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Jesus Teaches in His Hometown
Jesus Teaches in His Hometown Matthew 13:53-14:12 Key Verse: 13:54 "Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their ynagogue, and they were amazed. Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?' they asked." In this passage we read about two events. One is Jesus visiting his hometown to teach the Bible. The other is the story of how John the Baptist was martyred. Here we learn Jesus' wholehearted Bible teaching. As a reward, he was despised and rejected by his hometown people. He was rejected not only by his hometown people, but also many other times in the chapters we have already studied. Jesus taught the Bible, and he was rejected and despised and misunderstood and persecuted. John the Baptist was Jesus' forerunner. In order to complete his mission from God he left his home, even though he was the only son of his old parents Zechariah and Elizabeth, and lived in the desert in order to prepare himself to be the forerunner of Jesus. Then John began his ministry and completed it. His reward from the worldly people was martyrdom. In this passage we learn from Jesus his eagerness to teach the Bible in spite of many hardships. We also learn from John the Baptist his absolute attitude toward his mission. First, Jesus visited his hometown (13:53-58). Look at 13:53. "When Jesus had finished these parables, he moved on from there." This verse tells us that Jesus taught the word of God until people could get a glimpse of the kingdom of God. For this, Jesus sometimes spoke to the people in plain speech, but they did not understand the secret of the kingdom of God. They only demanded the healing of their sick bodies and abundant food from Jesus. Since there were many thousands of people, Jesus could have spoken to them directly like he did in the Sermon on the Mount in chapters5-7, but he did not. Rather, he quietly taught them in parables. It is really surprising that Jesus taught many parables to the crowd of people instead of giving them a straight forward message. It was because he had done all his best to plant the kingdom of God in their hearts, but they were carried away by their own demands. They never received his words, so he taught them in parables. Those who were really serious about following Jesus would have to think hard about his words and pray in order to find out their true meaning. The true meanings of the parables were the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but most people would simple hear his words and see his actions and reject Jesus. After teaching huge crowds that gathered around him in parables, Jesus left them and visited his hometown. Since he came to his hometown, he should have visited his mother and brothers and elderly people first, after all they had been looking for him in when he was teaching those large crowds. However, the Bible doesn’t say anything about him visiting parents or family. Instead, it says that Jesus went to the synagogue and began to teach the word of God. While the people of his hometown listened to the words he spoke, the people in the synagogue were amazed. They were probably just like the people who had heard his sermon on the mount – “amazed at his teaching because he taught as one who had authority and not as their teachers of the law.” His teaching the word of God was his best gift to his hometown people. There are many kinds of amazement, but these days most people are not often amazed, especially by the word of God. People get amazed by sporting events like seeing 김연아 win the Olympic gold medal or musical events like Psy setting all kinds of internet records for his video about life in 강남. These things might provide temporary amazement, but that amazement adds nothing to our life. In fact it only makes us feel bad because it is not us who are doing the amazing things and living the amazing life. The word of God is different. It changes our life and makes our life amazing. The thing is, we first have to listen carefully to the word of God and then we have to accept it in our hearts. Let’s see how Jesus’ hometown people reacted to their amazement at hearing Jesus’ words. Jesus' hometown people's amazement was indeed great, for they were amazed by the mighty powerful word of Jesus and its wisdom from above. Their problem was that when they heard Jesus' words, they didn’t accept them into their hearts; only their feelings were stirred. Therefore their amazement didn’t last long. Instead of really accepting Jesus’ words, they began to think about Jesus humanly. Look at verses 55 and 56 say, "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?" They knew who Jesus was. They had watched him grow up and they knew he was just an ordinary son of a poor country carpenter. They knew his parents and his brothers and sisters and they knew that he had no special religious training. He wasn’t a disciple of any Pharisee or teacher of the law, so they wondered where he got all this great knowledge. Perhaps they though he was just making it up or even worse, maybe he was some type of magic artists who could deceive many people. Because of this, many of them simply couldn’t accept Jesus words in their hearts. Instead they rejected him and took offence at what he said. After hearing Jesus powerful teaching, his hometown people should have realized that there was something very special about Jesus. Some of them had probably heard John the Baptist speak and surely some of them had heard the rumors about Jesus. They should have been happy that the Messiah was from their hometown. The hometown people should have been happy to hear his words and wisdom and spiritual power. At first, they genuinely heard the word of God and they were amazed. However, then they saw Jesus humanly and became emotional and offensive. Here we learn that even Jesus' hometown people despised and rejected him because he taught word of God too well. Jesus taught the word of God to his hometown people until they were amazed, but the result was contempt and offense. When we teach the Bible in the best way, after much prayer and preparation, we expect to get a good response. But we should not expect a good response or praise. We should prepare our hearts to overcome contempt and offense, and rejoice in the Lord, believing that we did what we should do. Second, Herod the tetrarch's distress (14:1,2). Look at 14:1-2. "At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the reports about Jesus, and he said to his attendants, This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead! That is why miraculous powers are at work in him.'" Herod the tetrarch was one of the sons of Herod the Great. Before his death, Herod the Great divided his empire into three parts and gave them to his three sons. Herod the tetrarch ruled over Galilee and Perea, the areas in which John the Baptist and Jesus had done most of their work. Herod the tetrarch was one of the territorial kings of Israel under Roman rule. Herod should have had an awesome appearance and been very secure in who he was because of his power and authority as a king. However, Herod was not like this. Herod was extremely sensitive to public opinion, especially to the rumors he heard about Jesus. He felt that Jesus was a reincarnation of John the Baptist whom he had killed. When Herod heard the reports about Jesus, he wasn't happy. He wasn’t happy, because he didn’t listen to what Jesus was saying or look carefully at what Jesus was doing, but he looked at himself and what he had done. What he had done was extremely evil, so the reports about Jesus disturbed him, and then drove him into mental disorder. In his hallucinations, Herod thought that John the Baptist, whom he had killed, had risen from the dead. He said to himself, "This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead! I killed him, but he rose again!" Ever since he had beheaded the righteous man John (whom he knew was righteous), Herod felt as if John's headless, bloody body was chasing after him. Herod was like Cain, who was a slave of a guilty conscience and sense of punishment and was nothing more than a restless wanderer on the face of the earth. If we only focus on our sins, we too will become just like this. We will think everyone is out to get us and make our life miserable. You can see people like this everyday; they continually blame others for their problems in life. The answer to this is simple. Just look to Jesus and simple accept him. Jesus takes away all the guilt and burden of our sins that drive us crazy. If Herod had heard the rumors about Jesus and sought him out with all his heart, he wouldn’t have been afraid of him and thought about the terrible crime he committed by killing John, he would have been set free from the guilt of this crime. Third, Herod's immorality brought forth violence (3-12). In verses 3-12, the author tells us the whole story to explain the cause of Herod's distress. According to these verses, Herod's immoral life was the main cause of his self-destruction. Herod took Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, and enjoyed sinful pleasure with her. But when John the Baptist heard about Herod's immoral life and injustice, he rebuked him sternly, saying, "It is not lawful for you to have her." At first, Herod received John's rebuking humbly. Mark 6:20b says, "When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him." So Herod had no idea to put John to death, partly because his conscience was pricked by a guilty feeling, and partly because he was afraid of the people, who considered John a prophet. Then something bad happened. On Herod's birthday, Herodias, who had harbored a grudge against John, made her daughter dance for the royal guests and subjects. Her intention was to win Herod's favor so that she could satisfy her hatred of John by having him killed. When Herod watched Herodias' daughter dance, he was so fascinated by her dancing that he made an oath, "I promise to give you anything you want." It was a fatal mistake made in a drunken state. Satan lost no time. Satan came into Herod, channeling through his mistake. As soon as Herod's remark was made, the girl said, as she was prompted by her mother, "Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist" (8). Herod was startled by such a request from a pretty young girl. The king's heart sank. But in order to maintain his prestige before his subjects, Herod ordered that her request be granted and had John beheaded in the prison (9,10). John's head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother. Here we learn that immorality produces violence. We also learn that an immoral woman can be as vicious and vindictive as Ivan the Terrible or Joseph Stalin. Immorality is not a small matter: It brings upon anybody unbearable punishment in the end. An immoral life is not fun. It is the starting point of destruction for oneself and a nation. The Roman Empire was a good example. Fourth, John the Baptist completed his glorious mission. It is necessary to think about John the Baptist. He was called by God as the forerunner of the Messiah Jesus. Isaiah 40:3-5 says, "A voice of one calling: In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.'" This prophecy concerns the forerunner of the Messiah Jesus. As was prophesied, John came as the forerunner of Christ. His clothes were made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. John's clothes made of camel's hair, in all likelihood, looked like a blanket. During the night John used them as his blanket. So when he wore them, he had to use a leather belt around his waist. He ate locusts and wild honey (Mt 3:4). He lived a very simple life because he only wanted to complete his mission. John the Baptist witnessed to Jesus as God Incarnate. John 1:14-16 says, "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' John also testified that Jesus was the Lamb of God, a ransom sacrifice for the sin of the world. John 1:29 says, "The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!'" In the course of time, John the Baptist became a victim of Herod's immorality and violence. But one thing is clear: John completed his mission. In order to complete his mission he lived a pure and poor life. He did not marry. Finally he became a martyr. Humanly speaking, John looked pathetic. But he was not. John was a most glorious man among men because he was chosen as the forerunner of Jesus. John is a most glorious man because he gave his life to complete his mission. God gives his life to each man for an appointed time, together with a specific mission. This is the reason man is precious. If anyone with God's life bestowed on him only enjoys immorality and money-making, he intentionally suppresses the truth and does evil. On the other hand, one who carries out the mission God has given to him can recognize himself and be happy about himself. And, in the sight of God, he is blessed on earth and possesses the kingdom of God, both at the present and for the everlasting future. When John’s disciples heard what Herod had done, they came and got John’s body and buried it. Then, not knowing what else to do, they went and told Jesus about it. This must have been a devastating moment for John’s disciples as well as for Jesus, but it could not stop the work of God that was going on. Jesus had been rejected by his own hometown people and a great and powerful co-worker in God’s kingdom work had been killed, but, as we will see in the weeks to come, Jesus continued on with the life giving work of God. Rejection and disappointment in this life cannot stop us from doing God’s work. We must press on because in the end God will give us the ultimate reward of eternal life together with him in his kingdom forever. |
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