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Jonathan Griffiths: Jesus was a man like them. They knew it. He was a local. He was the carpenter's son, working-class family. They knew his brothers and his sisters. They knew the family. And their familiarity with Jesus Christ the man led to offense and then it led to dishonor.

Steve Hiller: Welcome to Encounter the Truth with Jonathan Griffiths. I'm Steve Hiller, glad you're with us as today we begin a new series, In the Presence of the King. And Jonathan, I hear as we begin this series, you're saying that yeah, even Jesus and the way that he was seemed to be an offense to some around him.

Jonathan Griffiths: It's a remarkable thing, isn't it? When we read the gospel accounts of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ and we see his kindness, we see his grace, we see his mercy, we see his humility. And then we see people rise up in angry opposition against him in increasing measure and ultimately leading him to the cross. And we think, how can this be? Why should it be like this?

And then of course the good news of Jesus Christ goes out in our day and age, and the people of Jesus Christ seek to follow him and serve those around them, and there's an angry response. And we think, how can this be and why should this be?

And of course the answer to how and why is rooted in the sinfulness of the human heart and our objection to the idea that God should make any claim upon our lives and God should confront us with reality of our sin. Our own sinfulness reacts against God himself. And so we perhaps should not be surprised that there is opposition to Jesus and his gospel and his people in Bible times and today. But we're going to be considering this dynamic a little bit more closely as we turn to Matthew's gospel in our message today.

Steve Hiller: Well, you heard where we're going. Matthew, but we're going to be in chapters 13 and 14 as we begin a message called The Prophet Who Offends. Here is Jonathan.

Jonathan Griffiths: Well, the gospel of Jesus Christ, it is of course the very best news in all the world. It's the kindest and the most hope-filled, most life-transforming message that anyone has ever heard. It comes from the very heart of God with love to a broken world and to a needy people. There's no catch to the gospel, there's no trickery. It is gracious, glorious, good news.

If you know Jesus Christ personally, as many among us do, you know that that is true. You have seen and you have felt and you have experienced the goodness of God and you have done so in the wonder of the gospel. You know the kindness of the Lord Jesus Christ personally.

Now knowing that the message is so wonderfully good, we might have the expectation as Christian people, we might have the expectation that God's message and God's messengers would be greeted by a waiting world with open arms. We might expect that the people around us would rejoice in the message and embrace the Lord Jesus Christ with gratitude, but of course that's not always what happens, is it? That's not our experience. That's not what we see. Not always, not even most of the time.

As we seek to go out into the world with the good news, we so often find, don't we, that colleagues at work, that neighbors on our street, that friends and family and loved ones react actually against the good news of Jesus Christ. Sometimes harshly, sometimes irrationally. And when that happens, it kind of takes us aback. We struggle to make sense of what's going on. Sometimes it can just blindside us. We don't anticipate it.

Well, of course each of us, we need to grapple with this phenomenon, we need to make sense for it, and we need to steel ourselves in preparation for it. And if we will but look, the Bible actually prepares us for this very, very well. The Lord's servants, the Lord's spokesmen, his prophets, have faced rejection and worse throughout history. And in our passage today, we see the Lord Jesus Christ and John the Baptist, both identified as prophets of God in our passage. We find them scorned and we find them rejected in their day and age.

And as we consider their grim experience, we are prompted to look actually within our own hearts first of all. That's where we must look, to ensure that this same spirit of rejection is not to be found anywhere within us. And we are prepared with realistic expectations to go out into the world as representatives of the Lord Jesus Christ today.

Our passage falls very clearly into two sections, two sections united by this theme of the rejection of the prophet of God. That's the uniting theme here. Jesus identifies himself as a prophet in chapter 13 verse 57, and the people recognize John to be a prophet in chapter 14. They recognize him to be one in verse 5. John is the last prophet really of the old era. Jesus, the son of God, is the supreme prophet and the fulfillment of the prophetic office in scripture. And as God's representatives, as God's spokesmen in the world, both face rejection.

In the rejection of Jesus Christ in the first section, we see the offense of familiarity, and in the rejection of John the Baptist in the second section, we see the offense of frankness. First then, the offense of familiarity. We pick up the story at the point at which Jesus makes a visit actually to his hometown. He's been teaching crowds of people by the Sea of Galilee in chapter 13.

In fact, at the beginning of the chapter we're told there that great crowds, large crowds of people have been gathered around Jesus. Such large crowds that he needed to get off the shore and teach from a boat. He taught a number of parables in that context and throughout the chapter, and then he eventually he went into a house to take aside a smaller group and to explain a little bit more. But now verse 53, he's finished teaching this section of parables and he moves on. He travels down the road and he comes to his hometown.

He comes to the synagogue, the local place of Jewish assembly. He's given an opportunity to teach, to open up the word of God, and he does so. We don't know how often he does that, we don't know over what length of time, we don't know for how long he speaks, but the opportunity is there. It's given him. Perhaps he just presents himself, perhaps some old friends and neighbors have heard of his teaching ministry and commend him to the synagogue authorities, we don't know.

What he says precisely, we aren't aware. But we are familiar enough, aren't we, with the teaching ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, with its power and the profundity of his words. And as people listen and as people reflect, here is their response, verse 54. It's an interesting response. They were astonished. They were taken aback. They were even shocked by what Jesus said.

Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? Don't we know his brothers and his sisters? Where did this man get all these things? And we're told they took offense at him. They took offense at him, quite literally in the original, they were scandalized in him, scandalized by him. What a thing that is. What a reaction to Jesus Christ.

Jesus has spoken words of truth and authority and grace, words no doubt of healing and of hope. He has done mighty works. Probably healed the sick, given sight to the blind. That was part of the offense. But nonetheless, they did take offense. The people, they were in no doubt that his teaching was wise and that his works were mighty. They recognized all that. They weren't in any confusion about those things. They saw the authenticity, they saw the profundity, they recognized the power. But here is what bothered them. Here is the heart of the scandal to their minds. They knew him.

You see, he was one of them. He was familiar to them. Where did this man get all this wisdom and these mighty works? Where did that come from? Jesus was a man like them. They knew it. He was a local. He was the carpenter's son, working-class family. They knew his brothers and his sisters. They knew the family. And their familiarity with Jesus Christ the man led to offense and then it led to dishonor.

But Jesus said to them, verse 57, "A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household." In the immeasurable goodness of God, he sent his message of salvation to the earth not by registered mail, not through a loudspeaker, not on tablets of stone actually or through a voice in a cloud and a storm.

He sent it not in words etched in the sky, not from a distance, not impersonal. No, he sent his gospel of salvation in a person, by a person, through a person. God became man in the man Jesus Christ, and he delivered the gospel personally and himself. He came among us in the person of his son Jesus, God incarnate.

He was born in a stable, he was laid in a manger, raised in a humble home surrounded by siblings, cared for by parents, apprenticed as a carpenter, known in the town. He was familiar. And when this local boy, now this grown man, came and proclaimed the word of God to the people of his hometown, you know what happened? They couldn't take it and they would not receive it.

Now Jesus, he sees what's going on here. He knows the hearts of the people all around him. He recognizes what is taking place and he declares, verse 57, "A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household." The God of heaven, he came among his own people. He became man, became one of us that he might reach us and speak to us and ultimately redeem us.

But the grace of God in doing this, the humility and kindness of God in the humanity of his son, the familiarity he enabled within the incarnation, it actually then gave rise to offense and then rejection. Now this phenomenon, I guess it's familiar enough. A local politician rises to national prominence and the local constituents, you know, they know him too well to be over-impressed.

A local artist rises to global fame, and her old friends and her old neighbors, they won't pay the thousands of dollars for a prime seat at the concert. Why would we when she's just the girl next door? A childhood friend is a noted doctor in his field, but when you get sick, you'd rather see someone else. Someone from another town, someone you didn't grow up with. You just can't believe that Billy down the street could ever be trusted with a scalpel in his hand.

Maybe you in your own way, maybe you've experienced this personally, I don't know. You moved away from hometown, your hometown, you built a career, you became prominent in your own way, but when you go back to your own roots, to your people, your town, your family, well it's the one place, isn't it, where the respect fades away. Perhaps you've experienced that in some measure. So it was for Jesus.

The son of Mary, the carpenter from down the road, the sibling of James and Joseph and Simon and Judah. Crowds gather to hear him speak elsewhere. Beginning of chapter 13, that's what we read. His teaching is causing a stir throughout the whole region, but he comes to Nazareth and he speaks words of life, offers forgiveness, calls for obedience, and then neighbors will not take it. They can't stomach it. There is offense and there is a refusal of honor.

You and I, we didn't grow up in Nazareth down the street from Mary and Joseph's house, but here is the reality. The familiarity of Jesus Christ, the nearness of Jesus, it can be a stumbling block for me and it can be a stumbling block for you as well. I think it's easy for us in general to underestimate the Lord Jesus Christ because of the nearness of Jesus in his humanity, his incarnation. That's one great danger.

It's easy to fail to recognize who he truly is. The people of Nazareth rubbed shoulders with Jesus growing up. They bumped into him in the town square, they brought their carpentry work to his shop. They saw him, but the truth is they didn't actually see him. They knew him on one level, but the truth is they didn't know him. They didn't recognize who he truly was. They didn't see him for who he was.

A wonderful story is told about the Queen and her sense of humor. One of her close aides recalls the time when he escorted her on a walk in the hills in Scotland, I think near Balmoral, her country home. As they were walking, they came upon some American tourists and stopped to have a chat as the Queen would.

The American tourists got talking and told her and this aide all about their travels, where they'd been, where they were going. After some time of talking about their own travels, they eventually turned to the Queen and asked her where she lived. She said, "London, actually, but she had a holiday home just nearby." And the tourist then said, "Well, if you live nearby, you must have met the Queen if you have a holiday place nearby." They knew there was a castle nearby.

She said quick as a flash, "Well, you know, I haven't met her, but my companion here, he's met her." And so they turned to the aide and they say, "Well, what's she like?" Well, he said with a twinkle in his eye, he knew her well, "You know, she can be a bit cantankerous at times, but she's got a good sense of humor." At that point, one of these poor Americans put his arm around the royal aide and handed his camera to the Queen and said, "Would you mind taking a picture of us?"

Eventually, the aide said, "You should get a picture with her too," so they had a picture with the Queen and they went on their way. As they walked along, the Queen commented that she'd love just to be a fly on the wall when those Americans get home and show their pictures to their friends and someone tells them. It's possible, isn't it? It's possible to see someone but not to see them. To meet them but not to meet them. It's possible to fail to see even a great monarch for who they are.

The Lord Jesus Christ, he came to us in humility, even in humanity. He walked among us as a common man. He lived among us. And the humility, the simplicity of his life, that can actually be our stumbling block in recognizing him for who he truly is. He did not wear a crown of empire upon his head in the streets of Nazareth. He did not appear in blazing glory or in unapproachable light in the carpenter's shop. But we must make no mistake, Jesus Christ is the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

I wonder, have you recognized him today? Do you know who he truly is? Have you seen him as he really is? Those poor tourists, they must have felt so foolish when the penny dropped. I guess they wished they could go back and redo the encounter, but of course it was too late, the opportunity was gone.

For those who do not recognize Jesus Christ for who he is now, a day will come when the penny will drop. A day will come when you will appear before him, when he is seated high above on his judgment throne and there you will bow the knee to him. Let me plead with you, do not go into that encounter in shame and embarrassment. Go in worship and in wonder. Recognize him now that you might be welcomed by him then.

I think the Queen herself had an appreciation for the dynamic that we're considering here, the obscurity and yet the majesty of Jesus Christ. She once said this in one of her Christmas broadcasts, and I quote, "Jesus Christ lived obscurely for most of his life and never traveled far. He was maligned and rejected by many, though he had done no wrong. And yet billions of people now follow his teaching and find in him the guiding light for their lives. I am one of them," she said.

The Queen herself bowed the knee to that greater ruler. She recognized the carpenter of Nazareth to be the King of kings. Have you seen him? Do you know him? Have you bowed the knee to him yourself? It's possible to fail to see him because of his humility and his humanity, but it's also possible to fail to see him because of another level of familiarity.

And that is the familiarity that comes from growing up in close proximity to him. And by that I mean the familiarity that comes from growing up in the church, in a Christian family, surrounded by the people of God and under the constant sound of the word of God. And I don't know, but that may be your story precisely. As it were, you grew up with Jesus in your neighborhood, even in your home. You've always heard him, you've regularly seen him in the people around you.

You've always felt that you've known him on some level, but here's the thing. You've never actually accepted him personally. It's all familiar, but it is not personal. He's known to you, but the truth of the matter is he is unknown to you. And if you're being totally honest about it, your attitude is not unlike the people of Nazareth. You hear the teaching of Jesus Christ and it actually kind of gets your back up. It gets under your skin. Sometimes it makes you mad. You don't really want to hear it if you're being honest and you don't want to know.

You're here, actually. You're listening. We're glad you are, but you're doing so to please other people. You're doing it out of some kind of sense of duty. But in your heart of hearts, there is a resistance to Jesus Christ, even an offense at his teaching. Perhaps that's you today. I expect it will be a number actually among us. No doubt there will be a number who are truly living in rebellion against Jesus Christ, even though he has been so close and he has been so familiar throughout your life.

If that is you, and it may be you, let me invite you to look at the reaction of the people of Nazareth to Jesus Christ. And look at them as a mirror to your own soul, for that is what they are. And ask this question: is this a reasonable response to Jesus? Is it reasonable? Does this make any sense as you analyze what is going on here? Can you see the folly of their rejection of the prophet of God, the messenger of God, the savior, his son?

You see, proximity to Jesus is a tremendous gift. Growing up knowing him, if you have, that is a tremendous privilege. But don't take that privilege, please don't take it and allow it to turn sour in your heart as it can, and lead then to scorn and offense and ultimately the rejection of the savior and king whom God sent from above to serve us.

Steve Hiller: Jonathan Griffiths here on Encounter the Truth in a message called The Prophet Who Offends. The first message in our series In the Presence of the King. And while we're going to pause right here, we'll continue this message on our next broadcast. If you ever miss a program, come and listen online. Our website is encounterthetruth.org, and you can stream the program or download an MP3 for free. Again, that's at encounterthetruth.org.

Well, Encounter the Truth is a listener-supported program. We're able to be on the station because of your generosity. And as you give a gift of any amount this month, we want to send you a book called An Anchor for the Soul, written by Paul Mallard. And Jonathan, what's this book about?

Jonathan Griffiths: Well, this is a book about walking through trial while trusting in the Lord. It's grounded in Psalm 22, where the Psalmist expresses that agony of facing real trial, but it points us at the same time to the Lord Jesus Christ, who entered into suffering for us and in our place at the cross of Calvary.

Steve Hiller: Well, we want to send you a copy of this book as our way of saying thank you for your financial support this month. You can give online when you visit our website, encounterthetruth.org, or call us at 1-833-99-TRUTH. That's 1-833-998-7884 or encounterthetruth.org. You can also write to us at Encounter the Truth, PO Box 5513, Ottawa, Ontario, K2C 3M1. Or in the US, Encounter the Truth, 215 North Arlington Heights Road, Suite 102, Arlington Heights, Illinois, 60004. For Jonathan Griffiths and our producer Mark Breta, I'm Steve Hiller. Thanks for listening and I hope you'll join us next time.