A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house

 

 Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these parables, that He departed from there.  When He had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, "Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works?  Is this not the carpenter's son?  Is not His mother called Mary?  And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas?  And His sisters, are they not with us?  Where then did this Man get all these things?"  So they were offended at Him.  But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house."  Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

 

- Matthew 13:53-58 

 

In our recent readings, Jesus has begun speaking in parables.  He first gave the parable of the Sower; then He gave His explanation for why He speaks in parables to the disciples, and He also explained the parable to them.  After that, He taught the parable of the Wheat and the Tares, and then the parables of the Mustard Seed and the Leaven. In yesterday's reading, He taught the following parables:  "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.    Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.   Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away.  So it will be at the end of the age.  The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire.  There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth."  Jesus said to them, "Have you understood all these things?"  They said to Him, "Yes, Lord."  Then He said to them, "Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old." 

 Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these parables, that He departed from there.  When He had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, "Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works?  Is this not the carpenter's son?  Is not His mother called Mary?  And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas?  And His sisters, are they not with us?  Where then did this Man get all these things?"  So they were offended at Him.  But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house."  Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.  My study Bible comments on the double response of being both astonished and also of rejecting Christ, which occurs frequently in those who encounter Him (see Luke 11:14-16, John 9:16).  Christ being rejected in His own country fulfills the rejection of Old Testament prophets such as Elijah and Elisha (see Jesus' response in Luke 4:26-27), and also foreshadows Christ's rejection by the whole nation at His trial before Pilate (John 19:14-15).  The statement that a prophet is not without honor except in his own country occurs in all four Gospels (see also Mark 6:4, Luke 4:24, John 4:44).

The story in today's reading appears in different sequence in the other Synoptic Gospels.  In Mark's Gospel, it occurs after Jesus performs a miraculous healing at Capernaum and before sending out the Twelve on their first apostolic mission.  In Luke's Gospel it appears right at the beginning of Jesus' ministry.  In John's Gospel we simply have mention that Jesus made this statement that a prophet has no honor in his own country (although John does report Nathanael's question, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?"  See John 1:45-49).  But looking at Matthew's Gospel, the Evangelist places this story just after Jesus has begun teaching to the multitudes in parables.  If we recall, when the disciples asked Jesus why He has begun teaching in parables, He gave them a significant answer implying judgment: "Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.  For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him."  He also added a quotation from Isaiah:  "Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.  And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:   'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of this people have grown dull.  Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them'" (see this reading).  In the teaching of various parables, such as the Wheat and the Tares, and also the parable of the Dragnet (see yesterday's reading, above), Jesus linked the eventual judgment at the end of the age to the explanation of the parables.  But in the arrangement of the sequence of events in Matthew's Gospel, we must find it of significance that in His hometown of Nazareth, rejection comes immediately after He's begun preaching in parables, as if to illustrate the point of using them to teach, and also about the judgment at the end of the age.  He will be rejected, but it will wait until the "harvest" of the angels for judgment to separate the ones with ears to hear from the ones who cannot hear.  The people of Nazareth will not face dire worldly consequences for their rejection of Him, and neither will others who reject His word.  It is not up to Christ's followers to sit in judgment nor to practice and implement judgment.  Like the good and bad in the dragnet, and the wheat and the tares which grow together until the harvest, we live in a world where all are together, and we await the end of the age and Christ's judgment, which will be implemented by angels, to understand the effects of rejection.  Although of course it is quite true that human beings do often pay a price for their own failure to understand spiritual reality, this is not something we as believers implement -- nor does it negate the understanding that judgment comes at the end of the age and at a time none of us knows.  But, as faithful, we do understand it is our spiritual work, nevertheless, to persist in our faith and to endure in it:  to study, to implement His word in our lives, to pray and worship, and to allow grace to permeate and guide our lives as best we can, regardless of rejection by others.  We are asked for a kind of spiritual discipline that teaches us that we are in charge of our own responses; we at once learn the tolerance implied in this understanding, as well as the spiritual importance of our own choices, and the tragic consequences of rejection.  It is up to us to "shine forth like the sun" in the eyes of those who do perceive spiritual realities, including our Lord and His helpers the angels (Matthew 13:43).  So we are asked at one and the same time for tolerance, persistence, devotion, and dedication, while we also understand that judgment is not our work, although discernment is certainly asked of us.  But we're given good work to do, good ground upon which to build our lives, a word that is worth all the treasures of the world and gives meaning to everything else.  Let us look at the narrowness of Christ's townspeople, and find our meaning in their lack of vision.  They won't open their eyes to what is in front of them because they prefer what is familiar and what they understand from the past.  Our minds and hearts must be open to continue to grow in His word.  This story also teaches us yet again about the flexibility of identity:  the capability we have for grace to interact in our lives and create change and transformation, for Christ's kingdom to be built within us.  Jesus has not changed, but has assumed His role as Christ, and for this they are not prepared.  Pettiness, envy, jealousy, and social competition are all things that can get in the way of "shining forth as the sun."  They also cloud our vision to the pearls of great price, whose glory is that light of Christ.  Let us share and bear His light in the world.