Let’s jump straight back into the Gospel of Matthew where we will be picking up in chapter 13, verse 53. And as we open our Bibles to Matthew 13:53, let’s review where we are so far. Through Jesus’ life and ministry and by the Holy Spirit’s direction, Matthew is building an understanding of Jesus and his message.
The first section of Matthew deals with Jesus being a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. Jesus is the prophesied prophet like Moses. He is the prophesied coming King in the line of David. Yet most importantly, Jesus is the fulfillment of the prophecies that spoke of God himself coming to earth to pay the penalty for sin (Isaiah 7, 9, 53). The first seven chapters of Matthew are written to help us understand these things, and that we must trust in Jesus and build our lives upon his teachings.
In the second section, the focus turns to the disciples and how they are now to implement those teachings. Jesus’ disciples are not people who merely take in information about what God wants, but are people who put that information into practice. This is why James 1:22 tells us that we must be, “…doers of the word, and not hearers only… (NKJV).”
This brings us into the third section, in which we find ourselves approaching to the end. As the disciples return from implementing Jesus’ teachings, they are taught deeper truths. This third section focuses on what is a disciple. To sum it up, a disciple is someone who has placed their trust into what Jesus teaches. Those teachings encapsulate that we are stuck in a state of sin and are in need of saving because we cannot fix it on our own. Jesus therefore pays the price to break the power of sin in our lives. When we place our trust in him, we accept this reality and follow him, relying on the Holy Spirit and putting into practice Jesus’ teachings.
It is here that we saw last week in Jesus’ parable sermon that there are many different responses to Jesus’ Gospel message. At the core of this, we are called to understand the worth of what Jesus is offering. It’s wealth that far exceeds what the world offers, and we must take seriously what Jesus offers because we might be a person who is not growing their faith deep, or are allowing worldly things to choke that faith. If we are, we will find out at the end that we were, weeds among good plants, bad fish among good fish. This is what Holy Spirit is pleading with us, and what we will see one result today.
Let’s turn our attention back to Matthew chapter 13, starting at verse 53.
“53 When Jesus had finished these parables, he moved on from there. 54 Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. ‘Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?’ they asked. 55 ‘Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? 56 Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?’ 57 And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is not without honor except in his own town and in his own home.’ 58 And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.”
This moment in Jesus’ life perfectly represents the parables that he had just spoken. Matthew gives us a situation that is heartbreaking when you think about it. Jesus returns to his hometown. He grew up among the people. He played with friends in the community. He worked by his adopted father Joseph’s side in that town. And most likely every person that walked by him, he greeted on a first name basis. Those of us from small towns know the tight knittedness of these types of communities.
But it’s not a very welcoming experience. Jesus enters the town and proceeds to do what he does. He teaches in the synagogue, a typical thing for a traveling teacher. While in the synagogue he must have performed some miracles, most likely healinging, since Jesus does those often. The response at first seems promising. The people say, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?”
People all over Israel, up to this point in Matthew, have responded in a similar way, but we quickly see that this response isn’t one of wonder, but one of contempt. “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? 56 Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?”
The familiarity of Jesus in the town, blinded the people to his true identity. The people could not see past the boy that grew up among them. They knew Jesus’ parents. They knew Jesus’ brothers and sisters. But what they failed to know, was Jesus. Here the parables of chapter 13 come into focus. The Gospel was given, that seed that was scattered just fell on pavement. The thought that these people knew Jesus, kept them from knowing him. The enemy plucked it away. They failed to see past who they thought Jesus was, and in so doing, they missed the worth of the kingdom.
The people had it in their mind that Jesus was nothing more than what they thought. And this happens throughout history and into our day. We think we know Jesus, but we don’t. We think we have an understanding of him, but we don’t. This is what the Scriptures are getting at, what Jesus meant by his parables. If we think we do, we better be seeking him. We better be allowing the seed of the Gospel to take root, so that the rocky times of life do not lead to us withering away. We better be making sure that the thorns of the world’s desires are not choking us.
How honest can I be with you? I had one person tell me that I shouldn’t be so open with the church because it wasn’t becoming of a pastor. But I would rather be honest than not. This past year has been difficult in many ways. Our church is as healthy as it has ever been. We are seeing God work in many ways. We are moving steadily on the course he has set for us; a course that has been pioneered for almost 40 years. Because this church is doing so well, the enemy, who seeks to destroy (John 10:10), hasn’t been able to. And so, outside of the church we are starting to see attacks.
We just took a group up to the Navajo nation. The day of the trip I got a text from some local number with a picture of a girl in her bra seeking sexual relations. I showed Marika, blocked the number, and deleted the text. On our way home, we were shown a Facebook post that accused us of gossip. Something that is we can verifiably show is false. Here’s where I’m going to get real honest with you, because of these attacks, I had several thoughts cross my mind. First, on the Facebook accusation I felt like fighting back. Even making a fake account to lambast the person who was making the accusation. The other thought that crossed my mind was that maybe we should step down, because it’s just going to get worse, and it’s difficult to be a Pastor where ever little thing can be criticized if you’re not 100% perfect in all circumstances. And even if you are, you’re still accused of wrong. When we first moved down here I was accused of basically being a pedophile, you know why? Because I would drive around with a young blonde, and that young blonde would come to my house daily. You know who that young blonde was? My wife, but that didn’t matter to people.
But because we seek Jesus, because we have sought to rely on the Holy Spirit, and to implement the Word of God in our lives, I turned to Jesus and asked for the strength. Because I know it’s the enemy. I know that these attacks are because God is doing and will do great things through this church.
I will not be the soil where the Gospel seed finds rocks. I will not be the soil where the Gospel seed finds thorns. By the strength of the Holy Spirit, I will not allow the weeds that are planted with me to determine what I am. I will be one who understands the worth of the kingdom and seeks it. I might have to give up my reputation in the eyes of others to do it. But I will be the good fish that will be sorted to my Savior into eternity.
And this is what the Holy Spirit is calling all of us here today, to live a life seeking after God’s kingdom. To allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives to remove any rock or thorn that might contaminate the soil of our lives. That the Gospel would not just be something we say we believe, but what we actually put into practice in our daily lives.
If we do not take seriously the Gospel and the worth of the Kingdom, then we will be like the people of Jesus’ hometown, thinking we know him, but not really. This echoes Jesus’ words at the end of the first section. In Matthew 7 Jesus stated, “21 Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”
There’s a moment at the end of Jesus’ hometown visit that should throw water on us to wake us up. We’re told by Matthew in verse 58, “And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.”
There is a link between the work of God in our lives and our faith. A lack of faith does not mean that miracles can’t happen, but it can decrease the opportunities for them to happen. This is why Jesus’ parable of the mustard seed is important. It doesn’t take a lot of faith to see the work of God, but it does take some. But when we think we know Jesus but are not seeking him daily, we really don’t. When we think we know Jesus, but are not obeying him, we won’t see his work. And if we realize that this is where we are, that’s a good thing, because now we can seek the Holy Spirit to wake us up. We can now start to do what Jesus says, and not just say we believe.
Because the reality is this, belief with out action is meaningless. This is why in the second chapter of James’ letter he makes the case for faith being connected with action. “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them (v.14)?…You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder (v.19)…As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead (v.26).”
We must stop thinking that our head knowledge is all that Jesus wants. NO! He wants us all. This is why Mark 12:29-31 is such an important verse for believers. When asked what the greatest command was, Jesus connected two. “‘The most important one,’ answered Jesus, ‘is this: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” 31 The second is this: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no commandment greater than these.’”
Jesus wants all of us, not just what we think of him. He wants our emotions, our physical strength, our desires, our giftings. He wants the whole package, and he wants us to understand him through his own revealed word. And what he says is that his disciples, those of good soil, those who are good plants, those who know the worth of the Kingdom, those who are good fish, are those that put into practice Jesus’ words and don’t just say, yes I believe.
Next week we’ll see where the type of disciple Jesus calls us to be, can possibly lead. But for now my challenge for you this week, is to wrestle with this: Are you stating that you know Jesus, but are not actually doing what he says. Are you continuing in lies, gossip, sexual immorality, abuse, addiction? Take it before God this week and ask him to root it out. Those things are shackles around you keeping you from knowing Jesus fully. Jesus broke those shackles, so that you can live the life he created you to live. A life fully connected with your Creator.
If you take seriously these weekly challenges to seek God, just by taking the time to do so can show that you are good soil, because good soil is cultivated by the farmer. Let us therefore ask God to cultivate us so that the Gospel will have a better soil to take root in. That we may experience Jesus as he intends us to, and so others may be pointed to him.
Let us be people who seek to not merely say we know our God, but people who do what our God says to do. Amen.
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