"FAMILIARITY BREEDS CONTEMPT"
Saint James of Jerusalem, Brother of Jesus and Martyr
October 23, 2016
Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church
Glenshaw, Pennsylvania
TEXT:
"Is not this the carpenter's Son? Is not His mother called Mary? And are not His brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all His sisters with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?" 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."
Matthew 13:55-57 (ESV)
It's been said that "familiarity breeds contempt." It seems that the more familiar people are with someone, the harder it is for them to accept that person as an authority of any kind. I can think of at least two experiences in my own life that drove this reality home to me. The first was that whenever I tried to speak with my mother about spiritual issues in her life, the response was always something like this: "Just because you went to college and the seminary doesn't mean that you know more than your mother!" And the second was that just a couple of months before we moved here, my brother showed up at my church one Sunday with one of his coworkers. The reason why they were there was because my brother's coworker could not believe that Fred Litke actually had a brother who was a pastor, so he had to see it for himself.
Today we commemorate James of Jerusalem, one of the Lord's brothers. He also had a difficult time accepting the fact that Someone with whom he was very familiar was actually Something more than he had always thought Him to be. Like his other brothers, James was not a believer in Jesus during the Savior's earthly ministry. In fact, we are told in Mark's Gospel that on one occasionJesus' "family . . . went out to seize Him, for they were saying, 'He is out of His mind'" (Mark 3:21). It was not until after Jesus' death and resurrection that James, together with his brother Judas (or Jude), became a disciple. James eventually became a leader in the Church--the first bishop of Jerusalem. When the persecution of the Church began, James was one of the first to lose his life because of his loyalty to Christ. But in the Gospel for today James was no doubt among those "who took offense at" Jesus. As we examine this incident at the synagogue in Jesus' hometown of Nazareth, we will especially look at the hometown crowd's reaction to the preaching of Jesus and the Lord's response.
The people in Jesus' hometown of Nazareth knew Jesus very well--or at least they thought they did. They thought that knew Him because they knew His family and were familiar with His upbringing. They were even able name His mother and His brothers. While His sisters are not named here, we can assume that they knew their names as well. The fact that there is no mention of Joseph here suggests that Mary's husband and Jesus' childhood guardian had already died by this time. These people had watched Jesus grow up. They saw how He learned Joseph's trade of carpentry. Some of them may have even been involved in His religious education at the synagogue. As far as they were concerned, they knew all that there was to know about Jesus of Nazareth.
But the Jesus that they thought they knew was not the Jesus who had just preached to them and taught them in the synagogue. The Jesus that they thought they knew was Someone who they could control, but this Jesus was Something altogether different. They may have been impressed with how this hometown Boy had matured and acquired oratory skills, but they could not and would not recognize Him as a Prophet--a Spokesman for God. In Luke's account of this incident we are told that what really offended them was that, when Jesus addressed them in the synagogue, He read one of the Messianic prophecies of Isaiah and then interpreted it by saying: 'Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing" (Luke 4:21). He whose local and humble origins were well known to them dared to apply the prophet's words about the promised Messiah to Himself! Just who did He think He was anyway?
Jesus’ response to the offense of His hometown people was a recognition of their rejection, not as a good or acceptable thing, but simply as one of the harsh realities of life in a sinful and rebellious world. "A prophet is not without honor,” He said, “except in his hometown and in his own household." Notice that Jesus doesn’t say that a prophet is not worthy of honor. On the contrary, He affirms the honor that is due to anyone who brings the Word of God to others. Prophets are worthy of respect and honor, not because of who they are but because of who they represent and speak for. The Word that they preach is not their own; it is the very Word of God. For this reason they are to be respected and their words are to be heeded because "what [they] proclaim is not [them]selves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and [them]selves as [our] servants for Jesus' sake" (2 Corinthians 4:5).
Giving that honor and respect to God's prophets is most difficult for those who are closest to the prophet in question. Even people who have the greatest reverence for God have a difficult time seeing Him when He comes to them through people who they know and have known for a long time. The people of Jesus' day loved God, but when He came to them in the Person of His incarnate Son, they were offended by the very thought that this young Man who they grew up with and whose family they were familiar with--this Person of humble beginnings not unlike their own--could possibly be God or speak to them with the authority of God. Even today people who genuinely love God are sometimes offended that a mere human--one of their peers--would dare to preach the Law and apply it to them or to be so bold as to forgive their sins. But it is not the ministers of God who do these things; it is God Himself, speaking through them. The God who became Human in Christ has called fallible, sinful people, through the people they serve, to speak and act publicly in His name.
We read of Jesus in the prologue to John’s Gospel: “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, yet the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him. But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:10, 11). John's words find their fulfillment today in two ways: In the Gospel for today we can see very clearly how Jesus "came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him" (John 1:11). The people closest to Him--His relatives and family friends--"took offense at Him." And in you and me--the preacher and the hearers of this Gospel--we can see that "all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God" (John 1:11). Our biological connection with Jesus, like that of His brother James, is immaterial. What matters is that, through His divine grace, we "were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:11). In this we rejoice, together with James and all the saints, glorying in the redemption that our Savior has accomplished for us by the shedding of His own innocent blood. And we receive Him in faith as He comes to us in Word and Sacrament.
Amen.
May the Lord bless your hearing of His Word, using it to accomplish in you those things for which He gave it. May you be enriched and strengthened in faith that you may leave here today to go out into our world armed with the whole armor of God, prepared to be able ambassadors of your Savior Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, and He will do it. Amen.