Familiar Unbelief | Matthew 13:53-58

Introduction: Unbelief often exists where it has least excuse. Unbelief toward what God has revealed is a matter of sin. It reveals that man’s problem is not an information problem; it is a rebellion problem. It can exist where it has been given tremendous proofs. It can exist where it has been given the clearest explanations. It can exist where it has been exposed to the clearest evidence. It can exist where it has witnessed the most powerful confirmations. It can exist where it has been afforded the most merciful patience. To put is simply, UNBELIEF CAN EXIST WHERE IT HAS NO EXCUSE TO EXIST — BECAUSE OF THE GREAT PRIVILEGES IT HAS BEEN GIVEN. The people who should know better REFUSE WHAT THEY SHOULD KNOW. Which, sadly, will result in the most deserving, and most woeful, judgments. • CHRIST’S DEPARTURE FROM THE PLACE BESIDE THE SEA (Capernaum) (vs.53) The first thing we meet with in our text is a departure. Jesus has been teaching parables in Capernaum beside the sea. ESV Matthew 13:1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2 And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: "A sower went out to sow. Capernaum has served as his ministry base for a very long time. He has done much teaching there and performed many miracles. What that teaching and those works have resulted in, for the most part, is the revelation of unbelieving hearts. That unbelief has been judged with parables. The rejection of light has resulted in a veiled form of instruction. Veiled to the crowds but unveiled by private instruction to His disciples. Jesus was now teaching the crowds, almost exclusively, in parables. Those parables had to do with the existence and the advancement of the kingdom of God during THIS AGE. Our Lord taught about four kinds of hearers, only one of which represents believers. He taught about the co-existence of sons of the kingdom and sons of the evil one until they are finally separated at the end of the age. He taught about the expansion and the influence of the kingdom of heaven. He taught about the value of the kingdom and the valuation of it on the part of those who enter it. He taught about the certainty of judgment and the necessity of declaring the whole counsel of God while we have the opportunity. And now, Matthew is giving us the sad evidence that everything that Jesus has taught is true. Indeed, the Word of God will meet with rejection. The Word of the Kingdom meets with hardened hearts. • CHRIST’S RETURN TO THE PLACE WHERE HE GREW UP (Nazareth) (vs.54) Jesus leaves Capernaum and returns to His hometown. We are not told what takes him there. Remember His mother and his family came looking for him in chapter 12 (12:46). Maybe He went home to see them. This is Nazareth. This is where Joseph and Mary took up residence after leaving Egypt. ESV Matthew 2:19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 saying, "Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life are dead." 21 And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. 23 And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene. Luke chapter 4 refers to a time in Nazareth when Jesus was teaching, and the people were so incensed that they tried to kill him. Most believe that this passage is parallel to that one, but not everyone. D.A. Carson — “It is almost universally assumed that this is the same rejection recorded in Luke 4:16–30, which ties the event to OT prophecy. Though not unlikely, this is not certain. Unlike Luke, Mark and Matthew mention no hostility so great as to lead people to kill Jesus. If there were two incidents, the one recorded by the first two evangelists may reflect an abating of instinctive rage as the village’s most famous son has grown in reputation in the area.” Remember what is seen in Luke 4.