A Prophet without Honor
TRANSLATION
(44) “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. When a person found it, he hid it again and, in his joy, went and sold all that he had and bought the field. (45) Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. (46) And having found one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.
(47) “Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea that caught every kind of fish. (48) When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the beach and sat down and sorted what was good into containers but threw the bad away. (49) So will it be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous (50) and throw the wicked into a fiery furnace. In that place will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (51) Have you understood all these things?” They answered him, “Yes.” (52) And he said to them, “Therefore every teacher who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a house who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”
(53) When Jesus had finished these parables, he departed from that place, (54) and, coming to his hometown, he taught them in their synagogue so that they were astonished and said, “Where did this man get his wisdom and these mighty works? (55) Is not this the carpenter’s son, and is not his mother called Mary and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? (56) And are not all his sisters with us? Where 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 hometown and in his own household.” (58) And he did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.
OBSERVATIONS
Repetitions again help us discern the thrust of this segment. In the first two paragraphs, the phrase, “the kingdom of heaven,” occurred four times (vss. 44, 45, 47, & 52). Both “treasure” (vss. 44 & 52) and “pearl(s)” (vss. 45 & 46) are found twice. Two uses of the phrase, “he went and sold all that he had and bought,” are found in close proximity (vss. 44 & 46). We also find three occurrences of “throw” in its various forms (vss. 47, 48, & 50). In the second paragraph, “hometown” was repeated (vss. 54 & 57) as was the phrase, “where did this man get” (vss. 54 & 56).
OUTLINE
I. Jesus concluded his teaching regarding the kingdom of heaven with four additional parables. (44-52)
II. In Nazareth, Jesus was limited in his ability to minister by the townspeople’s lack of faith. (53-58)
IDEA STATEMENT
Faith is the key that unlocks the riches of the kingdom of heaven while unbelief is that which bars the door forever.
APPLICATION
The skepticism that Jesus encountered in his hometown of Nazareth helps further to explain why he chose to teach the truths regarding the kingdom of heaven in parables. In this way, he hid the truth from unbelievers while revealing it to those who exercised faith.
Over the centuries many have wondered what Jesus was like in his childhood, his teenage years, as a young man before the age of thirty. While very little is told us in the Gospels, we can gather from this passage that Jesus’ growing-up years were quite unremarkable. Apart from Luke’s account of his visit to the temple in Jerusalem when, at the age of twelve, he amazed the teachers of Israel with “his understanding and his answers” (Lk. 2:47), we have very little to inform us about this period in his life.
The response of the townspeople of Nazareth to Jesus’ teaching in the synagogue and their unwillingness to admit that he was anything special both imply that he had spent his first thirty years in a typical Jewish family quietly working with his father, Joseph, in his carpentry trade and waiting for the right moment to begin his earthly ministry. We can also assume that he spent much time in fellowship with his heavenly Father, growing in his understanding of Scripture, and preparing himself for the remarkable three years of public ministry that would soon follow.