As preached by Zach Thompson.
"How will you respond to the message of the kingdom?"
1) The Kingdom of Heaven is not what they expected (1-35).
- It will have various responses.
-It won't bring immediate judgment.
-It will start small, but it will grow beyond expectation.
2) But it is still worth total surrender (36-53).
-It is of surpassing value.
-Judgment will assuredly come.
-It will be preached by all who believe and understand it.
Matthew 13 | Parables of the Kingdom
Good morning Christ Fellowship! If you have your Bible we will be in Matthew 13 for our main text today. If you are using one of our provided Bibles, that is on page #.
If you are able, please stand in honor of the reading of God’s word. We’ll read all of Matthew 13.
“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. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, 6 but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears, let him hear.”
10 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11 And he answered them, “To you, it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them, it has not been given. 12 For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:
“ ‘ “You will indeed hear but never understand,
and you will indeed see but never perceive.”
15 For this people’s heart has grown dull,
and with their ears they can barely hear,
and their eyes they have closed,
lest they should see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their heart
and turn, and I would heal them.’
16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17 For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
18 “Hear then the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. 20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21 yet he has no root in himself but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. 22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 23 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”
24 He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, 25 but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. 26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. 27 And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ”
31 He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. 32 It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”
33 He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.”
34 All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. 35 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet:
“I will open my mouth in parables;
I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.”
36 Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” 37 He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40 Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, 42 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. 48 When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous 50 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
51 “Have you understood all these things?” They said to him, “Yes.” 52 And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”
53 And when Jesus had finished these parables, he went away from there, 54 and coming to his hometown he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? 55 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? 56 And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” 57 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.” 58 And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.
Let’s Pray
We had 3 children. Lana, Hope, and Benaiah. We had planned to be finished having kids biologically so that we could adopt.
Then we were totally caught off guard by a pregnancy. Then we were totally caught off guard by the double blessing of twins.
Courtney came to the office and handed me the ultrasound and I had no idea what I was looking at because I’m bad at ultrasounds. And after waiting for me to express my understanding, she said, “There are two.” Then realization dawned on my face.
It was jarring. Adoption was not going to be an option for a while. We were suddenly beating the O’Days in the race to have the most kids. We didn’t have enough space in our house for two more children. Our van wouldn’t fit that many car seats.
All of our plans and expectations had been affected by this one reality.
In our text today, Jesus does to the disciples what Courtney did to me when she silently handed me that ultrasound.
In Matthew 13, Jesus tells a series of 8 parables. As he tells each parable, he is painting a different piece of the kingdom, and with every brush stroke, he is doing something unexpected. He is peeling back their expectations and replacing it with something that looks entirely different.
All of these parables demonstrate two big-picture themes that Jesus is trying to communicate.
First, the Kingdom of Heaven is not what they expected. And second, the Kingdom of
Heaven is worth total surrender.
That should be up on the screen.
These are the two major themes in these parables, and they are going to frame our time today.
We are going to walk through these parables and talk about how they fill out these categories and we’ll dwell on them as we go.
But before we get there, let’s talk briefly about this first big category.
The Kingdom of Heaven is not what they expected: (1-35).
First-century Jews had built up centuries of expectation for a certain type of Messiah. They expected a political leader that would liberate them from Rome. They expected a king who would deal harshly with the wicked and reward the righteous. They expected a kingdom that would bring ultimate peace. They would dwell in a place where Gentiles wouldn’t oppress them anymore.
But the king who came was different than the king they expected. And the kingdom that was coming was an entirely different kingdom.
The nature of the kingdom, the judgment of the kingdom, the timing and growth of the kingdom, and the surpassing worth of the kingdom. None of them are what everyone expected.
And the first expectation that we see busted up is in the first parable.
The parable of the sower. That’s the first parable that we read. It’s in verses 3-9, and Jesus explains it down in verses 18-23.
There are a lot of things we could gather from this, but this is the reality that Jesus wants to make clear about the kingdom of heaven:
It will have various responses
Not everyone will understand and receive the gospel of the kingdom.
In the parable of the sower, Jesus describes a man who is sowing seed and the seed falls on 4 different soils. The path, rocky soil, Thorn-covered soil, and good soil.
Later, he explains that each of these soils represents different responses to the kingdom.
When Jesus shared the explanation of this parable with the disciples, it would have been shocking.
They were expecting a conquering king who would cause people to submit with a sword in his hand–not a preacher who simply let people respond to his teaching.
But this is the entire point of the parable. There would be various responses to the kingdom message.
And for us, it begs the question.
How will you respond to the message of the kingdom? Which soil will you be? Will you immediately ignore it? Will you be enthusiastic for a bit but quickly fall away? Will you prove fruitless because you are not ultimately concerned with the things of God?
Or will you be good soil?
What characterizes the good soil? Look in verse 23, “As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”
Understanding and response. That is what characterizes the good soil. Belief.
Just dwell on that. If you’ve sat through our services before, then you have heard the gospel of the kingdom. But have you understood it? Has it born fruit in your life? Do you actually believe what you hear?
This parable isn’t a personality test. It’s about how you respond to the message. You can actually change from one of the bad soils to a good soil by changing how you respond.
I’m not saying that you have to memorize a systematic theology book or meditate in a cave for the rest of your life.
But do you understand the gospel? If someone else heard the gospel and saw the way you live, would they say your life is consistent with that gospel?
The crowds didn’t understand. They heard the parables of Jesus, but they didn’t understand. And even what they thought they understood was wrong. That’s the point Jesus is making when he says that “even what he has will be taken away.” The gospel hit their ears, but it didn’t change their life.
The crowds were living in a fantasy. They thought they understood the realities of the gospel. And they were sincere. But being sincerely wrong doesn’t make you right. They heard the words of Jesus, and they didn’t understand.
And it’s not just that they didn’t understand. They were spiritually unresponsive. That’s what Jesus is saying when he quotes Isaiah in verse 15. “For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed,”
When Jesus tells these parables. He isn’t just monologuing for the sake of monologuing. He is inviting them into a conversation.
The parables beg for an explanation. But what do the crowds do?
They leave it. They don’t even ask any questions. They just act like they understand everything that is happening around them.
But in private with his disciples, Jesus explains the parables in detail. Why? Because they asked.
A heart that is good soil for the gospel is a heart that seeks to understand the gospel.
The disciples didn’t just hear the parables and put the Baptist holy look on their faces. They sought understanding about the parables.
Look in verse 10. Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” Then Jesus tells them why, and he explains the parable.
Look in verse 36. “Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” And Jesus tells them.
Good soil seeks understanding.
Jesus sowed broadly, but he watered selectively.
I think this should inform how we preach the gospel today. We should sow broadly. Street evangelism and preaching and events and door-to-door and any other way where we can cast a net.
But when someone comes seeking understanding, that’s an indicator. This might be good soil.
And let this encourage you. Maybe you have had the same conversation for what seems like the hundredth time. As long as someone continues to seek understanding, bear with them. Explain it again.
And it may be that your labor will bear fruit a hundredfold.
The next principle that Jesus teaches is…
It won’t bring immediate judgment
We see this in the parable of the weeds where an enemy sows bad seed among the good seed, and the master sees fit to wait until the harvest before separating the wheat into the barn and the weeds into the fire.
Some people try to use this text to say that it’s okay for non-believers to be members of your church. “Jesus will sort it out in the end,” they say. But that just isn’t what this is saying.
Look in verse 38. “The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom.” This isn’t a parable about members in the church. It’s about the world.
And this is his point. The Jews had been expecting a conquering king who would judge the world. But in this parable, Jesus is telling them that the kingdom won’t work like that.
The coming of the kingdom and the final judgment are separate realities.
Judgment will be delayed.
What does that mean? It means that until that day, the sons of the kingdom will live side by side with the sons of the enemy.
And this makes sense. Think of John 3:16. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Jesus didn’t come to condemn. He came to save. They were expecting a king who would conquer by the sword, but they got a lamb who would conquer by being slain.
John 3:17. “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”
The judgment day will certainly come, but it Jesus didn’t come to enact judgment.
Judgment would be delayed.
This is still a hard truth for us today. We have to wait.
There are children all over the globe who are being sold into sexual trafficking. Politicians who are ignoring justice because someone put money in their hands. Women who are taken advantage of without any possible recourse.
There are Christian brothers and sisters in countries all over the world who live in constant threat of their lives. Women whose husbands have disappeared because it became known that they worshiped Jesus. Fathers who barely know their children because they have been in prison most of their lives simply because of their faith.
It’s so appropriate for our hearts to long for justice in this broken world. But the kingdom that came with Jesus is a kingdom of waiting. And that’s part of what he addresses next. In the next couple of parables, we see that the kingdom…
It will start small, but it will grow beyond expectations.
We see this in the parables of the mustard seed and the leaven.
In both cases, we see something seemingly small and insignificant that grows beyond what you could possibly expect.
A mustard seed is absolutely tiny and it grows into an actual tree. It’s about a millimeter wide as a seed but becomes something that birds can rest in. Leaven is the same. Just a small scoop of leaven can make an entire loaf rise.
But in both cases, it has to grow. This is related to the same point that Jesus made in the last parable. The kingdom isn’t immediate.
You can read the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah and just assume that they will all happen at the same time, but Jesus is telling us that this is going to happen over time. The gospel will be sowed broadly and some will believe, and the kingdom will break into the darkness of this world.
We see the effects of this parable in our day. In about 10 years, we’ll hit the 2,000-year mark from when Jesus was crucified, and His name is recognizable on every continent. There are still thousands of people groups who have yet to hear the name of Jesus, and our mission is still far ahead of us, but wow. The name and teachings of Christ have shaped entire civilizations. The kingdom of heaven has had a great effect. And it started with Jesus and his motley crew of disciples.
But this is how the Lord works.
He takes the little things and the weak things, and he is glorified in making much of them.
My Dad came to faith because someone invited him to an outdoor youth event. Simple. Unimpressive. The guitar was probably out of tune. That invitation from a high school student changed my Dad’s life. And in turn, it shaped my entire life. And now that invitation to an outdoor youth event is shaping the lives of my children. And Lord willing, my grandchildren will walk in the Lord.
That simple invitation created a legacy.
The Lord uses small things.
The Lord will use your pebbles to stop the flow of rivers. Just because something seems unimpressive to you doesn’t mean that the Lord won’t use it.
When you have to discipline your child because they made their sibling cry for the 4th time today, God uses that.
When you sin against someone at work, and you confess it to them and ask for forgiveness, God uses that.
When you try to share the gospel, and you get tongue-tied, and you maybe just confuse them, God uses that.
We are so quick to discount what God can do.
The kingdom isn’t about how impressive you are. It’s about God demonstrating his power as he implements his plan over time. So be faithful. And wait.
Our next point.
At this point in the text, Jesus left the crowds. Actually, he left the crowds before explaining the parable of the weeds. But from here, he is speaking parables directly to his disciples. And that’s why the next major point is that even though the kingdom is not what they were expecting, it is still worth total surrender.
But it is still worth total surrender (36-53).
The first point that Jesus makes within this theme is that the Kingdom is…
It is of surpassing value
He makes this point in the parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl of Great Price.
Those are in verses 44-46.
In both of them, the character finds something that is of overwhelming value, and then they go and sell all that they have so they can acquire this one thing.
Look in Verse 45. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”
Seeing the real value of inheriting the kingdom of God will make every sacrifice worthwhile.
The characters in these stories both immediately sell every single thing they have because the treasure they found is worth more.
Our willingness to sacrifice for something is directly tied to its value. You don’t trade your car for a bag of apples.
What about this? If you fast from food for a full week–absolutely nothing except water– then I will buy you lunch next week. That’s definitely not worth it.
But what if someone offered you $500,000 to fast from food for a week? That changes the equation. Right?
Your willingness to sacrifice for something is tied to whether you think that it is worth it.
Do you see the value of God’s kingdom?
When you hear the words eternal life, what do you think of? When you hear the Bible say that your inheritance is imperishable and undefiled and unfading, what do you think that means?
When you hear the promise that in the New Heavens and New Earth that God will dwell with his people, what do you think that means?
“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” That is a quote penned by a man named Jim Elliot.
Jim was a missionary in Ecuador to the Auca tribe. The Aucas were extremely dangerous and reclusive. Every known interaction with them had led to people being attacked. For months, Jim and his fellow missionaries had been flying over the area where the Aucas were. They were dropping gifts and shouting greetings.
On January 6th, Jim and 4 other men made first contact with the Aucas. On January 8th, they were due for a radio contact, but there was silence. When they sent the plane, they found 4 of the 5 bodies that were left.
All 5 of these men were married. 4 of them were fathers. Before they left all of the wives had discussed the real possibility that they might be widows within days.
They paid a cost. The men, the women, the children.
“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
It isn’t just your life that you can’t keep.
Your time. Your house. Your car. The morning coffee with your friends. The late-night binge on Netflix. It’s all slipping away.
Do you feel like it’s too burdensome to take 10-15 minutes every day to your kids about Jesus?
What about that moment when you know a coworker will think less of you because you agreed with the Bible instead of them?
Or when you leave your father and mother for the sake of the kingdom? Or when following Jesus means loving someone who is unlovely? Or when it means giving out of your poverty? Or serving when you are tired?
Do these things feel too burdensome?
Then remember the value of what is already yours, and know that an eternity with God makes the cost of discipleship a cost worth paying.
Look to Jesus. “the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Heb 12:1-2)
Jesus is the man in the parable who gives all he has for the kingdom. He took on flesh and veiled his glory, and endured the cross because of the Joy that was set before him.
And that Joy is the exact thing that we are talking about. It’s people of God dwelling with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit for all eternity. And in his presence, there is peace and joy and satisfaction, and all of it has been won for us by Christ.
So we can look to his sacrifice and say together that “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
The next point that Jesus makes is that…
Judgment will assuredly come
This is in the parable of the net in verses 47-50. He’s saying this as an extension of the point he just made. Heaven is more valuable than everything we could give. And the alternative to heaven is just judgment. Earlier, in the parable of the wheat and the tares, Jesus made the point that Judgment wouldn’t come immediately, but here, in the parable of the net, he makes the point that Judgment will assuredly come.
Lok in verse 47. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. 48 When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous 50 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
When it comes to God’s judgment, the question is not “if”... It’s “when.”
Man, Jesus talks about judgment a lot! Doesn’t he?
We can’t ignore this. Do you realize how much more Jesus talks about hell than he talks about heaven?
Think about our two parables that relate to judgment. The parable of the weeds and this parable of the net. Both of them are parables. They are figurative, and they are meant to illustrate a single point.
But notice something. They describe the Final judgment of God in the same way. Look at the verses we just read. Look in verse 49. “So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous 50 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Now skip up to verse 41 in the explanation about the parable of the weeds. “The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, 42 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.”
Friends, we can’t ignore this. We can’t act like it isn’t there because it’s uncomfortable.
The Judgment of God will be exact, and there are only two categories. Good fish and bad fish. The wheat and the weeds. Eternal satisfaction and horrible suffering.
Both passages call the place of condemnation a fiery furnace where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.
And this isn’t just Jesus trying to scare people into Heaven. This isn’t me trying to scare people into heaven.
There’s a stigma against hellfire and brimstone preachers in our culture today, but if you read the Bible, and you preach the Bible, then you will eventually get to hellfire and brimstone. We just can’t ignore this.
It’s not wrong for this to strike fear into your heart.
It’s wrong for this to strike fear into your heart and then you do nothing with it.
I don’t know how old I was when it happened, but I remember being very young and looking at a glowing heating element on some kind of large and super old space heater in my grandparent’s den. It was bright orange, and I thought it was beautiful, and I wanted to touch it. And I remember my dad warning me. “Zach, don’t touch that. It will burn you.” I remember looking back at him and then touching it.
That moment when my dad warned me wasn’t a moment that was meant to cultivate fear for the sake of fear. It should have cultivated fear for the sake of a response.
But I didn’t respond to the warning. I ignored it.
It makes me think of the time that my dad went to a doctor's appointment. It was when my youngest brother Micah was in about 7th grade. The doctor looked my dad in the eyes, and he said, “If you don’t change your lifestyle, then you won’t see your youngest son graduate.”
It’s a not warning for the sake of fear. It’s a warning for the sake of response.
Brothers and sisters, the reality of judgment should compel us to warn everyone around us as often as we can that there is a Day of judgment coming. And that is actually our next point.
It will be preached by all who believe and understand it.
This is the point of Jesus’ final parable in the chapter. It’s the parable of the store room. Look in verse 51.
“Have you understood all these things?” They said to him, “Yes.” 52 And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”
You probably haven’t had time to process this, but Jesus just told a bunch of fishermen and societal misfits that they were teachers of the kingdom of heaven. Scribes were like a mix between lawyers and professors.
And Jesus is telling these men who are mostly uneducated that they are scribes who have been trained for the kingdom of heaven.
And what are they like? They are like a master of a house who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”
He is talking about the same dynamic mentioned earlier. The crowds who think they understand, even what they have will be taken away. But you who understand have been given treasure. The treasures of the Old Testament and the mysteries revealed in the new.
And why do you bring treasure out of a house? To use it!
It’s not a coincidence that he makes this point right after talking about how the kingdom is surpassingly valuable and that judgment is assured.
Jesus is preparing people to preach the gospel.
That’s what all of these parables have been working toward.
Do you think that you are unqualified to share the gospel with a certain person because you don’t have a degree or because you haven’t taken some college-level course?
That’s ridiculous. It’s a real possibility that some of these disciples had barely been taught how to read.
Sow broadly. You don’t know what kind of soil someone’s heart may be.
Jesus sowed broadly, and he was rejected by many, and we can expect the same.
And if you are here and haven’t really submitted to Jesus, then I feel compelled to warn you. Don’t reject him.
Don’t be like the people of Jesus’ hometown.
In verse 53, “when Jesus had finished these parables, he went away from there, 54 and coming to his hometown he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? 55 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? 56 And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” 57 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.” 58 And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.
In a way, Jesus was familiar to them, and because they thought they knew him, they didn’t see who he really was.
Don’t let your assumptions about Jesus keep you from seeing the Jesus who is right here in this text.
Trust in this Jesus. Be a citizen of this kingdom. And find real and lasting hope.