Matthew 13:53-14:2
Introduction: One thing this past year has shown us is the reality and power of the filters we all have. How is it that the exact same facts or events (a virus, masks, a vaccine, an election, a killing that causes racial tension) can cause wildly divergent reactions? How can we all look at the exact same thing and see something totally different? There are a few ways we could answer these questions but there is one answer that now seems undeniable. We all have filters that we use to see, understand, and interpret the world.
Jesus Message = Proclaim Justice, Jesus Mission = Lead Justice to Victory
In this series on the Gospel of Matthew 13-20, we will explore how these filters work to get in the way of us seeing Jesus for who He is. In this section of Matthew, two things happen simultaneously – 1) Jesus more clearly reveals who He is & what He came to do and 2) People (even his own disciples) more blatantly misunderstand and misinterpret Him. How does this happen? How might it be happening with us?
1. We All Have Filters - These stories show us the reality and power of our filters in two different settings.
1) Jesus Hometown – In 13:53-55, Jesus is blowing away his hometown with his teaching. They all seem to know he has also done miraculous and unexplainable things. But that’s not what they are seeing. They say, “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t this Mary’s son? Don’t we know his brothers and sisters?” In other words, they are saying, “We cannot believe that someone from this town, from this ordinary family, with an ordinary human occupation, with brothers and sisters that we know could do these things - so we can’t believe it.” Why? Not because of the evidence, or what they were hearing or seeing. It was because of the filter they had. He didn’t fit their categories for a Messiah, so they didn’t believe. They wanted a Messiah on their terms. What Jesus was doing and saying couldn’t get through.
2) Herod – In 14:1-2, we see a totally different filter at work than the people of Nazareth. Herod the tetrarch (a term for a ruler of a territory) heard about all the same things that the town of Nazareth was seeing. He concluded it was John the Baptist raised from the dead. This was a pretty outlandish thing to believe. Why did he believe this? Was it because of the evidence or what he had heard about Jesus or the sources he was hearing it from? No – it was because of the filter he had. Having put John to death earlier (as told in 14:3-12), he saw Jesus through the filter own fears, paranoia and guilt.
The point of putting these two stories side by side is to show us that people did not look at or listen to Jesus honestly or reasonably. Why? Because of their filters. This passage is one of the clearest places in the Bible that shows us the power of the filters we have in our thinking and beliefs. The question for us is not – do you have a filter? It’s do you know yours? Do you know how you filter out things about Jesus you don’t want to see or hear?
2. Jesus and Our Filters
How do we know when Jesus is challenging our filters? How can we be better able to see ours? This passage shows us how. When one or both of the two things happen in us that happened in Jesus’ hometown - astonishment and offense.
Astonishment - In 13:54, we read that the people in Jesus’ hometown were “astonished”. The word means to strike out with a blow; to strike out of one's senses; to be dumbfounded. This is what happens when you meet the real Jesus and consider Him as He is. The Jesus we meet in the New Testament is unlike any person anyone has ever encountered. If you haven’t been astonished by Jesus. You have a filter. When you find yourself saying, “It’s too good to be true”; “He’s too good to be true” you know Jesus is bumping up against your filter..
Offense - In 13:57, we read that the people of Nazareth were also offended by Jesus. They (and likely Herod too) were scandalized at Jesus demand for total loyalty and allegiance to Him. Isn’t this Mary’s son. How can he be saying these things? Who is Jesus to speak with authority over us? Herod likely thought, “Another prophet come to call me out? Who is he to say anything about how I live my life, what is right/wrong for me?” If you have not been offended or scandalized, by Jesus. You have a filter. The Jesus of the New Testament is more demanding than any person anyone has ever encountered. When you find yourself saying, “It’s too hard to be true, “He’s asking too much to be true”, you know Jesus is bumping up against your filter.
3. Jesus Unfiltered
How do we put our filters down and see Jesus for who He is? The answer given here is faith. It was because of “their unbelief” that Jesus did not do many miracles in Nazareth (v58). The power of Jesus is withheld when people keep their filters up in unbelief. But faith sounds like an overly simplistic and very pious answer, “Just have faith!” Note that faith, according to this passage, is not opposed to reason, evidence and thinking. It is in line with reason and evidence. The unreasonable and unthinking people in the passage are those who refuse to see Jesus for who He is. Their faith in their filters was too strong to see and consider Jesus for who He really was.
Here is what we need to admit – the thing holding up our filters is faith. It’s our faith or trust in the categories we have, our understanding of the world, the things we believe we must to have to be happy, the things we believe give us status. We must be willing to examine and question our faith in these things when we experience Jesus “bumping up against them”. Faith begins and grows when we look to Jesus – not through the filters of own preference, culture, politics or desires – but as He is in all his astonishing and offensive fullness.
REFLECT OR DISCUSS
What about this sermon most impacted you or left you with questions? Do you agree that this past year has shown us the reality and power of the filters we all have? How have you seen this?
A Filter is something that lets what you want in and keeps what you don’t want out. This isn’t always a bad thing but can be if we are keeping parts of Jesus out of our lives. What filter(s) do you have? (A few mentioned in the sermon were the conservative filter, the progressive filter and the American filter – just to suggest some non-controversial ones 😉.
When were you last astonished by Jesus (blown away, dumbfounded)? When were you last offended by Jesus (scandalized)? If it’s been a while, why do you think this is?
How have you seen God remove and change the filters you have used to see and listen to Him and His word?
While it seems like a tragic ending for Jesus’ hometown and own household, this isn’t the end of the story. We know from history that two of his brothers did end up believing and becoming leaders in the early church (James, Jude). Even when we resist Him with our filters, Jesus doesn’t give up on us. How does this give you hope for yourself? for the church? for others (whose filters you can see)?
BONUS – FOR REFLECTION & PRAYER
The scariest part of this passage for Christians is that Jesus was least appreciated where he was best known. In “his hometown, his household”. There is a message here for us today. A message for the church. To those who are most familiar with Jesus.
At this point in the story of Jesus there is a major transition that is a sober warning to people who think they know Jesus. Jesus never went back to a synagogue after this. This is pretty fascinating and extremely significant. Why is it a big deal? Synagogues were the official place for Jewish people to gather, hear teaching, worship. After this, Jesus decided to work outside the normal religious structures of his day. If you wanted to find Jesus, you had to be willing to put down your filters and meet Him, see Him for who He was, on his terms. He wouldn’t be found in a synagogue.
There are many dead churches throughout history and around the world. Churches that end up becoming museums. There are many vibrant and thriving churches throughout history and around the world. Churches that experience the presence of Jesus and live in the power of His kingdom. What’s the difference? Those willing to put down their filters and meet the full and true Jesus for who He is – those are the churches that are alive with his presence and power.
One significant reason we and our churches drift into unhealth is that we neglect or under-emphasize or even turn away from aspects of Christ himself that we find confusing or threatening. ... We get healthy again when we stop miniaturizing Christ and rediscover his actual grandeur and we allow him, in our churches, to be all that in fact he is. -Ray Ortlund
Spend time as a group praying for each person and for our church to put down our filters to see Jesus for all of who He is.