the indwelling Holy Spirit through the name of Jesus. Let us see each other in truth as people of God who are willing to display him to all people by loving those around us. Let Jesus shine in our hearts so his love will dwell in us. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. God is no respecter of persons, all are treated the same, WITH LOVE!
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