Advent Part 23: Jesus dishonored at home.
Matthew 13:53-58 (NLT)
53 When Jesus had finished telling these stories and illustrations, he left that part of the country. 54 He returned to Nazareth, his hometown. When he taught there in the synagogue, everyone was amazed and said, “Where does he get this wisdom and the power to do miracles?” 55 Then they scoffed, “He’s just the carpenter’s son, and we know Mary, his mother, and his brothers—James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas. 56 All his sisters live right here among us. Where did he learn all these things?” 57 And they were deeply offended and refused to believe in him.
Then Jesus told them, “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his own family.” 58 And so he did only a few miracles there because of their unbelief.
Dear God,
This must have been such a confusing time for Jesus’s family and everyone who knew him growing up. It certainly seems that he was not only rejected at the synagogue, but also at home because he said, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his household.” I wonder just how much grief he caught from everyone, including his family. And what were Mary’s thoughts regarding all of this? Had she lost sight of what she had heard from the angel 30 years before? Had the years worn her down a bit? Maybe she built up in her mind what her son’s life would be, and she felt like it just was not working out like it was supposed to. Maybe his siblings were complaining to her about him, and she was succumbing to their pressure. Either way it is apparent that Jesus was not feeling affirmed and supported.
This makes me think back to times when 1) I did not have my wife around to help temper my reactions to my children’s behavior, and 2) one of the children would lobby me about how I should feel about the other and I would let their perspective unfairly influence my own. The first point is especially important because sometimes we definitely need that other parent to help guide us through frustrating times with our children when our emotions overtake our judgment. I wonder how these stories might have been different if Joseph had still been around. I wonder how Joseph would have handled 30-year-old Jesus.
Father, thank you for giving me a co-parent. Thank you for giving me a wise woman to help me through those times when my emotions overrode my logic. I know there were times when I still failed my children, but the incidences are much fewer because I had a great co-parent. And I am sorry for the instances I failed to give my children what you needed them to have from me. I am sorry for my impatience and for, at times, failing to give them what you needed them to have. Please guide all of us as we continue to mature in you.
I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,
Amen
