Is this not the carpenter's son?

 

 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 all 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 

 

St. Matthew's chapter 13 is famous for the beautiful yet simple parables Jesus gives which are recorded in it.  These are parables of the kingdom of heaven, described by Jesus as illustrating what it is "like."  In yesterday's reading, Jesus gave us the final parables of this chapter.  He said, "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 all 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.  Once again we witness the encounter of Jesus as one who speaks with authority among His own people, so to speak.  This time, Jesus is in His own country, which is Nazareth in Galilee.   My study Bible notes the frequent double response to Jesus; they are both astonished and offended at Him.  These are the neighbors He grew up with, the people who knew Him as the carpenter's son, one of the members of the family they know.  This is not a prominent family who were members of the ruling council, not Levitical priests, not authorities in the synagogue.  So, "Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works?"  Let us remember that to even own a book (or a scroll) is a rather extraordinary thing in Jesus' time, as books were prohibitively costly, time-consuming, and expensive to make.  My study Bible comments that Christ's rejection in His own country fulfills the rejection of the Old Testament prophets such as Elijah and Elijah (Luke 4:23-27), and foreshadows His rejection by the whole Jewish nation at His trial before Pilate (John 19:14-15).  

 

Jesus goes to His hometown of Nazareth, and He doesn't just rock the boat.  He demolishes the foundation of the social order of the town by being simply "the carpenter's son" and member of this family they know, and yet filled with extraordinary wisdom and making mighty works.  He has burst the bubble of the family order they know, and has become -- made manifest -- the Christ they didn't know.  Perhaps only His mother was truly aware, and had faith in, the person that Jesus always was (Luke 2:18-20; John 2:1-5).  But the world, the general public, would not know anything of His identity as Christ until He began His public ministry, which occurred when He was thirty years old.  So for the neighbors and townspeople, this particular Jesus is one whom they did not know.  He is new to them now.  But Jesus' wisdom and mighty works, and their astonished and offended response to them, in some sense confirms all of Jesus' parables of the kingdom of heaven.  For, if this was not such a rare treasure, would they be so astonished -- and would they be so offended at Jesus' rare possession of such prized treasure in this society?  One thing Jesus' rejection teaches us -- and also in the sense that it echoes the rejection of the prophets who came before the Son came to us in human form -- is that if we prize this treasure of the kingdom of heaven, so we will also face rejection.  We'll face rejection from the envious and those who cannot understand, who expect us to be someone quite different than we are in Christ and through the effects of faith and the working of grace.  The true treasure of the kingdom is that pearl of great price from yesterday's reading, and like the treasure in the parable, it is hidden to others.  In that is our joy.  But in our joy, Jesus has taught us, we will also have tribulation.  "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world"  (John 16:33).  So essential is this lesson in today's reading, that this saying appears in all four Gospels:  "A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house" (see also Mark 6:4; Luke 4:24; John 4:44, 1:11).  Let us remember that this treasure of great price is worth every cost, and every effort. 

 

 

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.

Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works?

Christ preaching in the synagogue at Nazareth, Vatican manuscript (Vatican, Biblioteca. Cod. Gr. 1613, p.1)

 Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these parables, that He departed from there.  When He had come into 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 all 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

All through chapter 13 of Matthew's Gospel, Jesus has been preaching in parables, and has introduced into His ministry the preaching of parables.  In yesterday's reading, we read that Jesus taught:   "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 has 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 into 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 all 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 points out this paradoxical response to Christ which is, in fact, something typical in Christ's ministry.  People are both astonished and offended at Him.  Interestingly He is now in His hometown of Nazareth, so this is in contrast to His preaching in parables to the crowds of strangers who come to hear Him which we've been reading so far throughout chapter 13.  But here, where they know Him as Jesus the carpenter's son, son of Mary, He is rejected.  Let us consider also His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas, who may well be sons of Joseph from an earlier marriage, or possibly cousins (in Hebrew use, as throughout the Near and Middle East today, "brother" is used for extended family).  The townspeople cannot understand how He could be blessed with such wisdom and mighty works.  That a prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house is a statement made in all four Gospels (see also Mark 6:4, Luke 4:24, John 4:44).  My study bible explains that His being rejected in His own country is a fulfillment of the rejection of the Old Testament prophets such as Elijah and Elisha (see Luke 4:25-27).  It foreshadows Christ's rejection by the entire nation at His trial before Pilate.  But Christ must accept this rejection, as He will accept His death according to the Father's will.  He did not do many mighty works in Nazareth because of His townspeople's unbelief.

What does it mean that Christ is rejected?  What does it mean especially that those familiar with Him, who know Him from His hometown of Nazareth, reject Him?  There is first of all the surprise of His gifts, the divine power that is at work in Him.  People are astonished at His wisdom.  Where did it come from?  He's not known as a scribe or biblical scholar, He has not studied with a famous rabbi.  He is not a ruler of the synagogue nor a member of the parties which rule the religious establishment and life of the nation.  Where did His wisdom come from?  And then there is the question of His mighty works, His acts of healing.  How are those possible through such a man as the carpenter's son?  The reaction of the townspeople is at once rather typical, and at the same time a picture of the worldly response to the Gospel.   The people reflect their assumed and accustomed hierarchies and structures of their society, and all of a sudden the action of the holy in their midst has shaken all of that up.  Christ's ministry bursts in as a surprise which disturbs all of their assumptions about Jesus and His place in their society.  But this is, indeed, a part of the work of holiness, of the Spirit, to interject itself and shake up what our lives are all about.  Life as lived on the surface and within the social structures of the world is not a restriction on the work of holiness, on the action of the Spirit.  We may be led to reject the assumptions with which we've been raised, the restrictions placed on what we may think and do.  Jesus teaches, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:31-32).  That freedom is the freedom to respect and to live the will of God, the action of the holy within us, the work of the Spirit which is the indwelling of the Kingdom that Jesus brings into the world.  We should not be surprised, even at this late stage in the lengthy history of the Church, that this action among Christ's townspeople is both astonishing and offensive to them.  For such it might indeed be, even in our own lives.  Just as for the prophets who came before Christ, service to God may mean not "going along" with norms and social "rules" that do not sit well with where our faith leads us.  As Jesus says Himself,  "A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master" (10:24).  What He goes through is a pattern, a prefiguration of what His followers may go through.  We might find our faith calling us out to be different from the society in which we live.  Our own growth and even spiritual understanding may "astonish" others, and yet offend as well.  But Christ's Kingdom is born into a struggle in the world, and underneath the surface is always the spiritual struggle with the one whom Christ calls "the ruler of this world"  (John 12:31, 14:30, 16:7-11).  Therefore our faith is also one of struggle, even as Christ's ministry suffers rejection from the "worldly."  Throughout the history of our faith and from the beginning, our understanding of discipleship involves sacrifice, the carrying of a cross, and personal change.  It is a transforming and transfiguring power that Christ brings with Him into the world, even as both He and John the Baptist before Him preached repentance -- an act of change.  St. Paul writes, "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God" (Romans 12:2).  Let us consider our growth in His truth, and in the Spirit sent to us, and have the understanding that this does not guarantee everyone will embrace that truth.  But our faith nevertheless gives us the peace and joy that is not of this world, a delight in the beauty of the things of God, and a depth of love in the communion Christ brings to us.