WEBVTT 00:00:00.010 --> 00:00:04.490 Chapter 13. As you're making your way there, 00:00:04.610 --> 00:00:06.629 I'm obviously wearing glasses today. I typically 00:00:06.629 --> 00:00:10.710 wear contacts. I cannot wear contacts. The elephant 00:00:10.710 --> 00:00:13.509 in the room, you can see my eye. So yes, I married 00:00:13.509 --> 00:00:15.410 a Latina who has a great right hook. That's all 00:00:15.410 --> 00:00:19.329 I can say. If it only were that good of a story. 00:00:20.789 --> 00:00:23.170 The truth is always less entertaining and more 00:00:23.170 --> 00:00:26.670 humiliating. I was picking weeds and... trying 00:00:26.670 --> 00:00:28.670 to teach my children to pick them well. And I 00:00:28.670 --> 00:00:30.809 moved a flower basket that was hanging on one 00:00:30.809 --> 00:00:33.329 of those old shepherd's staff. I went down to, 00:00:33.329 --> 00:00:36.429 I bent over to pull some weeds and jammed that 00:00:36.429 --> 00:00:39.329 thing right in my eye. Jammed it hard actually. 00:00:40.109 --> 00:00:42.149 And so thankfully it seems like everything's 00:00:42.149 --> 00:00:45.549 checked out. It's just, everyone's asking me 00:00:45.549 --> 00:00:49.369 what's going on. And so, you know, just thought 00:00:49.369 --> 00:00:52.299 I'd share that with you today. and so I appreciate 00:00:52.299 --> 00:00:55.299 everyone your concern and Sandy's really not 00:00:55.299 --> 00:01:00.179 that mean so let's look at the text this morning 00:01:00.179 --> 00:01:05.799 and remember Matthew 13 is the chapter we have 00:01:05.799 --> 00:01:08.780 all these kingdom parables seven of them in fact 00:01:08.780 --> 00:01:11.319 seven parables all related to the kingdom of 00:01:11.319 --> 00:01:14.859 God so now we come to verse 53 it says then when 00:01:14.859 --> 00:01:18.879 Jesus had finished these parables he went away 00:01:18.879 --> 00:01:21.450 from there and and coming to his own hometown, 00:01:22.370 --> 00:01:26.230 he taught them in their synagogue so that they 00:01:26.230 --> 00:01:30.030 were astonished. And they said, where did this 00:01:30.030 --> 00:01:36.329 man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is 00:01:36.329 --> 00:01:39.969 not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother 00:01:39.969 --> 00:01:44.209 called Mary? Are not his brothers James and Joseph 00:01:44.209 --> 00:01:47.930 and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters 00:01:47.930 --> 00:01:53.640 with us? Where then did this man get all these 00:01:53.640 --> 00:01:59.519 things? And they took offense at him. But Jesus 00:01:59.519 --> 00:02:04.159 said to them, a prophet is not without honor, 00:02:05.319 --> 00:02:08.400 except in his hometown and in his own household. 00:02:09.219 --> 00:02:14.460 And he did not do many mighty works there because 00:02:14.460 --> 00:02:18.689 of their unbelief. Let's pray. Father, would 00:02:18.689 --> 00:02:23.770 you help us today? God, to see beyond what we 00:02:23.770 --> 00:02:27.770 can perceive with our eyes and see the truth 00:02:27.770 --> 00:02:32.370 that Jesus is not the carpenter's son. He's the 00:02:32.370 --> 00:02:35.669 son of the living God. Lord God, would you open 00:02:35.669 --> 00:02:41.590 blinded eyes? Open cold hearts. May we be, Lord 00:02:41.590 --> 00:02:46.150 God, for lack of a better word, enraptured, enthralled. 00:02:46.919 --> 00:02:51.740 with the glory that belongs to your son. May 00:02:51.740 --> 00:02:54.599 he be preeminent. May he be lifted up. We pray 00:02:54.599 --> 00:02:59.759 in Jesus name. Amen. Our local news station, 00:03:00.419 --> 00:03:03.020 WSAZ, they do this segment. It's called the Hometown 00:03:03.020 --> 00:03:07.439 Hero. I believe most of you are familiar with 00:03:07.439 --> 00:03:10.639 it. Someone from the local community is named 00:03:10.639 --> 00:03:14.909 Hero. Recently, Roger Malone, and many of y 'all 00:03:14.909 --> 00:03:17.250 know them, it's Bridget's father -in -law, Derek's 00:03:17.250 --> 00:03:20.729 dad, Angel's husband, he was named a hometown 00:03:20.729 --> 00:03:25.509 hero for his impressive work on the Civil War 00:03:25.509 --> 00:03:28.530 time capsule that he found in the memorial building 00:03:28.530 --> 00:03:30.610 down in Ironton. If you don't know about it, 00:03:30.610 --> 00:03:32.750 that's actually very fascinating. I would encourage 00:03:32.750 --> 00:03:35.210 you to take the time to look at that. But the 00:03:35.210 --> 00:03:37.270 idea behind the segment is that you have local 00:03:37.270 --> 00:03:40.750 people who've done something extraordinary, they 00:03:40.750 --> 00:03:44.150 get recognized, they get noticed, and they're 00:03:44.150 --> 00:03:47.810 labeled a hero for a day. So what we have died 00:03:47.810 --> 00:03:52.129 is local residents are lauded for their extraordinary 00:03:52.129 --> 00:03:57.409 work. Well, the exact opposite is taking place 00:03:57.409 --> 00:04:00.789 in our text today. The Lord Jesus is certainly 00:04:00.789 --> 00:04:05.270 not lauded as some hometown hero as he goes back 00:04:05.270 --> 00:04:09.250 to his hometown. Now, we're at the end of Matthew 00:04:09.250 --> 00:04:13.310 13. Jesus had finished teaching through the parables, 00:04:13.770 --> 00:04:16.269 all of them related to the kingdom. He's gone 00:04:16.269 --> 00:04:19.949 back to Nazareth. That's his hometown. And as 00:04:19.949 --> 00:04:22.230 was his custom, he goes into the synagogue on 00:04:22.230 --> 00:04:25.910 the Sabbath, and he taught the people. And the 00:04:25.910 --> 00:04:28.290 people who heard him that day, they are amazed 00:04:28.290 --> 00:04:32.949 by his wisdom. They're astonished by his miracles, 00:04:33.990 --> 00:04:38.639 yet they still rejected him. But why would Jesus 00:04:38.639 --> 00:04:42.519 be rejected of all places in his own hometown? 00:04:43.680 --> 00:04:45.139 You would think that they would be the first 00:04:45.139 --> 00:04:47.839 to recognize him or the first to receive him 00:04:47.839 --> 00:04:50.519 that do some type of honor. I mean, it seems 00:04:50.519 --> 00:04:53.160 like we should be reading that they held a parade 00:04:53.160 --> 00:04:56.579 in his honor or had some type of public ceremony 00:04:56.579 --> 00:05:00.920 where they were honoring him publicly. After 00:05:00.920 --> 00:05:04.279 all, by this time, Jesus has garnered the attention 00:05:04.279 --> 00:05:08.360 of all of Israel. He had massive crowds who had 00:05:08.360 --> 00:05:10.720 followed him who were hanging on his every word, 00:05:10.819 --> 00:05:13.779 and no one from Nazareth had ever done anything 00:05:13.779 --> 00:05:17.560 like that before. But that's not what we read. 00:05:18.100 --> 00:05:22.319 That's not what happened. But why not? And the 00:05:22.319 --> 00:05:24.620 answer is because they could not reconcile in 00:05:24.620 --> 00:05:29.139 their minds how the carpenter's son, the one 00:05:29.139 --> 00:05:33.060 they grew up with, the one they knew from a child, 00:05:34.100 --> 00:05:37.329 hound the world. Could he be the Messiah they'd 00:05:37.329 --> 00:05:40.850 been waiting for? Now, you have to keep in mind, 00:05:41.089 --> 00:05:44.250 what was the Jewish expectation of the Messiah? 00:05:45.269 --> 00:05:47.810 We said this so many times, but they were looking 00:05:47.810 --> 00:05:51.589 for a military, a political figure who's going 00:05:51.589 --> 00:05:54.230 to come and free them from Rome. And by the way, 00:05:54.250 --> 00:05:55.810 that's really important. When you read through 00:05:55.810 --> 00:05:58.389 the Gospels, you need to know that. That's what 00:05:58.389 --> 00:06:00.889 they were looking for. So they're looking for 00:06:00.889 --> 00:06:04.870 a victorious, David -like king. who's going to 00:06:04.870 --> 00:06:08.189 bring Israel back to a time of national prosperity 00:06:08.189 --> 00:06:12.589 and national peace. They want someone, a strong 00:06:12.589 --> 00:06:16.610 man, lead the charge against Rome and restore 00:06:16.610 --> 00:06:20.310 Israel to our glory. And Jesus doesn't fit the 00:06:20.310 --> 00:06:23.129 mold at all. We all are familiar with the old 00:06:23.129 --> 00:06:27.050 adage, familiarity breeds contempt. And that's 00:06:27.050 --> 00:06:30.009 what happened here. Their familiarity with Jesus 00:06:30.009 --> 00:06:33.600 became a barrier to faith. They had preconceived 00:06:33.600 --> 00:06:37.100 assumptions, and those assumptions blinded them 00:06:37.100 --> 00:06:39.860 to the glory of God that was standing right in 00:06:39.860 --> 00:06:44.120 front of them. God was in their midst, but they 00:06:44.120 --> 00:06:47.079 couldn't see it. Sorry. So let's look at this 00:06:47.079 --> 00:06:49.399 with a little more detail. Look at verses 53 00:06:49.399 --> 00:06:52.720 and 54 again. It says, when Jesus had finished 00:06:52.720 --> 00:06:55.360 his parables, he went away from there, that's 00:06:55.360 --> 00:06:58.379 the Sea of Galilee, and coming to his hometown. 00:06:59.259 --> 00:07:02.120 Now, where had Jesus been teaching? Do you remember, 00:07:02.220 --> 00:07:04.639 the crowds were so large that he was actually 00:07:04.639 --> 00:07:08.639 in a boat there at the Sea of Galilee. And he 00:07:08.639 --> 00:07:11.180 was teaching for quite a while. And Matthew says, 00:07:11.279 --> 00:07:14.180 once he finished, he goes to his own hometown. 00:07:14.620 --> 00:07:17.779 He goes back to Nazareth. Now, the Lord had been 00:07:17.779 --> 00:07:20.720 teaching parables all day long, all related, 00:07:20.800 --> 00:07:22.660 as I said, to the kingdom, and that's so important. 00:07:22.920 --> 00:07:25.879 Because what you see there in Matthew 13 is that 00:07:25.879 --> 00:07:28.259 the kingdom of God is different than what they 00:07:28.259 --> 00:07:31.459 thought. The kingdom of God is already present. 00:07:32.379 --> 00:07:35.959 The kingdom of God transforms a person, but it's 00:07:35.959 --> 00:07:40.040 hidden. It's valuable. It's of extreme value, 00:07:40.959 --> 00:07:45.480 but it also divides. Those who have faith in 00:07:45.480 --> 00:07:49.420 Jesus will receive the kingdom of God, and those 00:07:49.420 --> 00:07:52.160 who reject him will be rejected from the kingdom. 00:07:52.699 --> 00:07:54.459 And as we come to our text today, it's almost 00:07:54.459 --> 00:07:57.439 like a living illustration that's being seen. 00:07:58.029 --> 00:07:59.949 terrible of the seed and sower. Do you remember 00:07:59.949 --> 00:08:02.250 there's four types of soils? You've got a hard 00:08:02.250 --> 00:08:06.529 soil, a rocky soil, a crowded soil, and you have 00:08:06.529 --> 00:08:09.129 fertile soil. Well, think about the people of 00:08:09.129 --> 00:08:13.230 Nazareth. They heard the gospel. Jesus Christ 00:08:13.230 --> 00:08:18.149 is the one preaching. They saw miracles showing 00:08:18.149 --> 00:08:22.189 that the kingdom of God had come. Yet we read 00:08:22.189 --> 00:08:25.680 that their hearts remained hardened. the seed 00:08:25.680 --> 00:08:30.420 had fallen on hard soil. Now Matthew simply says 00:08:30.420 --> 00:08:32.799 Jesus went home. He went to his hometown. Now 00:08:32.799 --> 00:08:35.279 we know Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but Bethlehem 00:08:35.279 --> 00:08:38.019 is not where he grew up. He grew up in Nazareth. 00:08:38.039 --> 00:08:41.100 He will be called a Nazarene. So now we know 00:08:41.100 --> 00:08:43.820 a lot about Nazareth. It was a small, obscure, 00:08:44.360 --> 00:08:47.919 very insignificant town, known for agriculture, 00:08:48.440 --> 00:08:50.940 and it's probably only about 500 people at the 00:08:50.940 --> 00:08:54.019 time. It's located in the southern part of Galilee, 00:08:54.519 --> 00:08:57.080 Galilee's northern Israel, and Nazareth would 00:08:57.080 --> 00:08:58.899 have been in the southern part of the north of 00:08:58.899 --> 00:09:01.879 Israel. So where Jesus had been teaching there 00:09:01.879 --> 00:09:04.720 at the Sea of Galilee is about 40 miles from 00:09:04.720 --> 00:09:06.899 Nazareth, so it probably would have taken him 00:09:06.899 --> 00:09:10.000 anywhere from three to four days on foot to travel 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:13.799 back home. When he gets there, all the Nazarenes, 00:09:13.799 --> 00:09:17.360 they lived very modest lives, mostly involved 00:09:17.360 --> 00:09:20.399 in agriculture or some type of trade such as 00:09:20.399 --> 00:09:23.289 carpentry. That's what Jesus was. That's what 00:09:23.289 --> 00:09:26.970 his dad was. So this is a small town. This is 00:09:26.970 --> 00:09:29.330 a town where everybody would have known each 00:09:29.330 --> 00:09:31.590 other, and not just known each other, but they 00:09:31.590 --> 00:09:34.029 also would have known their family. They would 00:09:34.029 --> 00:09:37.970 have known their family tree. But most people 00:09:37.970 --> 00:09:42.049 in Israel looked at Nazareth as a backwater, 00:09:42.429 --> 00:09:46.559 podunk kind of town. In fact, there's a strong 00:09:46.559 --> 00:09:49.139 prejudice against the people who live there. 00:09:49.299 --> 00:09:51.899 And how do we know that? In John chapter 1, you 00:09:51.899 --> 00:09:55.840 see this very clearly. Philip found Nathaniel 00:09:55.840 --> 00:10:00.139 and said to him, we found him of whom Moses in 00:10:00.139 --> 00:10:02.779 the law and also the prophets wrote. Basically, 00:10:02.860 --> 00:10:08.740 we found the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, the 00:10:08.740 --> 00:10:13.220 son of Joseph. And Nathaniel's like, can any 00:10:13.220 --> 00:10:16.379 good thing... come out of Nazareth? And Philip 00:10:16.379 --> 00:10:20.399 said, well, come and see. So Nathanael was shocked. 00:10:20.620 --> 00:10:22.419 I mean, anyone would have been shocked. He's 00:10:22.419 --> 00:10:24.919 like, are you trying to tell me that the Messiah 00:10:24.919 --> 00:10:29.659 is from Nazareth? I mean, are you sure? From 00:10:29.659 --> 00:10:31.559 Nazareth. That's what you're telling me here. 00:10:31.860 --> 00:10:34.860 The one that Israel has been waiting for for 00:10:34.860 --> 00:10:41.519 millennia is here, and he's from Nazareth. Can 00:10:41.519 --> 00:10:44.639 anything good come from that place? This would 00:10:44.639 --> 00:10:48.559 have been the very last place anyone would have 00:10:48.559 --> 00:10:51.340 thought to look for the Messiah. Now you always 00:10:51.340 --> 00:10:54.120 have that elite class. You have the elite ruling 00:10:54.120 --> 00:10:58.259 class, the sophisticated ones. They were in Jerusalem. 00:10:59.080 --> 00:11:03.039 They looked down their noses at Nazareth. Here's 00:11:03.039 --> 00:11:06.419 the thing, even fellow Galileans looked down 00:11:06.419 --> 00:11:09.120 their noses at Nazareth. Because the people from 00:11:09.120 --> 00:11:11.779 Nazareth, the Nazarenes, they were seen as uneducated. 00:11:12.029 --> 00:11:14.850 They were backwards people. I mean, we sometimes 00:11:14.850 --> 00:11:16.909 feel that here, don't we, in Appalachia, in Ironton. 00:11:17.389 --> 00:11:19.669 You people from Columbus or Cleveland, they look 00:11:19.669 --> 00:11:21.669 at us with suspicion. You guys are just from 00:11:21.669 --> 00:11:24.990 that podunk part of the state. And that's how 00:11:24.990 --> 00:11:27.990 they looked at Nazareth. And so the irony here, 00:11:28.009 --> 00:11:30.250 the great irony that we see at the very beginning, 00:11:30.610 --> 00:11:35.789 is that God the Father chose this town for His 00:11:35.789 --> 00:11:38.710 Son to grow up in. God did not choose Jerusalem. 00:11:39.340 --> 00:11:42.179 He did not choose some other illustrious, important 00:11:42.179 --> 00:11:46.600 city. Rather, he chose this lowly, nondescript, 00:11:47.100 --> 00:11:52.740 unimportant town for his son. This is like our 00:11:52.740 --> 00:11:55.879 God. Paul wrote about this in 1 Corinthians chapter 00:11:55.879 --> 00:12:00.320 1. But God, he's chosen the foolishings of the 00:12:00.320 --> 00:12:03.639 world. Why? Why do that? To put to shame the 00:12:03.639 --> 00:12:07.299 wise? He's chosen the weak things of the world. 00:12:07.899 --> 00:12:11.450 Why? to put to shame the things which are mighty, 00:12:12.230 --> 00:12:15.149 the basings of the world, and the things which 00:12:15.149 --> 00:12:20.009 are despised, like Nazareth, God has chosen, 00:12:20.549 --> 00:12:24.529 and the things which are not, to bring to nothing 00:12:24.529 --> 00:12:27.169 the things that are. The next verse says, so 00:12:27.169 --> 00:12:31.029 that no flesh will glory in his presence. So 00:12:31.029 --> 00:12:34.710 as far as most of the Jews at that time, as far 00:12:34.710 --> 00:12:37.110 as they were concerned, the very first strike 00:12:37.110 --> 00:12:41.129 that Jesus had against him was the place he grew 00:12:41.129 --> 00:12:46.409 up. It wasn't respectable enough. So no one ever 00:12:46.409 --> 00:12:48.750 would have thought the Messiah grew up in Nazareth, 00:12:49.070 --> 00:12:52.190 including the Nazarenes themselves. Look at verse 00:12:52.190 --> 00:12:55.330 54, the latter part. It says, Jesus taught them 00:12:55.330 --> 00:12:58.850 in their synagogue. So they were astonished. 00:12:59.750 --> 00:13:02.610 And they said, and notice their question, where 00:13:02.610 --> 00:13:08.230 did this man get this wisdom and these mighty 00:13:08.230 --> 00:13:11.740 works? The synagogue was a center of social and 00:13:11.740 --> 00:13:14.279 religious life. In a small town like Nazareth, 00:13:14.559 --> 00:13:16.460 the synagogue would have been extraordinarily 00:13:16.460 --> 00:13:21.500 important. I find it fascinating that Jesus taught 00:13:21.500 --> 00:13:23.960 in the same synagogue that he would have attended 00:13:23.960 --> 00:13:27.500 with his parents as a child. It's the same place. 00:13:28.539 --> 00:13:30.600 First of all, we see Jesus' ministry is not private. 00:13:31.500 --> 00:13:34.419 It's very public. He's teaching the people where 00:13:34.419 --> 00:13:38.429 they had gathered for worship. And it says, the 00:13:38.429 --> 00:13:41.990 people who heard him teach, and I'm going to 00:13:41.990 --> 00:13:45.110 use a different word. We're left thunderstruck. 00:13:46.549 --> 00:13:49.450 They're thunderstruck. They're just absolutely 00:13:49.450 --> 00:13:53.389 astonished. And that's the same reaction that 00:13:53.389 --> 00:13:55.570 the people who heard Jesus give that famous Sermon 00:13:55.570 --> 00:13:58.110 on the Mount, when the people who heard him back 00:13:58.110 --> 00:14:01.490 in Matthew 7, they felt the same way. In 7 28, 00:14:01.610 --> 00:14:03.429 it says, when Jesus had ended these sayings, 00:14:03.429 --> 00:14:07.269 he's done with the sermon. The people were astonished 00:14:07.269 --> 00:14:09.950 at his teaching. Why were they so astonished? 00:14:10.870 --> 00:14:12.509 Because he taught them as one having authority. 00:14:13.850 --> 00:14:17.950 He was authoritative, not like the scribes. So 00:14:17.950 --> 00:14:20.070 now we find Jesus. He's gone back to his hometown, 00:14:20.490 --> 00:14:22.269 to the very people that he would have known all 00:14:22.269 --> 00:14:24.990 his life. He would have known these people from 00:14:24.990 --> 00:14:28.070 his childhood. But it's important to notice he 00:14:28.070 --> 00:14:32.399 didn't just teach. Notice what it says. He backed 00:14:32.399 --> 00:14:38.840 up his teaching with mighty works. Dunamis. You 00:14:38.840 --> 00:14:41.279 see the word dynamite. This is the word miracles, 00:14:41.500 --> 00:14:46.179 powerful signs. So the Lord is teaching authoritatively, 00:14:46.240 --> 00:14:50.259 and then he's proving his authority by performing 00:14:50.259 --> 00:14:54.940 miracles. And the people are like, wow. They're 00:14:54.940 --> 00:14:56.580 aghast. They're like, this can't be happening. 00:14:57.299 --> 00:15:00.559 And they ask this very important question. Where 00:15:00.559 --> 00:15:04.480 did this man get this wisdom? How can he do these 00:15:04.480 --> 00:15:08.600 mighty works? But the question was not asked 00:15:08.600 --> 00:15:12.200 sincerely, it was asked pejoratively. How is 00:15:12.200 --> 00:15:16.080 it possible that this man, you know, the one 00:15:16.080 --> 00:15:20.980 we all know, can do these things? They can't 00:15:20.980 --> 00:15:22.919 deny what they've heard. They can't refute his 00:15:22.919 --> 00:15:25.259 wisdom. They can't refute that miracles were 00:15:25.259 --> 00:15:28.139 taking place. They knew what they had seen and 00:15:28.139 --> 00:15:30.559 heard was extraordinary. Of that, there is no 00:15:30.559 --> 00:15:35.759 doubt. But now they ask skeptically, how can 00:15:35.759 --> 00:15:41.559 Jesus, the one we all know, teach like this? 00:15:42.519 --> 00:15:46.759 How can little Yeshua perform these mighty miracles? 00:15:47.820 --> 00:15:52.509 Verse 55. Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't 00:15:52.509 --> 00:15:54.750 that his mother called Mary? And then they list 00:15:54.750 --> 00:15:56.809 his brothers, four brothers, James, Joseph, Simon, 00:15:56.950 --> 00:15:58.789 Judas. What about his sisters? They're all here 00:15:58.789 --> 00:16:01.009 with us. They've grown up here. We know the whole 00:16:01.009 --> 00:16:07.169 family. So how, where then, did this man get 00:16:07.169 --> 00:16:10.750 all these things? Yeah, they knew Jesus. They 00:16:10.750 --> 00:16:12.710 didn't just know Jesus, they knew his family. 00:16:14.250 --> 00:16:16.850 Oh, you're talking about Yeshua, the son of Joseph 00:16:16.850 --> 00:16:20.679 the carpenter, right? That's the carpenter's 00:16:20.679 --> 00:16:25.059 son. And we start to see our Lord's humble beginnings. 00:16:25.500 --> 00:16:29.220 Not only was he born in a poor town, he's born 00:16:29.220 --> 00:16:32.820 to a poor family. Jesus is not the son of royalty. 00:16:33.580 --> 00:16:37.330 He was not born into some... aristocratic family, 00:16:37.370 --> 00:16:39.590 and that's what we would expect for the king 00:16:39.590 --> 00:16:41.730 of Israel. That's what we would expect for the 00:16:41.730 --> 00:16:44.830 Messiah. But on the contrary, not only did God 00:16:44.830 --> 00:16:47.750 choose poor Nazareth, He chose poor Joseph and 00:16:47.750 --> 00:16:50.429 Mary. They are poor. You said, well, how do you 00:16:50.429 --> 00:16:53.230 know that? Because when Jesus is born and they 00:16:53.230 --> 00:16:55.490 have to present Jesus at the temple, what was 00:16:55.490 --> 00:16:59.889 their offering? Two turtledoves. Why? Because 00:16:59.889 --> 00:17:01.889 they had no more money. That's the, that's, if 00:17:01.889 --> 00:17:03.909 you were a poor family, that's all you're required 00:17:03.909 --> 00:17:08.420 to offer. So Jesus was not educated in the best 00:17:08.420 --> 00:17:11.680 of rabbinical schools. In fact, Jesus Christ 00:17:11.680 --> 00:17:15.680 never received any formal rabbinical education 00:17:15.680 --> 00:17:19.740 at all. He wasn't a disciple of a famed rabbi. 00:17:20.680 --> 00:17:23.779 Jesus, what was his trade? He was a carpenter. 00:17:24.059 --> 00:17:28.079 He was the son of a carpenter. And what's Matthew's 00:17:28.079 --> 00:17:32.400 point here? He's so ordinary, so vanilla, if 00:17:32.400 --> 00:17:36.349 you will. He comes from an ordinary village family, 00:17:36.589 --> 00:17:39.369 and they felt then he has no business teaching 00:17:39.369 --> 00:17:44.849 us. Who does he think he is? But they were perplexed. 00:17:44.910 --> 00:17:47.650 How in the world can he teach like he did, because 00:17:47.650 --> 00:17:50.309 they were amazed by it, if he's never been formally 00:17:50.309 --> 00:17:54.150 trained? Unlike Paul, he never sat at the feet 00:17:54.150 --> 00:17:58.150 of Gamaliel. So where did Jesus get his wisdom? 00:17:59.009 --> 00:18:03.130 And moreover, how is it that Jesus the one we 00:18:03.130 --> 00:18:05.150 know, the one that grew up around the corner, 00:18:05.589 --> 00:18:10.089 how can he do these miracles? What's the source 00:18:10.089 --> 00:18:12.289 of its authority and power? Now keep in mind 00:18:12.289 --> 00:18:14.450 by this time the Pharisees had already concluded 00:18:14.450 --> 00:18:18.589 Jesus' source was Beelzebub. He's in line with 00:18:18.589 --> 00:18:20.890 Satan. That's how he's able to do these things. 00:18:21.609 --> 00:18:24.349 Now they're not saying that, but they are saying 00:18:24.349 --> 00:18:27.789 this, and we'll get to it. In their minds there 00:18:27.789 --> 00:18:31.650 is no possible way Jesus had been sent from God. 00:18:32.170 --> 00:18:35.430 Why are they saying that? Because they knew Jesus' 00:18:35.569 --> 00:18:40.289 family, and because they knew them, they assumed 00:18:40.289 --> 00:18:44.410 they knew Him. Jesus is just an ordinary man 00:18:44.410 --> 00:18:48.349 with an ordinary pedigree. But nothing could 00:18:48.349 --> 00:18:51.349 have been further from the truth. This is how 00:18:51.349 --> 00:18:56.109 God works. The Lord Jesus was God in the flesh. 00:18:57.490 --> 00:19:02.019 The one that grew up in backwards Nazareth was 00:19:02.019 --> 00:19:06.859 the incarnate God. But his deity, as the hymn 00:19:06.859 --> 00:19:11.900 says, was robed in frail humanity. They couldn't 00:19:11.900 --> 00:19:14.799 see Jesus for who he truly was because of their 00:19:14.799 --> 00:19:17.960 own bias. See, the problem's not a lack of evidence. 00:19:18.019 --> 00:19:20.059 It's not at all. The problem's not a lack of 00:19:20.059 --> 00:19:23.579 proof, but rather it was their preconceived ideas 00:19:23.579 --> 00:19:27.259 about what they assumed the Messiah would be 00:19:27.259 --> 00:19:30.799 like. Jesus just didn't fit the bill. But Matthew 00:19:30.799 --> 00:19:32.940 records something. He says they were left shocked 00:19:32.940 --> 00:19:36.000 and amazed by his teaching, but Matthew does 00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:38.920 not tell us what he taught. But aren't you curious? 00:19:38.960 --> 00:19:41.240 Like, what did he teach them? We don't have to 00:19:41.240 --> 00:19:44.619 wonder. Luke in the parallel gospel supplies 00:19:44.619 --> 00:19:49.319 the information in Luke chapter 4 verse 16. So 00:19:49.319 --> 00:19:52.279 he, that is Jesus, came to Nazareth, where he 00:19:52.279 --> 00:19:55.000 had been brought up. And as his custom was, he 00:19:55.000 --> 00:19:57.180 went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and 00:19:57.180 --> 00:20:01.089 he stood up to read. and that whoever was presiding 00:20:01.089 --> 00:20:03.289 over the synagogue would have allowed guest speakers. 00:20:03.890 --> 00:20:05.990 And so Jesus was handed the book of the prophet 00:20:05.990 --> 00:20:09.089 Isaiah. Now notice, and when he, that is Jesus, 00:20:09.369 --> 00:20:12.789 opened the book, there's a purpose here. He found 00:20:12.789 --> 00:20:15.730 the place where it was written. So Jesus is purposely 00:20:15.730 --> 00:20:18.250 looking for a passage in Isaiah, and here it 00:20:18.250 --> 00:20:22.509 is. The spirit of the Lord, the spirit of Yahweh 00:20:22.509 --> 00:20:27.130 is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach 00:20:27.130 --> 00:20:30.759 the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal 00:20:30.759 --> 00:20:33.779 the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the 00:20:33.779 --> 00:20:36.400 captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, 00:20:37.140 --> 00:20:40.079 to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to 00:20:40.079 --> 00:20:44.059 proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. Look 00:20:44.059 --> 00:20:47.500 at verse 20. Then he closed the book, he gave 00:20:47.500 --> 00:20:50.519 it back to the attendant, and he goes and takes 00:20:50.519 --> 00:20:53.940 a seat. He sits down. And the eyes of all who 00:20:53.940 --> 00:20:56.200 were in the synagogue were fixed on him, no doubt. 00:20:56.720 --> 00:21:00.400 They're like, what did we just hear? And he began 00:21:00.400 --> 00:21:07.240 to say to them, today, this scripture is fulfilled 00:21:07.240 --> 00:21:10.400 in your hearing. So all bore witness to him, 00:21:10.420 --> 00:21:12.640 and they marveled at the gracious words which 00:21:12.640 --> 00:21:15.440 proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, is 00:21:15.440 --> 00:21:18.259 this not Joseph's son? Now, by the way, I didn't 00:21:18.259 --> 00:21:20.039 finish, but if you go down a few verses later, 00:21:20.299 --> 00:21:21.819 they grabbed Jesus and they tried to throw him 00:21:21.819 --> 00:21:24.299 off a hill and kill him. That's the context. 00:21:24.619 --> 00:21:26.779 I just didn't put it in there. So now here's 00:21:26.779 --> 00:21:29.079 what I find fascinating. The Lord, he opened 00:21:29.079 --> 00:21:32.259 the scroll, he found Isaiah 61. Now there weren't 00:21:32.259 --> 00:21:34.299 chapter and verse divisions, obviously, but it's 00:21:34.299 --> 00:21:37.759 Isaiah 61 and he's quoting a passage about the 00:21:37.759 --> 00:21:41.680 Messiah. So he reads the passage and when he's 00:21:41.680 --> 00:21:43.740 done reading it, he looks at the people and he 00:21:43.740 --> 00:21:47.460 says, this prophecy, this prophecy you just heard 00:21:47.460 --> 00:21:52.900 is fulfilled today. Jesus was saying that Isaiah 00:21:52.900 --> 00:21:58.980 61 prophesying of the Messiah was speaking about 00:21:58.980 --> 00:22:05.420 him. Clearly, unambiguously, unequivocally, Jesus 00:22:05.420 --> 00:22:08.140 is claiming to be the Messiah and everyone who 00:22:08.140 --> 00:22:11.160 heard him knew that and they were left there 00:22:11.160 --> 00:22:15.440 speechless, their mouths hanging wide open. What? 00:22:16.180 --> 00:22:20.619 Did he just say what I think he said? Is he saying 00:22:20.619 --> 00:22:24.789 Isaiah's prophecy is about him? Who does he think 00:22:24.789 --> 00:22:29.470 he is? I remember Jesus as Yeshua, and I remember 00:22:29.470 --> 00:22:31.769 when Yeshua lived around the corner from me. 00:22:32.869 --> 00:22:37.109 And he's saying he's the Christ? Come on. That's 00:22:37.109 --> 00:22:40.130 Joseph and Mary some. Am I missing something 00:22:40.130 --> 00:22:43.809 here? Because at that time, there was an idea 00:22:43.809 --> 00:22:46.650 in Jewish shawl that when the Messiah came, no 00:22:46.650 --> 00:22:48.950 one would know where he's from. You again see 00:22:48.950 --> 00:22:51.880 that in John's gospel. However, we know where 00:22:51.880 --> 00:22:53.500 this man is from. That's why they're discounting 00:22:53.500 --> 00:22:56.180 Jesus. But when the Christ or Messiah comes, 00:22:56.720 --> 00:22:59.400 no one knows where he's from. That's what they 00:22:59.400 --> 00:23:05.859 thought. Jesus is too ordinary, too like us, 00:23:06.259 --> 00:23:09.619 to be the Messiah. And so those in Nazareth, 00:23:09.619 --> 00:23:14.099 they stumbled over him. But they couldn't deny 00:23:14.099 --> 00:23:17.279 what they had just heard and seen. So that's 00:23:17.279 --> 00:23:21.000 why they're asking, where did this man? get this 00:23:21.000 --> 00:23:23.900 wisdom and these mighty works. Because Jesus 00:23:23.900 --> 00:23:25.940 isn't just claiming the Messiah, he's proving 00:23:25.940 --> 00:23:28.279 it. And his miracles were proof that his claim 00:23:28.279 --> 00:23:33.240 was legitimate. But despite all that, the tragedy 00:23:33.240 --> 00:23:36.519 is they still saw him as the son of Joseph and 00:23:36.519 --> 00:23:39.740 Mary. Yes, he was the son of Joseph and Mary, 00:23:39.960 --> 00:23:44.220 not biologically the son of Joseph, but he was 00:23:44.220 --> 00:23:47.740 also the son of God. They could not reconcile 00:23:47.900 --> 00:23:51.420 knowing his earthly family, how he could have 00:23:51.420 --> 00:23:54.200 heavenly authority. They could not put these 00:23:54.200 --> 00:23:57.140 two together in their minds. It was impossible 00:23:57.140 --> 00:24:00.400 for them that the one they had always known, 00:24:00.779 --> 00:24:03.599 the one they had known from childhood, could 00:24:03.599 --> 00:24:06.099 be the one God sent from heaven. Just didn't 00:24:06.099 --> 00:24:09.039 compute. Didn't make sense to them. In verse 00:24:09.039 --> 00:24:12.180 57, this is where the rubber hits the road. And 00:24:12.180 --> 00:24:14.940 they took a fence at him. Now, we read a fence, 00:24:15.039 --> 00:24:17.140 like, oh, that's offensive. I don't like that. 00:24:17.390 --> 00:24:20.750 So they were astonished, but their astonishment 00:24:20.750 --> 00:24:24.450 was not good. It's more like shock. It's scandal, 00:24:24.450 --> 00:24:28.349 if you will. They're offended that Jesus claimed 00:24:28.349 --> 00:24:31.230 to be the Christ. The word took offense. It's 00:24:31.230 --> 00:24:33.329 the Greek word skandalitsou. You can see the 00:24:33.329 --> 00:24:37.490 word scandal. And it has various meanings. To 00:24:37.490 --> 00:24:42.150 trip up, to offend, to speak falsely of, to bring 00:24:42.150 --> 00:24:44.589 into reproach. But the idea behind it, it's a 00:24:44.589 --> 00:24:47.190 very strong connotation, it's to be appalled 00:24:47.190 --> 00:24:51.789 or disgusted. So now read it that way. It's not 00:24:51.789 --> 00:24:53.930 that they simply didn't like what he said, oh 00:24:53.930 --> 00:24:58.849 he offended me. They were disgusted that he said 00:24:58.849 --> 00:25:03.970 it. They were appalled at his audacious claims. 00:25:05.549 --> 00:25:10.130 Their familiarity with Jesus ironically blinded 00:25:10.130 --> 00:25:13.859 them. Friends, we need to listen. These things 00:25:13.859 --> 00:25:18.839 are written for us. We need to take heed. We 00:25:18.839 --> 00:25:23.519 can become so familiar with sacred things that 00:25:23.519 --> 00:25:27.220 they lose their effect on us. J .C. Ryle says 00:25:27.220 --> 00:25:31.599 we are all apt to despise mercies if we are accustomed 00:25:31.599 --> 00:25:36.680 to them and have them cheap. If you go back and 00:25:36.680 --> 00:25:40.240 read the history of the Bible, It's crazy what 00:25:40.240 --> 00:25:42.599 men have suffered to get what you hold in your 00:25:42.599 --> 00:25:45.380 hands or on your phone today. The Bibles and 00:25:45.380 --> 00:25:47.799 religious books which now, he says, are so plentiful. 00:25:48.680 --> 00:25:50.539 The churches, I mean there's a church on every 00:25:50.539 --> 00:25:52.839 corner in Lawrence County of which we have so 00:25:52.839 --> 00:25:56.440 abundant a supply. The preaching of the gospel 00:25:56.440 --> 00:25:58.720 which you can go online, you can hear whenever 00:25:58.720 --> 00:26:02.180 you want, which we hear every week. We at all, 00:26:02.240 --> 00:26:05.099 we are all liable to undervalue those things. 00:26:06.799 --> 00:26:09.779 proximity to sacred things can cause us to lose 00:26:09.779 --> 00:26:14.279 our awe and wonder. We become so familiar with 00:26:14.279 --> 00:26:18.480 the sacred that we treat it with contempt. We 00:26:18.480 --> 00:26:22.119 have to regain our sense of what is sacred and 00:26:22.119 --> 00:26:25.400 respect for the sacred. Respect for the word 00:26:25.400 --> 00:26:27.720 of God, respect for the house of God, respect 00:26:27.720 --> 00:26:31.299 for the preaching of the gospel. We become far 00:26:31.299 --> 00:26:34.200 too trivial, far too casual in our approach to 00:26:34.200 --> 00:26:38.279 these things. And because of that, we treat Jesus 00:26:38.279 --> 00:26:42.900 casually. It's the way we speak of Him. It pains 00:26:42.900 --> 00:26:46.299 me. It bothers me. It actually irks me when people 00:26:46.299 --> 00:26:49.759 refer to Him as J .C. It irks me when someone 00:26:49.759 --> 00:26:53.980 speaks of God as the man upstairs. He is the 00:26:53.980 --> 00:26:57.099 living God. He is creator. He is the Almighty. 00:26:58.140 --> 00:27:01.539 And He will be exalted in the earth. See friends, 00:27:01.539 --> 00:27:03.480 we have to be careful. We can become so familiar 00:27:03.480 --> 00:27:07.539 with the gospel that it no longer amazes you. 00:27:08.019 --> 00:27:09.759 It doesn't move you. When we're singing there 00:27:09.759 --> 00:27:14.440 at the end, oh great God of highest heaven, these 00:27:14.440 --> 00:27:16.480 words, pray and occupy my lowly heart. Friends, 00:27:16.519 --> 00:27:19.079 we're not just reading words. At least we ought 00:27:19.079 --> 00:27:22.420 not to be. We ought to be amazed. You ought to 00:27:22.420 --> 00:27:25.099 be amazed that God in His grace has chosen you 00:27:25.099 --> 00:27:30.200 under eternal life. See, they were with Jesus, 00:27:30.220 --> 00:27:32.539 but they couldn't sing. Friends, we ought to 00:27:32.539 --> 00:27:37.019 be humbled. by this amazing God who took one 00:27:37.019 --> 00:27:40.380 drop of mercy or even glanced our way. But He 00:27:40.380 --> 00:27:41.960 didn't just glance our way. He brought us into 00:27:41.960 --> 00:27:44.680 the kingdom and adopted us into His family and 00:27:44.680 --> 00:27:47.059 made us sons and daughters of the Most High. 00:27:48.700 --> 00:27:52.660 Shall we not give our lives to Him? Of course, 00:27:52.740 --> 00:27:54.359 Jesus rejected. And by the way, this shouldn't 00:27:54.359 --> 00:27:57.460 surprise anyone. From his birth, we were told 00:27:57.460 --> 00:27:59.559 he'd be rejected. Again, shortly after he was 00:27:59.559 --> 00:28:02.039 born, Mary and Joseph, they take Jesus as a baby 00:28:02.039 --> 00:28:04.660 into the temple as required by the law. They're 00:28:04.660 --> 00:28:06.599 going to present him before the Lord. And there's 00:28:06.599 --> 00:28:09.700 a man named Simeon there. And Simeon picks up 00:28:09.700 --> 00:28:12.680 Jesus and he speaks a prophecy over him. And 00:28:12.680 --> 00:28:15.839 we read about it in Luke 2. Simeon blessed them, 00:28:15.859 --> 00:28:18.460 that's Mary and Joseph. And he said to Mary his 00:28:18.460 --> 00:28:26.269 mother, behold, this child is destined. for the 00:28:26.269 --> 00:28:30.990 fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a 00:28:30.990 --> 00:28:33.910 sign which will be spoken against." Samian said, 00:28:33.970 --> 00:28:37.450 many are going to trip over him. Many in Israel 00:28:37.450 --> 00:28:40.750 are going to fall over this child. In Matthew 00:28:40.750 --> 00:28:44.630 13, we see this prophecy coming to reality. They 00:28:44.630 --> 00:28:48.750 are tripping over how ordinary he seems. The 00:28:48.750 --> 00:28:50.869 Apostle Peter wrote the same thing. He said, 00:28:51.170 --> 00:28:55.380 Jesus is the stone of stumbling. and a rock of 00:28:55.380 --> 00:29:00.220 offense. They, that is Israel, they stumble being 00:29:00.220 --> 00:29:03.680 disobedient to the word to which they were also 00:29:03.680 --> 00:29:07.599 appointed. John writes, he came unto his own, 00:29:09.099 --> 00:29:13.400 and his own received him not. Jesus is the stone 00:29:13.400 --> 00:29:16.859 that the builders rejected. He was the Messiah, 00:29:17.039 --> 00:29:20.200 is the Messiah, and they could not recognize 00:29:20.200 --> 00:29:23.960 him. Now, so Jesus didn't say silence, so He 00:29:23.960 --> 00:29:25.900 stands something back. He looks out, because 00:29:25.900 --> 00:29:27.559 they just said, I mean, He can see what they're 00:29:27.559 --> 00:29:30.759 doing, He hears them. And He speaks to His fellow 00:29:30.759 --> 00:29:33.180 countrymen and those who are offended by Him. 00:29:33.240 --> 00:29:35.720 And look at verse 57 at the end of it. Jesus 00:29:35.720 --> 00:29:40.079 said, a prophet is not without honor, except 00:29:40.079 --> 00:29:42.579 in his own hometown and in his own household. 00:29:43.559 --> 00:29:46.779 And He didn't do many mighty works there because 00:29:46.779 --> 00:29:50.289 of their unbelief. First of all, Jesus didn't 00:29:50.289 --> 00:29:54.390 deny being a prophet. He was a messenger sent 00:29:54.390 --> 00:29:58.029 from God. No, he was much more than that. Now 00:29:58.029 --> 00:29:59.930 remember, there's been no prophets. John the 00:29:59.930 --> 00:30:01.950 Baptist was the first prophet to rise in 400 00:30:01.950 --> 00:30:06.289 years. Jesus has claimed to be a prophet, and 00:30:06.289 --> 00:30:09.450 he never tries to say that the people had misunderstood 00:30:09.450 --> 00:30:11.910 him. Oh, did you think I was saying I was Messiah? 00:30:12.849 --> 00:30:15.730 Oh, you heard me wrong. Nope. He's not trying 00:30:15.730 --> 00:30:19.160 to clear up any confusion whatsoever. Instead, 00:30:19.279 --> 00:30:22.680 he says, well, a prophet receives honor everywhere 00:30:22.680 --> 00:30:25.700 except in his hometown amongst his own family. 00:30:26.220 --> 00:30:30.119 What's Jesus saying? Familiarity breeds contempt. 00:30:31.279 --> 00:30:34.440 Israel has a pattern. They've often rejected 00:30:34.440 --> 00:30:36.500 prophets that were sent to them. The messengers 00:30:36.500 --> 00:30:39.500 of God, they didn't receive. And now today, or 00:30:39.500 --> 00:30:42.980 this day in Nazareth, their lack of honor revealed 00:30:42.980 --> 00:30:46.190 their lack of faith. Look at the last verse. 00:30:46.549 --> 00:30:49.309 And He did not do many mighty works there. Why? 00:30:50.230 --> 00:30:52.970 Because of their unbelief. Now this does not 00:30:52.970 --> 00:30:55.250 mean that Jesus lacked the ability to do miracles. 00:30:56.609 --> 00:30:59.390 Let's be something. Our faith does not control 00:30:59.390 --> 00:31:03.009 or determine God's ability. God's not your servant. 00:31:03.210 --> 00:31:06.730 We're His. Your faith doesn't make Him do anything. 00:31:08.089 --> 00:31:12.789 Jesus chose not to do miracles in a hostile environment. 00:31:13.530 --> 00:31:16.509 in an environment of unbelief. He's not going 00:31:16.509 --> 00:31:19.349 to satisfy their curiosity. He's not some circus 00:31:19.349 --> 00:31:22.769 sideshow. Miracles were never given to impress 00:31:22.769 --> 00:31:25.730 people. It's not as though Jesus goes around 00:31:25.730 --> 00:31:28.150 like, here, bread, here, stone, be made bread. 00:31:28.829 --> 00:31:29.990 And everywhere you go, now that's not what he 00:31:29.990 --> 00:31:32.250 was doing. He never did those things. He didn't 00:31:32.250 --> 00:31:35.569 entertain people. Even when the Pharisees demanded 00:31:35.569 --> 00:31:37.049 a sign, he's like, you think I'm gonna give you 00:31:37.049 --> 00:31:39.750 a sign because you want one? I'll give you a 00:31:39.750 --> 00:31:43.490 sign, the sign of Jonah. Instead, these miracles 00:31:43.490 --> 00:31:45.829 that were given when Jesus did them, they were 00:31:45.829 --> 00:31:48.130 a sign demonstrating something. They were there 00:31:48.130 --> 00:31:50.490 to prove something. What? That the message Jesus 00:31:50.490 --> 00:31:53.109 said that the kingdom of heaven is at hand? Well 00:31:53.109 --> 00:31:55.789 here, I proved it. Look at the miracles. It had 00:31:55.789 --> 00:31:58.970 come. The miracles were meant to call people 00:31:58.970 --> 00:32:02.210 to repent of their sin, come to faith in Jesus, 00:32:02.329 --> 00:32:06.450 and be one of his disciples. But because they 00:32:06.450 --> 00:32:10.710 did not believe, the word chose. not to perform 00:32:10.710 --> 00:32:13.609 many miracles. It does say he healed a few people, 00:32:14.670 --> 00:32:18.309 but again, we need to take heed. Hebrews, the 00:32:18.309 --> 00:32:20.349 author of Hebrews, he's writing to Jewish Christians, 00:32:20.410 --> 00:32:23.029 but he's writing to people who believe, and he 00:32:23.029 --> 00:32:27.069 says this in chapter 3 verse 12, beware, beware, 00:32:27.210 --> 00:32:32.569 brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil 00:32:32.569 --> 00:32:35.670 heart of unbelief that departs from the living 00:32:35.670 --> 00:32:41.569 God. Beware. Don't. simply rest on your laurels. 00:32:42.269 --> 00:32:46.930 Don't take for granted. We fight, we work out. 00:32:47.910 --> 00:32:50.269 It's all of grace, but friends, grace motivates 00:32:50.269 --> 00:32:53.490 us. A person can be familiar with Jesus, you 00:32:53.490 --> 00:32:55.789 can know Bible stories about him, and yet you 00:32:55.789 --> 00:32:59.670 never truly know him. That's why I think these 00:32:59.670 --> 00:33:03.529 people, they are amazed by him. But they didn't 00:33:03.529 --> 00:33:06.319 put their faith in him. because being familiar 00:33:06.319 --> 00:33:08.339 with Jesus is not the same thing as having faith 00:33:08.339 --> 00:33:11.539 in Jesus. There are many people, there are even 00:33:11.539 --> 00:33:14.640 secular people, some today, who admire Jesus. 00:33:14.700 --> 00:33:17.099 They admire his teaching. Sermon on the Mount, 00:33:17.200 --> 00:33:20.160 they give it an A+. They are impressed by his 00:33:20.160 --> 00:33:23.819 moral code, but they don't believe he's the Lord. 00:33:24.759 --> 00:33:27.559 They don't believe he was God in the flesh. They 00:33:27.559 --> 00:33:29.859 don't believe he rose again from the dead on 00:33:29.859 --> 00:33:34.640 the third day. Danny Aiken, his commentary. He 00:33:34.640 --> 00:33:38.539 said Jesus' hometown got it wrong. His relatives, 00:33:38.559 --> 00:33:42.779 for a while, got it wrong. The religious leaders 00:33:42.779 --> 00:33:47.299 of the day, they got it wrong. Rome got it wrong. 00:33:48.599 --> 00:33:52.980 And still today, people get him wrong. This is 00:33:52.980 --> 00:33:56.359 the question. Do you see him for who he truly 00:33:56.359 --> 00:34:03.000 is? And do you call him Lord, Savior, Master? 00:34:05.079 --> 00:34:07.259 See, Matthew's Gospel is showing something that's 00:34:07.259 --> 00:34:10.679 showing us the whole Christ. Jesus is the Son 00:34:10.679 --> 00:34:13.280 of Man, very ordinary, but he's also the Son 00:34:13.280 --> 00:34:16.360 of God. This is the Jesus you have to trust in. 00:34:16.659 --> 00:34:19.300 It's not the Jesus you may like. It's not the 00:34:19.300 --> 00:34:21.920 Jesus of Mormonism. It's not the Jesus of Jehovah's 00:34:21.920 --> 00:34:24.539 Witnesses. It's not the Jesus of Islam that will 00:34:24.539 --> 00:34:26.659 regard him as a great prophet. No, this is the 00:34:26.659 --> 00:34:29.980 Jesus who's God incarnate. You must believe that. 00:34:30.659 --> 00:34:32.659 And you see that, you see his human nature and 00:34:32.659 --> 00:34:35.119 his divine nature. We see that he's fully human. 00:34:35.460 --> 00:34:37.599 Well, how do you see that? He was born of Mary. 00:34:37.639 --> 00:34:42.380 He had a natural birth. He had a family. He was 00:34:42.380 --> 00:34:45.280 raised in the town of Nazareth. He had a trade. 00:34:45.320 --> 00:34:48.880 He was a carpenter. He was involved in ordinary 00:34:48.880 --> 00:34:53.579 life. Fully human. He got tired. He had to eat. 00:34:54.840 --> 00:34:58.119 But we also read that he was fully God. He was 00:34:58.119 --> 00:35:02.349 conceived by the Holy Spirit. He taught with 00:35:02.349 --> 00:35:05.969 divine wisdom. He was able to perform miracles 00:35:05.969 --> 00:35:10.449 by his own command. He forgave sins, and it was 00:35:10.449 --> 00:35:13.050 Jesus who revealed and brought the kingdom of 00:35:13.050 --> 00:35:16.650 heaven. But what happened there that day in Nazareth 00:35:16.650 --> 00:35:18.630 is the same thing that still happens today, and 00:35:18.630 --> 00:35:20.710 it really is the scandal of the incarnation. 00:35:22.570 --> 00:35:25.909 God came in a way that many dismissed because 00:35:25.909 --> 00:35:30.230 He did not come in a way they expected. way too 00:35:30.230 --> 00:35:33.849 ordinary. Jesus didn't fit the mold then, and 00:35:33.849 --> 00:35:37.590 he doesn't really fit the mold now. But the final 00:35:37.590 --> 00:35:40.110 question I have for you is who do you say Jesus 00:35:40.110 --> 00:35:44.530 is? Some of you have heard about Jesus your entire 00:35:44.530 --> 00:35:46.909 life. You know the stories. You can sing the 00:35:46.909 --> 00:35:51.170 songs. You know a lot about Jesus. But the real 00:35:51.170 --> 00:35:53.849 question is whether you have bowed before him 00:35:53.849 --> 00:35:58.199 and confessed him as your Lord. Will you be offended 00:35:58.199 --> 00:36:02.139 by him? Or will you bow your knee and trust in 00:36:02.139 --> 00:36:06.139 him? And church, we get this enormous privilege. 00:36:06.300 --> 00:36:08.920 The same Jesus who is rejected by those in Nazareth 00:36:08.920 --> 00:36:11.500 is the same one who calls us today to come commune 00:36:11.500 --> 00:36:14.300 with him. One of the blessings of the new covenant, 00:36:14.320 --> 00:36:16.760 and there are many, the new covenant was secured 00:36:16.760 --> 00:36:19.099 by the bloody death of Jesus, by the blood of 00:36:19.099 --> 00:36:21.420 Christ being shed for us. But one of the blessings 00:36:21.420 --> 00:36:24.719 is that we are given this incredible privilege 00:36:24.719 --> 00:36:29.679 of communing with the risen Christ said to the 00:36:29.679 --> 00:36:32.840 church I say come lift up your hearts and commune 00:36:32.840 --> 00:36:36.300 with your Lord we have this privilege to do that 00:36:36.300 --> 00:36:39.760 today if you don't know Christ today is the day 00:36:39.760 --> 00:36:44.559 of salvation call upon him call upon him and 00:36:44.559 --> 00:36:47.820 all who call upon him will never be put to shame 00:36:47.820 --> 00:36:55.929 let's pray Almighty God, we thank you, Lord. 00:36:57.090 --> 00:37:01.570 Your plan was perfect. Lord, you humble the wisdom 00:37:01.570 --> 00:37:05.630 of the wise. You sent your son in an ordinary 00:37:05.630 --> 00:37:10.210 package. He didn't come in opulence and royal 00:37:10.210 --> 00:37:14.869 splendor. He was not the leading actor of the 00:37:14.869 --> 00:37:20.969 day, the best looking, the most charming. Lord, 00:37:20.969 --> 00:37:25.739 he was despised. He indeed was the man of sorrows. 00:37:26.739 --> 00:37:28.760 There was no form, there was no comeliness in 00:37:28.760 --> 00:37:32.820 him that we would desire him. Lord, you sent 00:37:32.820 --> 00:37:38.199 him to lowly Nazareth, born to a poor family, 00:37:38.800 --> 00:37:45.400 and yet this is the King of glory, the long -awaited 00:37:45.400 --> 00:37:49.320 Messiah. He was the creator of heaven and earth. 00:37:51.699 --> 00:37:58.880 What? great contradiction. That he, Lord, the 00:37:58.880 --> 00:38:02.639 one who deserves all glory, would humble himself 00:38:02.639 --> 00:38:05.840 and take the lowest chair, the lowest seat in 00:38:05.840 --> 00:38:08.960 the house. Lord, what humility, what divine humility. 00:38:09.260 --> 00:38:11.699 And for us, Lord, the pride that's so readily 00:38:11.699 --> 00:38:13.639 present in our hearts, would you forgive us, 00:38:14.039 --> 00:38:18.960 Lord? Have mercy upon us, Lord? May we not make 00:38:18.960 --> 00:38:23.099 our name great. But may we seek to make the name 00:38:23.099 --> 00:38:27.000 of Jesus Christ great. Oh Lord, He was rejected, 00:38:27.860 --> 00:38:30.860 but by those who received Him, He's precious. 00:38:31.639 --> 00:38:34.380 Lord, we freely, Lord, today we in this building, 00:38:34.739 --> 00:38:38.780 we freely confess Jesus Christ, your Son, is 00:38:38.780 --> 00:38:43.019 Lord. He is Savior, He is Master, and He is King. 00:38:43.519 --> 00:38:45.940 Lord, we thank you, Lord. Thank you for the privilege 00:38:45.940 --> 00:38:48.820 of being one of His. Lord, would you help us, 00:38:49.119 --> 00:38:52.199 Lord? as we prepare our hearts, Lord, to receive 00:38:52.199 --> 00:38:55.940 this sacred meal, this communion with Jesus, 00:38:56.099 --> 00:38:58.639 Lord. We lift up our hearts to you, Lord. We 00:38:58.639 --> 00:39:01.039 lift them up. In the name of Jesus, we pray. 00:39:01.619 --> 00:39:04.300 Amen. Deacons, if you would come and prepare 00:39:04.300 --> 00:39:04.699 the table.