Reject the Messenger, Reject the Message
Have you ever had a situation where someone is telling you something and you know deep down that what they're saying is correct but you're unwilling to listen to that message because of the person who is giving it to you? The message is correct but because of the person giving it, you have an irrational urge to reject that message. Maybe you've experienced this in the realm of politics. A politician can be saying something that you know is correct and yet because they don't have the right letter after their name you are completely unwilling to listen to what they have to say. It's amazing how often we can let our biases about someone cloud our willingness to listen. We often reject a message simply because of what we know about the messenger.
This is exactly what happened to Jesus in our gospel account for this morning. Jesus had been having great success preaching and teaching throughout the region of Galilee. Large crowds have been following Jesus wherever he went. He had been performing great and mighty miracles including raising the daughter of Jairus from the dead. Jesus now decides to return to his hometown of Nazareth to proclaim the message of the Kingdom of God to the people he had grown up with.
Undoubtedly the people of Nazareth had heard about Jesus's fame as he had been teaching and preaching in the surrounding villages. They must have been excited to hear that he was coming home. On the Sabbath day, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach about the scriptures. Mark does not tell us exactly what Jesus said on this occasion. It was most likely similar to other things he had said. He read from the Old Testament and explained how the promises and prophecies of God were being fulfilled in him. He proclaimed that he was the Son of God and the promised Messiah who had come to free all people from their sins.
The people of Nazareth were amazed at the teaching of Jesus. They wondered how this man they grew up with could be teaching these things. They asked, “Where did this man learn these things? What is this wisdom that has been given to this man? How is it that miracles such as these are performed by his hands? Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And aren’t his sisters here with us?” Put yourself in the shoes of the people of Nazareth for a moment. Imagine that someone from your hometown someone you had grown up with returns and begins claiming that he is the son of God. How would you react? Most likely you would think that they were crazy. You would think that there is no way this young man from your town could be the Son of God. Now consider what else they knew about Jesus. Imagine growing up with someone who never sinned. Imagine knowing someone who was perfectly kind, loving, and selfless to everyone around him. Now imagine hearing about the mighty miracles that this person performed, how they healed the sick and raised the dead.
The people of Nazareth knew all of this and yet they still rejected the message of Jesus. Even his own brothers and sisters rejected him. They simply could not accept that the man they had grown up with, the man they knew as the carpenter from their town could be the promised Messiah. They were so scandalized that it was Jesus who was proclaiming this message to them that they rejected the truth of God’s Word in the face of overwhelming evidence. They rejected the message because of the messenger.
Unfortunately, we sometimes act the same way. We are unwilling to listen to the truth of God’s Word because we have a problem with the messenger. There can be many reasons for this: maybe we’ve been hurt or offended by something that person has said to us in the past, or maybe we know that they have done the exact same thing and think of them as hypocritical for even pointing our sin out to us, or perhaps we think that the person pointing out our sin to us simply doesn’t understand the situation that we are going through.
Other times we reject the messenger because we don’t like the message he is proclaiming. The people of Nazareth did not want to hear Jesus claiming to be the Son of God. There are times when we don’t want to hear the hard truths of God’s Word. We don’t want to hear that we are sinners who daily sin against God in our thoughts, words, and actions. We don’t want to hear that on our own there is nothing we can do to save ourselves and that when it comes to salvation our good works count for absolutely nothing. Our sinful nature hates hearing this message and Satan will do everything in his power to have us reject that message and turn our backs against God.
The people of Nazareth rejected Jesus. Mark tells us that Jesus was amazed at their unbelief. Jesus could have let the rejection of his hometown discourage him, but instead, he immediately went to the surrounding
villages and continued preaching and teaching. The next section of Mark’s Gospel tells us that Jesus sent out the Twelve disciples so that more people could hear the message of salvation. This is an amazing picture of our Savior’s love and mercy. No matter how many times he was rejected he continued to preach and teach the Word of God. Christ showed perfect love and faithfulness in the face of opposition, even when he was rejected by his own friends and family.
This is the same way that God continues to deal with us. We daily sin much and yet God offers us forgiveness again and again. There have been times when we have resisted or rejected the messengers or message of God and yet he offers us the message of his Gospel again and again. Christ is always waiting with open arms to offer us forgiveness for all our sins. Our God is gracious and loving and wants all people to be with him in the joy of his eternal kingdom. There is no sin that is too great for the forgiveness of God. Every sin that you have ever committed or will ever commit was nailed to the cross of Christ and paid for with his holy, precious blood. Christ took all your sins on himself and became sin for you. In return, he has given you, his righteousness. You stand perfect in the eyes of God washed clean of all your sins by the blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
This righteousness becomes ours by faith in Christ alone. We receive this faith by hearing the message of the Gospel preached to us over and over again. The Spirit of God works through the Word to create faith in the hearts of those who hear the message of the Gospel. This is why it is vitally important that we continue to proclaim the truth of Christ crucified to the world.
Unfortunately, we know that this is a never-ending struggle. The world hates the message of salvation. Satan is doing everything in his power to hinder the spread of the Gospel. We saw how Jesus was rejected in Nazareth, and we know from the Old Testament how often the people rejected the prophets of God. We heard this morning in our reading from Ezekiel that often we are proclaiming God’s Word to brazen-faced and hard-hearted people. We see in our world how Christians are hated and reviled. We are called unloving and hateful because we dare to proclaim that Christ is the only way to salvation. The world will reject and hate us just as it rejected and hated Christ.
We know that at times we are like the people of Nazareth. We are tempted to reject the message of God’s Word because of the messenger. Satan loves to use the opportunities to lead us away from the truths of God’s Word. He wants there to be arguments and division in the church of God. He wants people to reject the messengers of God’s Word because he knows that this will lead them away from the message as well. We take comfort for those who reject God’s Word because we know that God continues to work through his Word. God’s Word also takes time. We know that Jesus's own brothers rejected his message at Nazareth. But we also know that later on his brother James would become a leader and champion of the early church who was killed for his faith.
Dear friends, we will face times of trial and persecution as well. We will be hated and rejected for being messengers of Christ. In his letter to Timothy Paul tells us that he was in chains for the Gospel, but he also boldly proclaims, “But the word of God is not chained.” God’s Word cannot fail. It always accomplishes his purposes no matter how Satan, the world, and our own sinful nature try and prevent it. We cling to the promises of God and know that our victory is certain. Christ has defeated the power of Satan. There is nothing the world can do for us because our salvation and the glory of heaven are ours now and forever. Amen.
This saying is trustworthy: Indeed, if we have died with him, we will also live with him; If we endure, we will also reign with him; If we deny him, he will also deny us; If we are faithless, he remains faithful, because he cannot deny himself.