WEBVTT 00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:12.800 This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota. 00:00:19.359 --> 00:00:20.640 Good morning. 00:00:22.399 --> 00:00:27.760 Wonderful to see all of you here this morning to worship our Lord Jesus Christ together. 00:00:28.079 --> 00:00:34.399 If you have a Bible or a device, I encourage you to find your way to Matthew's Gospel in chapter 13. 00:00:34.719 --> 00:00:36.479 Matthew chapter 13. 00:00:36.719 --> 00:00:41.520 You can use the Bible that's in the seat back in front of you if you don't have your own copy. 00:00:44.479 --> 00:00:47.679 An early American evangelist by the name of Mr. 00:00:47.840 --> 00:00:56.320 Whitfield was asked one time why he preached so often on John 3.16. 00:00:57.200 --> 00:00:59.039 You must be born again. 00:01:00.560 --> 00:01:00.880 Mr. 00:01:00.960 --> 00:01:06.159 Whitfield is known to have preached on that text at least 80 times. 00:01:06.239 --> 00:01:08.239 I can't remember the exact number. 00:01:09.359 --> 00:01:12.239 It was sort of repetitive, and so this individual was challenging him. 00:01:12.400 --> 00:01:14.560 Why do you keep preaching on that same text? 00:01:14.719 --> 00:01:15.040 And Mr. 00:01:15.120 --> 00:01:22.239 Whitfield replied to his questioner, because you must be born again. 00:01:24.400 --> 00:01:28.560 It's kind of the element that is before us today. 00:01:29.280 --> 00:01:35.599 We have heard and sung this morning of the greatness of Christ's sacrifice for us. 00:01:37.120 --> 00:01:43.040 Responding by giving thanks to the Father for sending his son. 00:01:44.400 --> 00:01:53.760 But we constantly need to hear that message that we must be born again, that there needs to be a response to the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:01:54.000 --> 00:02:08.639 The reason that we need to hear about that is because at the end of chapter 13 of Matthew's gospel, we see so often that people do not respond and do not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:02:09.120 --> 00:02:18.560 What makes this passage even more difficult to wrap our brains around is a slogan that some of you probably have hanging in your own homes. 00:02:18.960 --> 00:02:22.240 Home, sweet, home, right? 00:02:23.360 --> 00:02:25.360 It's an encouragement to come home. 00:02:25.439 --> 00:02:32.000 It's an encouragement to revel and to relax in the grace and the comfort of home. 00:02:32.080 --> 00:02:39.840 But Matthew 13 describes a situation in which home for the Lord Jesus was not so sweet. 00:02:40.960 --> 00:02:48.879 People who knew Jesus most of his life wanted to drive him off of the face of a cliff. 00:02:52.240 --> 00:02:56.400 We structured our service this morning around that idea. 00:02:58.080 --> 00:03:00.400 Here are people who knew Jesus. 00:03:01.680 --> 00:03:04.800 They knew him from the time he was in diapers, right? 00:03:05.680 --> 00:03:07.840 They knew him all of his life. 00:03:08.639 --> 00:03:16.240 And yet here they are, in the midst of his ministry, knowing all about him, saying, no, we don't believe in you. 00:03:17.840 --> 00:03:31.439 In the same way, we as gatherers on Sunday mornings may be in a similar place, having known Jesus all of our lives and yet needing to hear that message. 00:03:31.919 --> 00:03:34.400 You must have a rebirth. 00:03:35.759 --> 00:03:42.159 So our service this morning is begun with focusing on what Christ has done for us and giving thanks for that. 00:03:42.319 --> 00:03:53.520 And then being challenged with this staggering concept of people knowing Jesus and yet not believing. 00:03:55.199 --> 00:04:09.840 So we then, after hearing that message, are going to be challenged to turn our eyes to the Lord Jesus Christ, not in simple knowledge of who he is, but in faith in him and celebrating his death, burial, and resurrection on our behalf. 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:35.600 So with that, Matthew 13, if you would take your Bible and look as I read, beginning in verse 53 this morning, I've been reading from the English Standard Version, it says, And when Jesus had finished these parables, he went away from there, and 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? 00:04:35.839 --> 00:04:38.079 Isn't this the carpenter's son? 00:04:38.720 --> 00:04:47.759 Are not his mother, is not his mother called Mary, and are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas, and are not all his sisters with us? 00:04:48.319 --> 00:04:51.600 Where then did this man get all these things? 00:04:52.560 --> 00:04:54.480 And they took offense at him. 00:04:55.199 --> 00:05:02.240 But Jesus said to them, A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and in his own household. 00:05:02.560 --> 00:05:08.160 And he did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief. 00:05:08.959 --> 00:05:09.600 Amen. 00:05:09.839 --> 00:05:15.759 Last Sunday we were challenged by Jesus' use of value comparisons. 00:05:16.480 --> 00:05:24.000 He compared the kingdom of heaven to a treasure in a field and a merchant in search of a precious pearl. 00:05:24.639 --> 00:05:29.279 Saying, What is the value of Christ and his kingdom? 00:05:30.319 --> 00:05:34.959 We were challenged to consider the value that we give to following Christ. 00:05:35.120 --> 00:05:40.879 How valuable is the kingdom of heaven with Christ as its king to you? 00:05:42.399 --> 00:05:50.160 Is the value of the kingdom of heaven with Christ as its king worth everything that you have and everything that you are? 00:05:51.120 --> 00:05:57.279 Now in this final portion of Matthew chapter 13, we're challenged with a similar question. 00:05:58.560 --> 00:06:08.000 Is being a Christian, is being a disciple of Jesus worth being alone? 00:06:10.720 --> 00:06:14.160 Or is it worth dying for? 00:06:17.040 --> 00:06:21.920 Two very different people addressed the people of their homeland over the radio. 00:06:22.160 --> 00:06:25.040 On February 1st, 1933. 00:06:25.600 --> 00:06:33.439 For the very first time on that date, Adolf Hitler gave his very first radio broadcast to the German nation after coming to power. 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:42.319 The other national radio address that day was from a pastor and a theologian who had grown concerned about Hitler. 00:06:43.120 --> 00:06:51.040 On the same day as Hitler's first radio address, Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer also addressed the nation. 00:06:51.839 --> 00:07:24.639 Bonhoeffer had traced the evolution of the concept of leadership in Germany at the time, especially among young people, saying that if a leader, and in German leader is Führer, if a Fuhrer, if a leader becomes an idol that those who are being led are looking for, then a leader, a Führer, shifts from being a leader to being a misleader. 00:07:24.800 --> 00:07:32.319 And right when he made that point, the radio broadcast was inexplicably cut short. 00:07:33.439 --> 00:07:37.120 To this day, no one knows how or why. 00:07:39.120 --> 00:07:45.680 And that parallels Bonhoeffer's life being cut short because of his opposition to Hitler's leadership. 00:07:47.120 --> 00:07:54.800 Jesus offered himself to sinful humanity only to be met with rejection. 00:07:56.560 --> 00:08:04.079 Humanity, Bonhoeffer said, pushed Jesus right out of the world and right onto the cross. 00:08:06.160 --> 00:08:16.639 He taught that Jesus calls us to the same, saying, when Jesus calls a person, he bids him to come and die. 00:08:19.279 --> 00:08:24.000 What is the value of following Jesus to you? 00:08:25.519 --> 00:08:47.279 On April 9th, 1945, when he was 39 years old, Bonhoeffer was arrested and taken to Flossenburg concentration camp, where, just days before the Allied forces liberated Germany, Hitler gave orders to execute the last of those who opposed him, including Pastor Bonhoeffer. 00:08:48.399 --> 00:08:55.039 He followed it in the path of his Lord by being rejected by his own people and dying as a result. 00:08:55.840 --> 00:09:06.399 Now we've heard in our study in Matthew's Gospel that anyone who seeks to follow the Lord Jesus Christ must expect nothing less than what Jesus experienced. 00:09:06.559 --> 00:09:16.240 And that's quite a challenge for us as we continue on in Matthew's gospel, because we see from this point forward that Jesus receives nothing but opposition. 00:09:17.840 --> 00:09:24.320 That's hard for those of us that like to be welcomed and received and encouraged and embraced. 00:09:25.600 --> 00:09:31.919 Because when Jesus commands us to take up our cross and to follow him, it's no joke. 00:09:32.399 --> 00:09:35.519 He knows fully of what he speaks. 00:09:36.879 --> 00:09:41.039 Because it costs something to follow Jesus. 00:09:42.720 --> 00:09:47.519 But the value of following him is priceless. 00:09:49.679 --> 00:09:55.679 Verse 53, Jesus is coming to his hometown. 00:09:56.240 --> 00:10:04.879 But if we if we stop there, we we might expect something in our own minds of somebody returning home today in our world, in our culture. 00:10:05.600 --> 00:10:16.320 We might expect Jesus to have gained such excitement and such popularity that people are organizing a return home party, right? 00:10:16.720 --> 00:10:34.320 There's going to be celebration, there's going to be, there's going to be billboards, there's going to be balloons, there's going to be fireworks, there are going to be lines of people standing in line, camping in line for days, waiting for his autograph or to be cured of any disease or any sickness that they might have. 00:10:37.600 --> 00:10:42.000 Matthew's prepared us, though, for the reality. 00:10:43.519 --> 00:10:49.759 Because in Matthew chapter 12, the leadership of the Jewish people said, no, Jesus works for the devil. 00:10:51.919 --> 00:11:00.000 And so we have here Jesus coming to his hometown and being rejected. 00:11:00.320 --> 00:11:01.519 Why is that? 00:11:03.120 --> 00:11:10.960 Why does somebody who leaves home and is such a popular kind of person, why does he come home and receive rejection? 00:11:11.120 --> 00:11:14.960 Well, the bottom line is that Jesus is a very polarizing person. 00:11:17.279 --> 00:11:21.440 You can't just encounter Jesus and be okay. 00:11:23.360 --> 00:11:26.559 Something has to happen as a result. 00:11:28.480 --> 00:11:33.840 Human beings who are confronted with the person in the ministry of Jesus generally react in one of two ways. 00:11:34.080 --> 00:11:52.879 Either they react with faith and trust, in which he becomes the rock of their life, the one whom they follow, and the one upon whom they build their new life, or they react with offense, in which Jesus then becomes a stone over which they continually stumble in their unbelief. 00:11:53.919 --> 00:11:57.600 And that's the record that we have in the rest of the New Testament. 00:11:58.080 --> 00:12:13.840 Consider the book of Acts, for example, when Jesus has ascended to heaven after his resurrection and he gives the command to his disciples to go out and make disciples, we see that those who follow Jesus are just like him. 00:12:14.559 --> 00:12:16.960 They're polarizing individuals. 00:12:17.360 --> 00:12:21.919 You can't encounter one of those disciples and come away unmoved or unchanged. 00:12:22.080 --> 00:12:29.919 For example, four chapters in to the book of Acts, Peter and John are arrested for talking about Jesus. 00:12:31.120 --> 00:12:38.879 Seven chapters into the book of Acts, Stephen, one of the disciples, becomes the first Christian martyr. 00:12:39.759 --> 00:12:41.120 He's killed. 00:12:42.159 --> 00:12:48.000 In the 12th chapter of Acts, James, the brother of John, was beheaded. 00:12:48.399 --> 00:12:50.480 And Peter was imprisoned. 00:12:51.519 --> 00:13:13.519 And as the gospel continued to spread through other communities and even throughout the whole entire Mediterranean region, as the Apostle Paul came to new communities and declared the gospel, there were riots and there were persecutions because the proclamation of the gospel and the transformation that it brought to people had that kind of an impact on the communities. 00:13:15.919 --> 00:13:22.320 When Christ calls you, he bids you to come and die. 00:13:35.759 --> 00:13:38.720 Maybe mostly this is a question for younger people. 00:13:42.559 --> 00:13:51.919 If your social media connections were completely lost to you because of Jesus, would it be worth it? 00:13:55.519 --> 00:14:01.519 If your family refused to love you and accept you and embrace you, would it be worth it? 00:14:04.000 --> 00:14:13.120 If you have a long time job and suddenly your employer lets you go because of Jesus, would that be worth it? 00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:22.240 If you are left all alone because of Jesus, would he be worth it? 00:14:24.320 --> 00:14:28.720 Are we polarizing individuals because of our connections to Jesus? 00:14:29.919 --> 00:14:40.720 Has our faith and trust in the King of glory so transformed us that taking up our cross impacts everyone around us for the glory of God? 00:14:40.879 --> 00:14:48.000 Now please understand, that doesn't mean that we turn people off because we're acting stupidly or offensively. 00:14:50.159 --> 00:14:53.759 It's because we turn people off because of Jesus. 00:14:54.720 --> 00:14:58.879 And the message of salvation in Christ alone. 00:15:00.720 --> 00:15:08.320 There are so-called churches in America where the cross is not on display anywhere in the building for fear of offending somebody. 00:15:09.919 --> 00:15:17.279 You may be aware of churches where they're afraid to declare that there is only one way to heaven because someone might be offended. 00:15:18.960 --> 00:15:33.519 Entire denominations of churches are giving in to societal and governmental pressures about sexuality and God's design for men and women rather than standing firm on the word of God when it contradicts the demands of sinful people. 00:15:35.440 --> 00:15:44.960 Where are the Christians and the churches who, in following in the footprints of Jesus, are not afraid to be polarizing children of God? 00:15:47.840 --> 00:15:51.200 Are you a polarizing figure in your hometown? 00:15:54.080 --> 00:15:55.360 You should be. 00:15:56.240 --> 00:15:57.759 Because Jesus was. 00:15:58.320 --> 00:16:00.320 Look with me at the flow of the text. 00:16:01.279 --> 00:16:04.000 Two main actions here, two main things, events going on. 00:16:04.159 --> 00:16:07.200 One is a primary action, the main action happening in the text. 00:16:07.360 --> 00:16:11.759 The other is the response, the reaction to that action. 00:16:11.919 --> 00:16:17.840 Let's look first at the main action where Jesus is seen here teaching in his hometown. 00:16:18.320 --> 00:16:20.480 Jesus is teaching here in his hometown. 00:16:20.879 --> 00:16:21.679 We're unclear. 00:16:22.159 --> 00:16:24.720 Is this talking about Nazareth, where he grew up? 00:16:24.879 --> 00:16:29.440 Or is this talking about Capernaum, where he has established his main base of operations? 00:16:29.600 --> 00:16:31.279 We're not told exactly. 00:16:31.519 --> 00:16:41.120 If it's Nazareth, which I tend to believe, then this marks the only recorded return to that village in all of the gospel record. 00:16:43.679 --> 00:16:44.399 Imagine that. 00:16:44.559 --> 00:16:51.519 Jesus returns one time in his three or so years of ministry to his hometown. 00:16:51.600 --> 00:16:52.720 And this is it. 00:16:53.039 --> 00:16:56.639 It's also the last time we see him teaching in a synagogue. 00:16:56.960 --> 00:17:00.639 Mark and Luke's Gospels tell us that it was on the Sabbath day. 00:17:00.879 --> 00:17:07.440 And we ought to know by now from chapter 11 and chapter 12 that Jesus somehow gets in trouble on the Sabbath day routinely. 00:17:08.319 --> 00:17:10.240 It's a rough day for him. 00:17:12.720 --> 00:17:18.480 And the result is amazement, incredulity, astonishment. 00:17:18.799 --> 00:17:26.720 It's a word that means to be so overcome with amazement that you are just utterly overwhelmed. 00:17:27.920 --> 00:17:32.319 But Luke puts a little bit different twist on it. 00:17:32.880 --> 00:17:37.839 It's not astonished and amazed with excitement. 00:17:38.720 --> 00:17:44.960 Luke tells us that they are astonished and overwhelmed because they were filled with wrath. 00:17:47.599 --> 00:17:58.000 They were overcome and unable to really process and act responsibly because they were so angry at Jesus. 00:18:02.640 --> 00:18:10.720 They could not believe the audacity of Jesus to return home, to come into their synagogue and speak with such wisdom. 00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:11.839 Imagine that. 00:18:12.079 --> 00:18:17.359 Somebody comes to the pulpit and speaks with wisdom, and people are angry. 00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:23.759 Starts with a question of education. 00:18:24.319 --> 00:18:26.319 Why are they so angry with Jesus? 00:18:26.559 --> 00:18:30.720 They're saying, where did this guy get his wisdom and his mighty works? 00:18:30.880 --> 00:18:32.319 This is Jesus' hometown. 00:18:33.599 --> 00:18:36.720 They knew him from the time he was a little toddler. 00:18:38.400 --> 00:18:45.839 In fact, it's likely that Jesus spent all of his 30 or so years prior to his ministry in this small community. 00:18:46.079 --> 00:18:48.079 Everyone knew Jesus. 00:18:48.960 --> 00:19:02.000 They knew that he had been with them most of his life, and they knew that he had absolutely no opportunity to gain the education that they deemed was necessary for teaching them in this kind of way and to gain such wisdom. 00:19:02.880 --> 00:19:05.680 They heard his wisdom with their own ears. 00:19:06.160 --> 00:19:09.200 Notice, where did this man get this wisdom? 00:19:09.359 --> 00:19:14.000 They're hearing wisdom, they're recognizing he's teaching us good things. 00:19:15.359 --> 00:19:18.640 He's teaching rightly, he's teaching wisely. 00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:24.880 But they couldn't explain where he gained his theological insight. 00:19:26.000 --> 00:19:27.839 And that's just astounding. 00:19:28.720 --> 00:19:36.559 Rather than be affected by the message, they were stumbling over his lack of education. 00:19:38.880 --> 00:19:41.920 Oh, they had heard of his mighty works. 00:19:43.359 --> 00:19:53.759 It's a word that Matthew uses many times in his gospel that most often refers to a creative, restoring kind of power that's beyond human ability. 00:19:55.200 --> 00:20:07.359 So we read in John chapter 7, verse 15, the Jews marveled, saying, How is it possible that this man has learning when he's never studied? 00:20:09.839 --> 00:20:16.559 How can this carpenter's son do all of these unexplainable, miraculous things? 00:20:16.960 --> 00:20:18.559 Those are good questions. 00:20:19.359 --> 00:20:28.799 Questions are your friend because they ought to make you ask more questions and learn more and study more to get at the right answer. 00:20:29.920 --> 00:20:34.160 But from the people's perspective, they just asked the questions and stopped there. 00:20:34.319 --> 00:20:41.039 They simply said, Jesus is uneducated, he's one of our own, and that's all. 00:20:44.640 --> 00:20:48.400 Many of these people may have grown up with Jesus. 00:20:49.279 --> 00:20:51.759 Played on the streets of Nazareth with him. 00:20:53.279 --> 00:20:57.200 Maybe had some benefit from his working with Joseph in carpentry. 00:20:58.720 --> 00:21:09.279 They had no faith to see that far from being uneducated, Jesus is the source of all knowledge. 00:21:11.440 --> 00:21:25.680 Far from being somebody that just has physical strength from lifting wood and logs all day long and having rough hands, he is the one who holds the world together by the power of his might. 00:21:28.720 --> 00:21:40.240 Now, in the human life of Jesus, we see that all of his wisdom and all of his mighty works comes because of the Spirit of God working powerfully and acting through him. 00:21:40.400 --> 00:21:42.400 That's in chapter 12, verse 28. 00:21:42.640 --> 00:21:45.839 And that makes Jesus stand out from the world. 00:21:46.000 --> 00:21:54.559 When the Spirit of God is working in an individual or through an individual, that person stands out from the world. 00:21:54.799 --> 00:21:59.119 And brothers and sisters in Christ, that same truth applies to you. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:04.640 A spirit-filled person is going to stand out from the world. 00:22:06.799 --> 00:22:12.079 That's not always a good thing from a felt needs perspective. 00:22:13.839 --> 00:22:22.160 John's gospel shows us how God's spirit takes up residence within his children and then empowers them to be like Christ. 00:22:22.880 --> 00:22:34.400 That's important to remember that no one can come to Jesus to take his yoke upon them and be his disciples unless the Father draws them and the Spirit enables them. 00:22:35.359 --> 00:22:40.720 Jesus called that process a new birth, a new kind of birth in John chapter 3. 00:22:41.200 --> 00:22:45.759 That new birth means that you are now different from the rest of the world. 00:22:46.880 --> 00:22:50.400 You belong, in other words, to another kind of realm. 00:22:50.880 --> 00:22:59.680 Your king is Jesus, his word is the rule of your life, and his gospel, his good news is the key to all of eternity. 00:22:59.839 --> 00:23:01.839 That makes you stand out. 00:23:02.319 --> 00:23:08.000 That's why in Acts chapter 4, verse 13, Peter and John stood before the Jewish High Council. 00:23:09.119 --> 00:23:13.920 And that council was surprised, was taken aback by their boldness. 00:23:14.799 --> 00:23:16.559 Fascinating statement. 00:23:16.799 --> 00:23:24.240 It says, and they, the High Council, perceived that Peter and John were uneducated. 00:23:26.880 --> 00:23:28.720 Same word as Jesus. 00:23:29.119 --> 00:23:30.480 Uneducated. 00:23:32.079 --> 00:23:34.880 They had no learning, they had no training. 00:23:35.440 --> 00:23:39.839 And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. 00:23:42.559 --> 00:23:54.640 All you need to be effective for Christ is faith in Jesus, through which God gives you his spirit to empower you for his glory. 00:23:57.359 --> 00:23:59.119 And then you will stand out. 00:24:01.359 --> 00:24:12.559 There ought to be, at minimum, maybe we could say, at minimum, there ought to be curious glances at us from the world. 00:24:12.960 --> 00:24:16.480 Because we've spent so much time with Jesus. 00:24:19.279 --> 00:24:21.200 Back to stepping on toes. 00:24:22.799 --> 00:24:26.960 Are you formed more by social media than you are by Jesus? 00:24:30.480 --> 00:24:33.519 Oh, I can't, I can't, I can't read the Bible. 00:24:33.680 --> 00:24:36.720 Well, take the time that you look at social media and read your Bible. 00:24:36.880 --> 00:24:38.480 I bet you'll be surprised. 00:24:40.799 --> 00:24:49.279 Can you recount more about who did what, when, with whomever, than you can recount what Jesus says? 00:24:50.799 --> 00:24:56.400 Are you known more for your politics or for your soapboxes than for the gospel of Christ? 00:24:57.920 --> 00:25:06.960 Are we more comfortable fitting in with some group of one kind or another than we are of standing firm and being offensive because of Jesus? 00:25:09.119 --> 00:25:14.240 Jesus is challenged here with a question of education, and that question is followed by a second question. 00:25:14.480 --> 00:25:16.480 It's a question about birth. 00:25:18.799 --> 00:25:21.039 Isn't this the carpenter's son? 00:25:23.440 --> 00:25:25.680 That's a dig, by the way. 00:25:26.640 --> 00:25:27.359 Wait a minute. 00:25:27.759 --> 00:25:29.920 Isn't this the guy that works with wood? 00:25:31.119 --> 00:25:33.920 He's just a lowly carpenter. 00:25:35.200 --> 00:25:36.799 Isn't that who this is? 00:25:39.039 --> 00:25:40.400 We know his parents. 00:25:41.279 --> 00:25:43.519 We even know his brothers and sisters. 00:25:45.119 --> 00:25:47.039 What's up with this guy? 00:25:47.839 --> 00:25:49.839 They could tell that he was a great preacher. 00:25:49.920 --> 00:26:00.319 They could hear the wisdom in his teaching, and they had heard that he could do great works and of great power, but they just couldn't get their minds beyond their preconceived ideas of Jesus. 00:26:00.559 --> 00:26:04.160 And that can be a problem for people who've grown up in church. 00:26:05.920 --> 00:26:17.599 We develop from the time we're children these certain ideas about who Jesus is and what he is and what he's capable of, and we fail to recognize that you must be born again. 00:26:20.720 --> 00:26:27.680 Remember, Matthew's been telling us over and over and over from page one that Jesus is the Messiah. 00:26:28.000 --> 00:26:29.359 He's the great king. 00:26:29.519 --> 00:26:31.599 He's Emmanuel, God with us. 00:26:31.759 --> 00:26:35.920 But to his hometown, Jesus was just the kid who grew up down the block. 00:26:38.000 --> 00:26:45.279 To people in his hometown, Jesus was just one of the kids that grew up on the dusty streets of Nazareth learning the carpentry trade. 00:26:46.480 --> 00:26:54.160 They looked all the time at the human perspectives keeping them from seeing the truths of the kingdom of heaven. 00:26:56.000 --> 00:27:03.519 Because people didn't expect a prophet to come from Galilee or from Nazareth. 00:27:04.160 --> 00:27:07.119 Remember Nathaniel's question in the Gospel of John? 00:27:08.640 --> 00:27:18.480 John chapter 1, verse 46, when he was told that his friends had found the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, and Nathaniel's response was, what? 00:27:19.359 --> 00:27:22.079 Can anything good come out of Nazareth? 00:27:24.319 --> 00:27:26.160 You can't be serious. 00:27:27.839 --> 00:27:29.920 A kid from Nazareth? 00:27:33.279 --> 00:27:36.160 They didn't understand Jesus. 00:27:36.640 --> 00:27:40.400 And the world will not understand a spirit-filled person either. 00:27:41.759 --> 00:27:43.279 See, there's a question of doubt. 00:27:43.680 --> 00:27:47.279 Where did this guy get all of this wisdom? 00:27:50.480 --> 00:27:52.880 It's truly unimaginable to the human mind. 00:27:53.039 --> 00:28:08.799 The living word of God, the one who is, who was, and who is to come, the Alpha and the Omega, the creator of all that is, Yahweh Himself, is in their synagogue teaching them on a Sabbath morning what we would give to be in that kind of a place. 00:28:11.279 --> 00:28:15.680 And all they can say is, where'd he come up with this? 00:28:18.400 --> 00:28:22.640 I think that teaches us volumes about the depth of human depravity. 00:28:26.000 --> 00:28:31.200 In the Old Testament, Israel stood and camped around the base of Mount Sinai. 00:28:32.160 --> 00:28:34.400 And they heard God thunder. 00:28:35.119 --> 00:28:42.640 They heard the voice of God and they said to Moses eventually, Moses, we were too afraid of God to talk with God. 00:28:42.799 --> 00:28:45.839 So you go intercede for us. 00:28:47.039 --> 00:28:49.680 They had the privilege of hearing the voice of God. 00:28:50.640 --> 00:28:59.039 And yet, just a few days after hearing the voice of God, they formed a golden calf and worshiped it and said, Here, O Israel, is the God who brought you out of Egypt. 00:29:00.880 --> 00:29:04.079 Here in their synagogue is the God who formed them. 00:29:05.039 --> 00:29:09.039 And they're saying, Nazareth? 00:29:09.680 --> 00:29:10.319 Really? 00:29:11.440 --> 00:29:12.400 Jesus? 00:29:15.440 --> 00:29:22.400 That tells us that we can expect the same in our declaration of the words of God to an unbelieving world because mankind hasn't changed. 00:29:23.440 --> 00:29:28.480 And if we are to live a Christ-like manner of life, we will stand out. 00:29:28.640 --> 00:29:36.240 Our choices will stand out, our actions will stand out, our temperaments will stand out, and our speech will confound people. 00:29:41.920 --> 00:29:47.200 Bottom line is that fitting in doesn't fit in with the people of Jesus. 00:29:48.480 --> 00:29:52.559 If we're talking about fitting into this world. 00:30:05.279 --> 00:30:09.839 Verse 57, they took offense at him. 00:30:10.480 --> 00:30:16.720 They were offended by his apparent audacity to proclaim good news of salvation. 00:30:17.359 --> 00:30:20.319 And by his seeking to teach them the word of God. 00:30:20.720 --> 00:30:29.519 They simply could not, in their minds, connect Jesus' ordinary, humble, well-known origins with his teaching and miracles. 00:30:29.599 --> 00:30:34.880 They were trying to draw a line between point A and point B, and they couldn't connect them. 00:30:38.319 --> 00:30:41.119 That's why it's called faith, right? 00:30:43.359 --> 00:30:45.279 The people were offended. 00:30:46.480 --> 00:30:51.359 The word which Matthew chooses to use here is scandalizo. 00:30:52.720 --> 00:30:57.359 If you're thinking, you might recognize some English words that come from that word. 00:30:58.559 --> 00:30:59.519 Scandal. 00:31:01.279 --> 00:31:02.480 Scandalized. 00:31:02.720 --> 00:31:03.759 Scandalous. 00:31:04.319 --> 00:31:12.640 It's a word that means to give offense, to produce anger or shock, and so cause somebody to trip up, to stumble. 00:31:14.160 --> 00:31:16.319 Jesus is a scandal. 00:31:16.960 --> 00:31:17.599 Why? 00:31:18.079 --> 00:31:20.079 Because he opened his mouth. 00:31:21.680 --> 00:31:23.440 Because he spoke. 00:31:24.480 --> 00:31:26.640 He spoke the words of God. 00:31:27.680 --> 00:31:31.440 It's because the words of God are scandalous to sinful people. 00:31:33.119 --> 00:31:42.799 Interestingly, back in chapter 11, verse 6, Jesus said to the disciples, Blessed is the one who is not scandalized by me. 00:31:44.400 --> 00:31:57.119 There's blessing if you aren't scandalized by Jesus, which means that if you are scandalized by Jesus, you miss out on that blessing, right? 00:31:58.880 --> 00:32:01.920 These people in his hometown would not receive such a blessing. 00:32:10.960 --> 00:32:14.400 But if you are not scandalized by Jesus, that's a blessing. 00:32:16.720 --> 00:32:19.440 And notice the way that Jesus responds to this. 00:32:20.240 --> 00:32:22.319 He says it's not a surprise to him. 00:32:23.599 --> 00:32:25.119 He knows this, he expects it. 00:32:25.279 --> 00:32:31.119 A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household. 00:32:31.759 --> 00:32:35.680 Prophets, in other words, are often rejected by their own people. 00:32:37.359 --> 00:32:46.079 Acts chapter 7, verse 52, Stephen, speaking before the Jewish High Council, asked, Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? 00:32:46.480 --> 00:32:47.759 It's expected. 00:32:48.400 --> 00:32:51.200 If you're a prophet, you're going to be persecuted. 00:32:52.799 --> 00:32:59.279 People of Jesus' hometown are much like the residents of Korz and Bethseida and Capernaum in chapter 11, verses 20 through 24. 00:32:59.680 --> 00:33:03.039 They reject God's saving rule through the Lord Jesus. 00:33:03.200 --> 00:33:08.240 They reject the kingdom of heaven and its king because they thought he was a common person. 00:33:09.519 --> 00:33:17.440 They had no faith to believe that Jesus is the fulfillment of all of Scripture's promises, that he is Emmanuel. 00:33:17.680 --> 00:33:24.319 And so this then becomes a real life illustration of the parable of the sower in chapter 13. 00:33:26.400 --> 00:33:33.759 Where seed is cast out by the sower and falls on all kinds of ground. 00:33:35.200 --> 00:33:38.160 Most of the ground doesn't produce any fruit. 00:33:43.200 --> 00:33:44.799 People are offended. 00:33:46.559 --> 00:33:50.799 My friends, a spirit-filled person will be offensive to the world. 00:33:54.400 --> 00:33:58.160 Notice Matthew's comment here at the end of verse 58. 00:33:59.440 --> 00:34:04.400 Jesus limited his ministry in his hometown. 00:34:04.960 --> 00:34:08.639 He did not do many mighty works there. 00:34:10.559 --> 00:34:12.639 And then there's a purpose statement. 00:34:13.119 --> 00:34:16.880 Because of their unbelief. 00:34:28.400 --> 00:34:30.079 He can do all things. 00:34:30.559 --> 00:34:32.960 All things are possible with God, right? 00:34:33.920 --> 00:34:42.960 But because of the community skepticism and the doubt and the lack of faith in who he truly was, Jesus limits the extent of his ministry among them. 00:34:43.119 --> 00:34:46.800 And he says he did that because of their unbelief. 00:34:48.480 --> 00:34:54.400 This is a word that is only used in Matthew to refer to those who reject Jesus. 00:34:55.360 --> 00:34:59.440 There is no faith and no trust in Jesus as their king. 00:35:00.559 --> 00:35:05.920 And that is a symbol in the New Testament of judgment. 00:35:06.559 --> 00:35:13.599 A world that rejects God's work through his spirit-filled people stands without excuse. 00:35:16.400 --> 00:35:20.719 See, it's a sign of God's judgment when he backs away and lets people be. 00:35:23.440 --> 00:35:29.280 When God steps back and says, okay, I'm no longer restraining, I'm no longer working. 00:35:30.639 --> 00:35:33.440 And he says, just have fun, do whatever you want. 00:35:33.760 --> 00:35:35.840 That's a sign of his judgment. 00:35:37.760 --> 00:35:39.519 And they're without excuse. 00:35:43.519 --> 00:35:51.280 Friends, it's important to understand that when the world rejects us because of Jesus, it's not us that they're rejecting. 00:35:52.480 --> 00:35:54.159 It may feel like it. 00:35:55.039 --> 00:36:02.559 The emotions may well up inside that feel as though you're alone, that you're standing alone, no one is with you, and everybody is against you. 00:36:02.719 --> 00:36:09.840 Remember Elijah after the high point of his life on Mount Carmel, experiencing the power of God. 00:36:10.000 --> 00:36:15.679 The next thing you see is he's alone in the desert asking God to take his life because he's all alone. 00:36:15.840 --> 00:36:17.119 He's the last one. 00:36:20.000 --> 00:36:24.719 But it's not, it's not us they're rejecting. 00:36:25.199 --> 00:36:27.039 It's the Lord Jesus. 00:36:28.559 --> 00:36:31.920 Remember when Israel asked for a king? 00:36:32.639 --> 00:36:37.199 Saul was, or Samuel was so grieved that they were asking for the king. 00:36:37.760 --> 00:36:41.599 And God said to Samuel, hey Sam, cheer up. 00:36:42.159 --> 00:36:43.760 They're not rejecting you. 00:36:44.000 --> 00:36:45.519 They're rejecting me. 00:36:47.679 --> 00:36:53.599 And when God ceases his work among those who turn away from him, it's a sign of his judgment. 00:36:56.400 --> 00:37:04.800 In Luke's gospel, Luke records that the people wanted to push Jesus off of a cliff. 00:37:06.480 --> 00:37:22.320 They're so stirred up, they're so angry and scandalized by Jesus declaring the truth of the word of God that they want to pick him up and toss him over the side of a cliff. 00:37:25.360 --> 00:37:34.559 A person doing the work of Christ, expressing the words of Christ and the power of the Spirit of Christ, will be offensive to a world that does not want Jesus. 00:37:38.639 --> 00:37:41.280 Think with me about some implications of this. 00:37:51.039 --> 00:37:52.079 Because of him. 00:37:57.360 --> 00:37:58.000 Why? 00:37:58.559 --> 00:38:00.079 Why should we not be surprised? 00:38:00.239 --> 00:38:04.320 Because Jesus has already said, Come and die. 00:38:08.079 --> 00:38:08.800 Come and die. 00:38:09.360 --> 00:38:10.000 Follow me. 00:38:10.159 --> 00:38:15.840 Take up your cross, a symbol of your death, your dying, so that my life might live through you. 00:38:17.920 --> 00:38:27.039 Jesus says, I want to do my work in my world, and I'm going to do it with the power of my spirit, and I'm going to do it in the power of my spirit through frail human beings who come to me to die. 00:38:29.519 --> 00:38:35.840 He lives in you, and through you, for his purposes, he accomplishes his desires. 00:38:36.000 --> 00:38:38.880 That may mean rejection for you. 00:38:41.039 --> 00:38:50.159 That may mean needing to make a concerted effort and decision in your own mind to stand firm upon the words of God. 00:38:50.559 --> 00:38:59.840 That may mean coming to your fellowship group on a Sunday morning and asking your brothers and sisters in Christ to pray for boldness for you, like the New Testament church. 00:39:03.760 --> 00:39:10.159 But all of that does not mean that we change our message or that we work to accommodate. 00:39:12.960 --> 00:39:16.639 You know, you can make Christ palatable to anyone. 00:39:17.840 --> 00:39:21.199 Just minimize a lot of his commands. 00:39:22.000 --> 00:39:26.320 Just kind of shift the way Jesus says things to make them a little more acceptable. 00:39:26.400 --> 00:39:29.119 You can make Christ palatable to anybody. 00:39:29.840 --> 00:39:33.519 But that's disingenuous and deadly. 00:39:35.039 --> 00:39:42.880 Because if we minimize the words of Jesus, then we're leading people to believe in a Jesus that isn't real. 00:39:46.000 --> 00:39:49.519 Christ commands all people everywhere to repent. 00:39:50.639 --> 00:39:51.440 That's why Mr. 00:39:51.519 --> 00:39:56.559 Whitfield said again and again, you must be born again. 00:39:58.320 --> 00:40:03.039 You must have faith to believe that Jesus is this one. 00:40:03.840 --> 00:40:11.360 He commands all people everywhere to repent, to be born again, but in coming to Jesus, it will cost you everything. 00:40:12.320 --> 00:40:16.960 Oh, but here's the glorious prelude to that, right? 00:40:17.199 --> 00:40:20.559 That's last week when we looked at the value of the kingdom. 00:40:20.719 --> 00:40:27.280 It will cost you everything, but it is worth every cost to follow Jesus. 00:40:28.800 --> 00:40:30.480 Don't turn away. 00:40:30.960 --> 00:40:32.559 Turn to him. 00:40:34.480 --> 00:40:36.079 Come to Jesus. 00:40:36.719 --> 00:40:42.559 Fix your eyes on him, the author and the perfecter of your faith. 00:40:45.119 --> 00:40:49.679 Turn to Jesus, take up your cross and follow him. 00:40:51.360 --> 00:40:55.599 That can only happen if you look to him by faith. 00:40:57.039 --> 00:41:01.360 Seeing the only way this makes sense is if Jesus really is God. 00:41:02.639 --> 00:41:12.559 If he really did go to the cross and shed his blood for me, and if he really did rise from the dead. 00:41:12.880 --> 00:41:13.760 Would you pray with me? 00:41:13.920 --> 00:41:22.719 Lord Jesus, we come having heard your word, and we ask that you would work powerfully through it. 00:41:23.679 --> 00:41:31.599 We ask that your spirit would move amongst us, even giving new life. 00:41:32.719 --> 00:41:34.239 Right this very moment. 00:41:35.760 --> 00:41:44.559 Someone who's heard this message, maybe for the first time or maybe for the hundredth time, who's heard it and said, Yes, I need to believe. 00:41:46.239 --> 00:41:51.199 Lord Jesus, we celebrate, we thank you for who you are and for what you've done. 00:41:52.159 --> 00:41:54.719 We hear your words to look to you. 00:41:57.599 --> 00:42:06.239 And in our looking to you, we ask that you would fill us with your spirit, that you would give us all boldness to be effective for you. 00:42:06.800 --> 00:42:11.519 As we stand firm against a world that hates you. 00:42:14.079 --> 00:42:28.480 We look to you with faith, believing that your word is true, that you are true, and that you are our king. 00:42:29.360 --> 00:42:30.000 Amen. 00:42:31.920 --> 00:42:35.760 That concludes this sermon from Faith Evangelical Free Church. 00:42:35.920 --> 00:42:42.800 Our mission is to declare the Word of God and disciple believers into mature, devoted followers of Jesus. 00:42:43.039 --> 00:42:47.119 You can learn more by visiting our website at faithfree.com.