The Tragedy of Unbelief
Matthew 13:53-58
53 Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these parables, that He departed from there. 54 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? 55 Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? 56 And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?” 57 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.” 58 Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.
Today, we come to the end of Matthew 13. In this chapter, Jesus has taught both the crowd and His disciples in parables. The parables were about the kingdom of heaven—its beginning through the preaching of the gospel, its nature, its growth in the world, its immeasurable value, and its final and complete establishment at the return of Jesus Himself to earth.
The final six verses in Matthew 13 are a transition passage between Jesus’ parables of the kingdom and Matthew 14-17 which focus on miracles and opposition. In many ways what happens at Nazareth is an outworking of the parables Jesus has just shared. In the parable of the sower, Jesus taught that not all receive the gospel message, which is exactly what happens in Nazareth. In the parable of the weeds, Jesus taught that believers and unbelievers will live together in this world until Christ returns. The parables of the mustard seed and the yeast show us how God’s kingdom seems small and insignificant in the beginning, which we see in Nazareth when Jesus’ own hometown rejects Him. The parables of the treasure and the pearl teach that only those who treasure Christ truly receive Him. The people of Nazareth did not receive Jesus when He came because they did not honor or treasure Him. And then finally, the parable of the dragnet shows God’s judgment on those who disbelieve. This is prefigured by the lack of miracles in Nazareth due to their unbelief in Christ.[1]
Unbelief is deadly. Unbelief is the greatest stumbling block. Unbelief is the chief wickedness. Unbelief is the mother sin, the father sin, the parent sin…the sin of all sins is unbelief. It was unbelief that caused Eve to sin against God in the Garden of Eden. She failed to believe the Word of God. It was unbelief that unlocked the doors to the promised land and the Israelites did not go in the Bible says, because of their unbelief. It was unbelief that tied the hands of Jesus when Jesus was in His own hometown and the Bible says, He could do no mighty works there because of their unbelief and the sovereign God has limited Himself to work according to the faith.[i]
In the end, people who reject Jesus do not do so because the evidence for faith is not compelling enough. It’s not because the things the Scripture say about Him are not intellectually sound. When you really get down to it, people who hear the truth about Jesus and reject Him do so because of an unbelieving heart of disobedience toward God.
Jesus’ visit to His hometown of Nazareth teaches us that Jesus can be rejected even where He is best known, if unbelief abides in the heart.[2] How in the world can you hear Jesus teach, see Him grow up for thirty years in your midst in a little town, know that He has preformed miracles upon miracles that could never be refuted, and not believe?
Our passage this morning has a very simple structure. Jesus goes to his hometown. We see the people’s reaction to him, and then we see Jesus’ response. In this passage we see what the tragedy of unbelief does. It blinds the eyes, hardens the heart, and prevents salvation.
1. Jesus goes to Nazareth (Matt. 13:53-54)
Matthew 13:53 says, “Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these parables, that He departed from there.” “There” is Capernaum where Jesus had been teaching and doing many miracles. Where did He go? Matthew 13:54 tells us “When He had come to His own country…” That place—as Luke tells us in his Gospel—was Nazareth, where Jesus had spent His growing-up and early adult years.
Nazareth was a very small and humble town. The people who lived there would have seen Jesus up close and personal for a long, long time. The families of Nazareth would have grown up along with the members of His earthly family. Many people would have had children who played with Jesus, and with the other children of Mary and Joseph. He would have worked in the community in Joseph’s trade as a carpenter. Luke tells us that it had been Jesus’ custom to go to the synagogue of Nazareth on the Sabbath. Jesus was called a “Nazarene”. Nazareth could truly call Jesus their ‘hometown boy’.
Surely, the people of Nazareth had heard about all that Jesus was doing. In fact, when Jesus goes to their synagogue, they ask, “Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works?” (Matt. 13:54). They heard about the things that He was doing and the miracles He had been performing in Galilee. When He came back to His hometown, we would expect that they would have a great celebration and that he would receive a hero’s welcome. When Jesus arrived in Nazareth, Matthew tells us that, “…He taught them in their synagogue…” Imagine how packed their synagogue would have been that day! What would Jesus—one of their own!—have to say?
Luke, in his Gospel, gives us an example of what Jesus was teaching them. He writes,
So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:
“The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD” (Luke 4:16-19).
Jesus had read from a passage that the people of Nazareth would have known and loved. It was a passage from Isaiah 49 that spoke about the coming of the Messiah—the promised King of the Jews. But Luke goes on to say that something remarkable happened.
Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:20-21).
No doubt, you could have heard a pin drop! Luke tells us that “… all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth”.
We have seen that Jesus finishes teaching His parables of the kingdom and returns to His hometown where He teaches in their synagogue. What was the reaction to Jesus?
2. The people react to Jesus (Matt. 13:54-57)
Matthew 13:54 tells us that, “…He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished…” At first, they were astonished. His words struck hard and left a deep impression.
The people were amazed or impressed by Jesus’ wisdom and power. But you know what? It doesn’t matter if you’re impressed with Jesus. A lot of people are impressed with Jesus. They are impressed by His teachings, captivated by His example, awestruck by His sacrifice. But it doesn’t matter if you’re amazed with Jesus. What matters is do you believe in Jesus? Do you believe He is the Son of God? And that’s where the people of Nazareth ran into a roadblock with Jesus.
But even though they were amazed and marveled at what He taught, their hearts were full of unbelief. So they asked, “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?” (Matt. 13:54-56).
Why did they bring up the subject of Jesus’ family? Because it lays the foundation of why they were astonished and why they questioned where Jesus had gained His power and teaching ability. Jesus had grown up in their midst. They knew Him as child and a young man. They knew He did not have formal religious training like the Rabbis – so how could He teach like He does? They had not seen Him do miracles when He was living in Nazareth – so where did this power come from? To the people of Nazareth, Jesus was just a carpenter that used to live there and the son of a carpenter whose family still lived there.
Matthew shows us that their familiarity with Jesus bred contempt. Matthew 13:57 says, “So they were offended at Him…” The word “offended” literally means that they stumbled at Him. As Paul put it, “. . . they stumbled at that stumbling stone. As it is written: ‘Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, and whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame’” (Romans 9:32-33). In Matthew 21:44, Jesus would say later of Himself, “And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder”. It’s the same today. Jesus is not what people expect Him to be; and they either must be changed by Him, or they will take offense at Him. They either fall on Him, or He falls on them.
What was it that He said that was so offensive? I believe that what was offending them the most was what He was telling them about Himself. As you read the Gospels, have you been surprised by how many times that people get offended by Jesus? It happened a lot! And usually it was what He says about Himself that offended them the most. It put them at the point of decision. They either had to believe what He said about Himself, turn from their sins, and trust Him, or they had to refuse to believe what He said, and reject Him out of a hardness of heart.
Both the verb “taught” in Matthew 13:54 and the verb “offended” in Matthew 13:57 are in the imperfect tense, indicating a progressive action. This suggests that the more He taught, the more offended they became at Him. Look at our passage in Matthew, and you can see how that offense grew.
First, they didn’t believe in who He was presenting Himself to be. He was presenting Himself to be the Messiah—both in the things that He taught about Himself and in the things that He did. His teaching and His works were authenticating Him as their long-awaited King. But they wouldn’t receive Him as the King sent from God. They said, “Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty miracles?” And people do the same today, don’t they? They refuse to make a connection between His divine words and divine works, and draw the conclusion about His divine identity.
Second, they wouldn’t accept His authority. They didn’t appreciate that His words placed Himself above them. They focused on His human-family as reason to believe that He was no better than them. People do something similar today when they insist that Jesus was just a man—a wonderfully profound teacher and a brilliant religious reformer; but in the end, just a man. And as a mere man, they say, He has no real authority.
So, they were offended at Him. And the reason they were offended and rejected Him is given in Matthew 13:58—they responded to Him with “unbelief”.
John 1 tells us that “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name” (John 1:11-12). The people’s response to Jesus in Nazareth teaches us a great danger we all face—especially in the church! Jesus can become the least appreciated in the place where He is the best known . . . if He is greeted by those who have sin in their lives and unbelief in their hearts.
This is how the people of Nazareth reacted to Jesus. How did Jesus respond to their unbelief?
3. Jesus’ response to their unbelief (Matt. 13:57-58)
Matthew 13:57 tells us, “But Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house.’”
The word translated “without honor” in this verse is a word that means to be dishonored or despised. We find the same word twice in Isaiah 53:3 where Isaiah says about Christ: “He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”
Jesus is not saying here that He was honored everywhere else except His hometown of Nazareth. Jesus was dishonored in other places, as well, but there’s something about your hometown or your own home or family that makes things especially hard. It’s hard to take a stand for God among the people who know you best, unless they’re standing for God, too.
Notice Jesus even specifies “his own house” here. Although Mary was a believer, the Bible tells us Jesus’ brothers did not believe in Him at this time, although they would come to faith in Him later (Acts 1:14; James; Jude). It’s hard to be a Christian, but Jesus is saying it is especially hard at home.
In Matthew 13:58, we’re told, “Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.” Mark, in his Gospel, tells us that Jesus laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them (Mark 6:6); but that was all. He didn’t do in Nazareth—His own home-town—the sort of mighty works that He did elsewhere. They wouldn’t believe on Him, nor trust Him; and so, they didn’t receive very much from Him.
He disappointed their expectations because they wouldn’t receive Him for who He is. How many people do you know who say they have had the same kind of experience with Jesus? They say that they tried Jesus, but He didn’t work for them. And the truth is that they wouldn’t receive Him for Who He really is—Lord and Savior. They didn’t come to Him for deliverance from their sin. They came to Him selfishly or pridefully—with their own preconceived notions of who He should be or what He should do for them. They do not see Jesus do mighty works for them because of their unbelief. So many people miss out on salvation because they see Jesus only from a worldly or human perspective.
John MacArthur wrote,
Those who heard and saw Jesus did not reject Him for lack of evidence but in spite of overwhelming evidence. They did not reject Him because they lacked the truth but because they rejected the truth. They refused forgiveness because they wanted to keep their sins. They denied the light because they preferred darkness. The reason for rejecting the Lord has always been that men prefer their own way to His…The people of Nazareth were like people throughout the history of the church who can find every foolish reason to justify their rejection of the gospel. They don’t like the attitude of the one who witnesses to them; they think most church people are hypocrites; they think the preacher is too loud or too soft, too stuffy or too overbearing; and the services are too formal or too informal. They are offended at the slightest things Christians do and construe the insignificant as being all important. They put up one smoke screen after another to excuse their unwillingness to believe the clear and demanding claims and promises of Christ.[II]
What a tragedy! How much we lose when we won’t—by faith—receive Him as He truly is!
Jesus Christ is the Son of God who came to this earth and lived a sinless life. Because of this, He is the only offering that is acceptable to God. He died upon a cross to pay the debt for your sin. He was raised from the dead to give eternal life to all who would place their faith in Him. He is the only means of salvation that this world will ever know.
When God sent Jesus into the world to die for our sins, God gave us a gift that we don’t deserve. Let us give Jesus the honor He deserves every day of our lives and for all of eternity.
Repent of your unbelief. Place your trust in Christ today. Honor Jesus by living for Him and telling others about Him.
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[1] Ray Fowler, A Prophet without Honor, https://www.rayfowler.org/sermons/matthew/prophet-without-honor/
[i] Adrian Rogers, quoted on https://www.preceptaustin.org/matthew-13-commentary#13:58
[2] Greg Allen, The Home-Town Stumble, https://www.bethanybible.org/archive/2007/012107.htm
[ii] John MacArthur, New Testament Commentary-Matthew, pg. 409 & 411.
