Who is this Jesus?

Whoever does not want to see more in Jesus than a person like us, will see no more in Him than just that.

Harry Schoemaker June 3, 2022 2 min read

Matthew 13:53-58
⁵³When Jesus had finished these parables, He departed from there.
⁵⁴He came to His hometown and began teaching them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? ⁵⁵Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? ⁵⁶And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things?”
⁵⁷And 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.” ⁵⁸And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.

Devotional

Who is this Jesus?
Matthew 13 is the section of the parables.
The teaching of Jesus about the secrets of the kingdom of God (vs. 10-11) has now ended. Matthew ends this section on a his characteristic way: “When Jesus had finished these parables…” (cf. Matthew 7:28, 11:1; 19:1; and 26:1).

From this verse begins a new section of the Gospel (This section is from Matthew 13:54 – 19:1). In this section it is becoming clearer who Jesus is. (Consider the transfiguration – Matthew 17:1-8.).
It results in increasing resistance and growing faith (Although the disciples have much to learn, they clearly see Who Jesus is – Matthew 16:16).

Who is Jesus?

This question arises in this devotional.
Jesus goes to Nazareth, his hometown (cf. Matthew 2:19-23). Here the people know Him well, or so they think. They have seen him as a child. They know the family he comes from. But Jesus is more than they see.

In the synagogue they can hear who Jesus is. People are amazed. Where did Jesus get that wisdom? They push the questions He raises aside. They are irritated by Him.

Jesus had it correct. “A prophet is not honored in his own city” (vs. 56b, 57). Especially for people who think they are so close to Jesus, His greatness is hard to accept.

The “ordinariness” of Jesus is an obstacle for many people to see who he really is. They want to see Jesus as quite a good man, but his claim as the Son of God, they lay down beside them. He’s just one of us, isn’t he ?

Yes, Jesus was a man like us, a man whose father and mother, brothers and sisters, in particular, could be called by name (vs 55,56a). But Jesus is more than a man, for anyone who wants to see it.

If people do not see it, He does not show it.
Jesus did not do many miracles because they did not believe Him at Nazareth (verse 58). So it is today. Miracles can still happen. But you have to see them.

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