Matthew 13:53-58
Verse 57 And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town and in his own home.”
We have been talking about hope. Hope in His promise. We have mentioned how we can tend to hope in what we think we need instead of what He knows we need. Today we learn more about that kind of fake hope.
We see in our reading today that those who knew Jesus longest couldn’t believe He was the promised Messiah. He wasn’t what they were hoping for. They had known Him when no one else knew Him. These people knew Jesus before He taught the religious teachers in the Temple when He was 12. These were the very people He had played games with as small children. These would have been His cousins, other relatives, neighbors, and teachers. They had seen Him as He grew up and they had to know He wasn’t like them in every way. How could they grow up with Him and not notice He didn’t get into trouble like they did because He wasn’t doing things which were wrong?
These people had the Messiah in front of them longer than any other group of people and yet they couldn’t bring themselves to accept Him as the promised one because they were hoping for something else. They didn’t want to believe Jesus could be the Messiah. He surely would have mentioned it before now if He was someone important, right?
They did the same thing people had been doing through the entire time of waiting for the Promise. They were hoping for someone who would change their world and circumstances. Their hope was in what they thought the title of Messiah could bring them. They were so focused on what they perceived the Messiah to be that they couldn’t even recognize Him when He was right in front of them.
Hope shouldn’t be tied solely to what we want. If we are only concerned with what we want we may miss what God sees as best. When we focus on the things we hope God can do for us instead of hoping in Him, we miss the blessings He wants to bring to us. When Jesus saw their unbelief He stopped doing as many miracles. Could it be our lack of belief and hope in who He is has us missing things He wants to do for us?
Making It Personal
Are there people in your life who you discount because you can’t believe they could amount to anything? What is it you are hoping for? Do you think is the same thing God is planning to bless you with?
Making It Personal Kids
What do you hope for? Do you think God hopes for anything? What do you think God hopes you knew about Jesus?
Closing Prayer
Father, please don’t let us miss what You are meaning to bless us with because we are so focused on what we think we want. Give us wisdom in what we need to ask You for. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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