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 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

We are in chapter 13 of Matthew's Gospel,  in which parables are introduced into Jesus' preaching (beginning with this reading from a week ago).  In yesterday's reading, He taught His disciples,  "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a 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.  In our recent readings, Jesus has been preaching in Capernaum, both to crowds gathered on the shore, and in the house belonging to Peter's family, which has become a type of headquarters for His ministry.  In today's reading, He goes to His hometown of Nazareth in Galilee, where He was raised.  My study bible remarks on the double response of both astonishment and rejection, which occurs frequently in those who encounter Christ (see for instance Luke 11:14-16, John 9:16).  It notes that His being rejected in His own country fulfills the rejection of the Old Testament prophets such as Elijah and Elisha, foreshadowing Jesus' rejection by the whole Jewish nation at His trial before Pilate (John 19:14-15).  That a prophet is not without honor except in his own country is mentioned in all four Gospels (see also Mark 6:4, Luke 4:24, John 4:44).

In the recent chapters of Matthew, rejection has been a theme in Jesus' ministry.  That is, Jesus has begun to encounter the open hostility of the leadership, and their desire to find ways to destroy Him as an enemy (see, for example, this reading from chapter 12).   In chapter 11, He's railed against particular cities in which His "mighty works" have been done, but which have not accepted His ministry (11:20-24).  Here, the rejection in His hometown of Nazareth gives an iconic flavor to the rejection He will experience of the nation (in the body of the leadership) leading to His Crucifixion.  That the saying about the rejection of prophets in their own country is mentioned in all the Gospels gives us a sense of the importance this fact plays in our understanding of the gospel message and how the Kingdom "breaks through" in the world.  It shakes things up.  It doesn't create automatic order, in some sense.  Rather, there is division.  In chapter 10, when Jesus sends the Twelve out on their first apostolic mission, He begins by warning them of persecutions to come, telling them that He is sending them out "as sheep in the midst of wolves" (10:16-26).   Nevertheless, He encourages them to fearless witness.  He adds, however, "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword."  He speaks of division, even among the most intimate of relationships.  He tells them, "He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it" (10:34-39).  The acceptance of the reality and presence of this Kingdom involves a struggle, even within ourselves.  The worldly is transformed by the experience and choice for the Kingdom, but that's not a simple nor an easy process.  In the experience in His hometown of Nazareth, "the worldly" rejects the presence of the Kingdom.   That is, the expectations and understanding of His neighbors of who Jesus is, the setting in which and by which they know Him and His family, is something which prompts them to take offense at this new revelation in Him.  It doesn't matter what mighty works He does or has done.  It doesn't matter that He displays an extraordinary and astonishing wisdom they don't expect.  He does not conform to their expectations of Him based on what they think they know, and His place in their town.  The astonishing work of this Kingdom will break boundaries set by expectation and previous understanding.  The work of prophecy is always about recalling people back to God.  Throughout the Old Testament, the prophets come to tell the people they've forgotten the One to whom they owe loyalty, their Creator, the One who gives them every good thing, "every good and perfect gift" (James 1:17).  Jesus comes to call His people back to "the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning," as St. James writes.  To do this is to both find our lives and lose them.  We exchange a worldly perspective for the one we're given in this place Christ calls us back to.  A "worldly" perspective in this case is like the one the people in Nazareth claim as true:  the one without the understanding of what else is present, what more there is to life.  It denies the presence of the Kingdom which is also among us and within us.  The struggle for choice is always with us, as Jesus so eloquently and vociferously tells us.  A prophet's words aren't welcomed in His own country -- they shake up the order, and call people out of their understanding to something greater and bigger and requiring change to invite in and accommodate.  Change isn't easy and it's not simple.  Repentance, changing one's mind, is a lifelong learning curve.  But God's love will always lead us to expansion, like the new wine that needs new wineskins.  Faith is a journey, a way, a path.  We are always called back toward the Father of lights.