This sermon series will focus on the major cities of Jesus Christ’s life here on this earth, Nazareth, Capernaum, Jerusalem, and Bethlehem. Each sermon asks a singular question, what did Jesus do in that city, and answers with a letter, addressed, if you will, from the future, warning each city to pay attention to its Lord and Messiah and guiding them to His truth. As we listen and hear the words to the past, we also hear that the words are for us today. May the Lord bless us as we hear His Word.
This sermon, preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on December 4, 2013 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, focuses on Matthew 13:53-58. The sermon recording may also be accessed by clicking the title of this blog post and playing it in your browser.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
The text this evening comes to us from Matthew’s Gospel, the 13th chapter:
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? Is not this the carpenter’s son? 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? Where then did this man get all these things?” And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.” And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.
Thus far the text.
Dearest Nazareth,
Oh, dear city. If you only knew what it was that would happen in you. If only you had known that you would be the home of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, for most of His life. Perhaps then, you would have left Him some honor.
Nazareth, I know what it’s like to have a hometown. When I go to my home, it is strange indeed. There are all the memories I had as a child, growing up in my church, growing up among all those people. To them, I’m never Pastor Lewis. I’m just Lewis. Lewis, the kid who has a picture on the wall of the church of when he was 12 and was wrestling with other kids in youth group. Lewis, the kid who grew up in their midst. This is who I am.
Oh, Nazareth, you must have seen Jesus in the same light. This Jesus who grew up with his family. Jesus, who ran around with His brothers and sisters. Jesus, who disappeared from His family when they went to visit the Temple in Jerusalem. Jesus, who would grow in your midst, but in the meantime, you resorted to your sinful nature. You saw Him as just another boy.
For you must have heard those stories of Jesus, O Nazareth. What righteous indignation you must have had. The way you gossiped about those parents who couldn’t even keep their own child in line. The way you looked at this Jesus in a little bit of fear and awe when he bested the teachers in the Temple you so revere. You may have grown to respect Him, but that took time.
This Jesus, He grew up in your midst. He apprenticed under His father, Joseph, learning the craft of carpentry, working with wood and stone. This Jesus literally became a man in your midst. You watched Him grow in wisdom and stature, not to mention height and muscles. He was a patient man, a man who bore any scorn you threw at Him. He took anything that came His way, but never responded to you in unrighteous anger. You respected Him for that.
You respected Him when He entered into the Synagogue each week. You loved the sound of His voice. He even grew among you in that you sought out His opinions on theological matters. He never went to the religious schools of the Pharisees, but yet, He still seemed to know more than they ever would.
And this is why you resented Him, too, O Nazareth. Indeed, there was respect for His words, but who does this man think that He is? Who does He think He represents? You know His parents, Mary and Joseph. You know His brothers, James, Joseph, Simon and Judas. None of them were able to do the things He was able to do. None of them were special. None of them were claiming to be the prophet that Jesus was claiming to be. ‘Jesus,’ you said, ‘You are disrespecting your family, leaving them behind for the sake of these devilish things, these satanic wonders you are doing.’
But, O Nazareth, you did not know. Jesus grew up with you, and so you could not see. You could not see that this Jesus was the son of Mary and Joseph, yes, but His true Father was in heaven, and that identified Jesus as the Son of God. You could not see that this man standing in front you was not satanic. He was the reign of heaven in your midst. You could not see. You clouded your own eyes with sin.
And what did you do, O Nazareth? Because Jesus would not do the same wonders He had done all over Judea and Samaria, you ran Him out of the Synagogue, chased Him to the edge of a cliff and you meant to throw him over it and stone Him. But that didn’t happen, did it? Jesus did not let you do this to Him, nor did He send you away with a miraculous word. Instead, bowing His head, humbling sighing at your unbelief, He walked right through the crowd of you. You never even noticed, did you, Nazareth?
No, your anger clouded you from the work of God in your midst. It stopped you from seeing and loving this man, this man that was God in your midst, it stopped you from seeing that the Lord’s redemption was drawing nigh, from seeing that God’s promise to save you and all His people was finally being fulfilled.
But your anger is not an excuse, O Nazareth. You rejected the Prophet of Prophets, the Lord of Lords, the King of Kings, God incarnate. You did not believe. You turned away from Him. And you would have killed Him. Only, it was not your place to kill the Christ. It was not your place to deliver Him to death. Instead, it was up to the chief priests and the rulers in Jerusalem to do so.
The same Jesus that had astonished them when He was twelve years old, now astonished them in a different way 20 years later. They were astonished that He did not bow to their authority. They were astonished that He did not honor their words and prayers. They were astonished that He could do such miraculous works, and yet hate the hypocrisy that they themselves had regarding God and His work and will in Jerusalem.
And so they killed Him, just like you wanted to do. They crucified Him, breaking His body and shedding His blood. You could not kill Him, for it was not yet the right time. But Jesus offended you. He told you that you were sinners. He told you that you had angered God by not keeping the commandments. And He made claims that He Himself would forgive your sins. That He Himself would bear those sins. That He, and only He, was the Messiah that was sent for you, for Israel, and for the entire world. And you hated Him for it.
How could this man, and that’s all you saw Him as, O Nazareth, how could this man do these things? Didn’t you know Him? Is not He the son of Joseph? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? Of course they are.
But Jesus was not just what you saw Him as. Jesus rarely is how we see Him. Jesus would tell us that He comes to us in Word and Sacrament. And this is offensive to many, the idea of washing to save you, eating and drinking flesh and blood. This is offensive. Yet, Jesus says it is true, O Nazareth. For it is only through the Word and Sacraments that you can receive the very gift of what Jesus has done for you on the cross. They are the vehicles by which that grace, by which even faith, is delivered to you. Without the Word and the Sacraments, you would have no hope.
So, even for you, O Nazareth, and for all who hear this letter, know this: even your rejection of the Christ can be forgiven. There is no sin that can separate you from Him and His love for you. He had you, O Nazareth, as His hometown, and He made this world, in human flesh, His home. He did this so that you, even you, and even your children, would receive the forgiveness and salvation you always desired, but could never see in Him when He was among you.
But, now, O Nazareth, repent. Repent and be forgiven. Hear the Word of the Lord for you, that even in your rejection and unbelief, the Lord still called Himself Jesus of Nazareth, for you, in hopes that you, and all mankind, would turn from their wicked ways and trust in this Jesus of Nazareth who dwelled with us here for a short time, but now dwells with us forever, this Immanuel, God with us. In Jesus’ name, we write you in love and concern. Amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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