This rejection of Jesus in Nazareth took place at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. The rejection of Jesus recorded in Matthew 13:54-58 took place at the close of His ministry. The residents of Nazareth had two chances to hear Jesus, but they wouldn’t listen on either occasion.
Jesus was now under the full power of the Holy Spirit to carry out His ministry, Luke 4:14-30. In His incarnation, He had given up equality with God. It was now the Spirit working through Him to accomplish the miraculous works of His ministry in order to fulfil the purpose of His coming into the world, Matthew 13:54.
The need for the Spirit to work through Him explains the extent of the incarnation. Jesus truly became a man in order to identify with those whom He sought to deliver from the confines of the flesh, Philippians 2:5-11.
As was the custom of the Jews, Jesus went to the synagogue to listen to the reading of the Old Testament law, Matthew 13:54. However, the Sabbath assembly in the synagogue wasn’t a part of the Old Testament law. The synagogue came into existence in Palestine after the Jews’ return from Babylonian captivity in 536 B.C.
Keep in mind also that not all Jews in a community met in the synagogue simply because the synagogues were not large structures. The synagogue was a Jewish cultural centre where the reading of the law could be heard. The Jews’ custom was that the Old Testament law was read only while the reader stood.
Jesus returned to His hometown of Nazareth, but it seems the teaching and the miracles that Jesus did were too much for those who knew Him from childhood. They weren’t prepared to accept Him for who He actually was, Mark 6:1-2.
Jesus’ brothers are named but not His sisters, Matthew 13:55 / Mark 6:3. Notice they don’t call Jesus the carpenter’s son, but ‘the carpenter’, Matthew 13:55 / Mark 6:3. This suggests that by the time of this event, Jesus’ father, Joseph, has already died. In Greek, the word ‘carpenter’ is ‘builder.’
He was the ‘local boy’ the village or town fathers couldn’t accept to be the Messiah at this time in His ministry, Mark 6:4 / John 4:44. He could do no miracles because the people weren’t driven by faith to go to Him, Matthew 13:58 / Mark 6:5-6.
No wonder Jesus says, ‘a prophet is not without honour except in his own town and in his own home,’ Matthew 13:57 / Mark 6:4 / Luke 4:16-30 / John 4:44. Rejection usually comes from those who are closest to us, or from those who should know better.
Since they considered Him only a local personality, they didn’t accept Him as one who had authority over the supernatural, Genesis 19:22 / Genesis 32:25. This event explains the faith that one had to have in order to be healed.
The faith was in the one through whom God worked to heal. In this case, it was faith in Jesus to heal, Mark 6:6. Because those of Jesus’ home country wouldn’t accept Him, He didn’t have the opportunity to heal many people, for few believed in Him, Mark 6:5. And so, once again, Jesus is being rejected. The people in Nazareth forfeited an ideal opportunity to have the Lord with them.
Jesus went around the villages teaching, Matthew 9:35-38 / Mark 6:6. This one statement explains the ministry of Jesus, and thus gives an example to teachers who would function in following the example of Jesus’ ministry.
In the early part of His ministry, He wanted to do much teaching. He wanted emphasis placed on teaching in order to prepare people for His kingdom’s reign that was to come.
For this reason, He asked those who were touched by healing not to speak concerning their healing, lest people be drawn to Him simply for the purpose of being healed, Mark 5:43.
His going about in a circuit to teach is certainly a good example for evangelists today who want to teach a great number of people in a specific region, Luke 4:42-44.
We must keep in mind that though these people didn’t respond to Jesus at this time, when they later considered all that Jesus did in fulfilment of the prophecies concerning the Messiah, they would believe. This event was early in His ministry. It occurred before they had all the facts concerning His fulfilment of prophecy, Acts 6:7.
Some people accept the Gospel and others reject it. We should share the Gospel with everyone who wants to listen, but what can we learn from Jesus about who is more likely to listen to the Gospel message? There are times, especially if someone is getting aggressive, that we just need to walk away.
What else can we learn from Jesus, in terms of who is more likely to listen to the Gospel message? Please read the following passages and see if you can notice the common denominator: Acts 9:20 / Acts 13:5 / Acts 13:13-14 / Acts 14:1 / Acts 17:1 / Acts 17:10 / Acts 17:16-17 / Acts 18:4 / Acts 18:19 / Acts 19:8.
Those who are already ‘religious’ will be more open to talking about their faith, and we can lead them to the truth if they only know partial truth, and we need to take advantage of those situations. Many people claim to be believers, but they haven’t read the Bible or obeyed the Gospel.
It is tragic to see people discarding the fantastic opportunity to be blessed by Jesus. In the country of the Gadarenes, they simply asked Jesus to leave, Mark 5:17. Here in Nazareth, they refused to believe and therefore didn’t even bring their sick for Jesus to heal. As a result, they missed out on the opportunities that others, like Jairus and the woman with the bleeding, benefited from.
What about us? Do we take advantage of the opportunity to know Jesus and to be blessed by Him?