Familiarity

"Jesus Rejected at Nazareth" / Jeff Watkins

⁵³And 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? ⁵⁶And are not all his sisters 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 mighty works there, because of their unbelief.
Matthew 13:53-58

 The word "familiar" comes from the same root word as "family"--the Latin famulus actually means servant. In its broadest sense it denotes "household". 


It is intriguing that those of Jesus hometown and family so readily rejected him. Jesus remarked, "a prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household."


Thus the adage, "familiarity breeds contempt" is very true.


This drips from the account above. Those of Nazareth were so utterly familiar with Jesus that they rejected him. In fact, "they took offense at him"! Here Jesus was, walking around like a big shot--like he owned the joint. They knew his beginnings. They knew his pedigree. They weren't going to stand by and get too big for his britches (or cloak, as it were). 


Familiarity bred contempt. 



The tragic thing was that their familiarity was misleading! Jesus was clearly humble and inconspicuous for the majority of his life--biding his time until his public ministry began. He was indeed a carpenter. He was an obedient, submissive child. (Luke 2:51) Nevertheless, these origins did not define him. This was not the entire story! In actuality these beginnings were a mere way-station; His true origins were divine. So even as the world around him reverberated with the self-evident presence of God's power and authority on his life, still in his hometown they could not accept it. They could not accept him.


So it became both cause and effect, for "he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief." 


Do we look back on this too-familiar group with contempt? Do we judge them? Or do we shiver at the thought of how familiar we have become with Jesus?


Consider but one of Jesus' claims: "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst." (Jn. 6:35)


How do you relate to these words? Do you fall to your knees and plead with him to satisfy you in every way? Do you wake up each morning and rush to him in prayer? Do you hang upon his every word in Scripture?


Or do you say, "Who, Jesus? Jesus Christ? Oh I know him! He's the guy who likes it when people go to church and stuff. He's down on cussing and tight clothes, right? Yeah, he's a pretty nice guy. I should probably be more like him, I guess. Decent fellow!" 


Maybe you take offense at him? "Don't get carried away Jesus. I'm going to church plen-ty. Let's not get all crazy like, 'I'm going to fulfill all your thirst!' Isn't that a little much? So I'll see you Sunday, cool? No hard feelings?"


In our hearts, do we see and respond to him as he really is: The One who sustains the universe by the power of His Word, the One who is the author of life, the One for whom you were made? 


Or has your familiarity bred contempt? 


You know your familiarity is not the whole story. Don't let it be.