Sermon Audio: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ministrybymail

²² So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?” ²³ He said to them, “You will surely say this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in Your country.’ “ ²⁴ Then He said, “Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country. ²⁵ “But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land; ²⁶ “but to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. ²⁷ “And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.” ²⁸ So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, ²⁹ and rose up and thrust Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff. ³⁰ Then passing through the midst of them, He went His way. ³¹ Then He went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbaths. ³² And they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority.

Have you ever heard of Larry Jordan? How about Anna Maria Mozart? No? Never heard of them? Well, you’ve probably heard of their younger brothers. Larry Jordan is the older brother of Michael Jordan, arguably the greatest basketball player ever, and one of the most talented and successful athletes in history. Anna Maria Mozart was the older sister of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who was quite possibly the greatest composer of all-time. But to Larry and Anna Maria, I bet they were just “Mike” and “Wolfgang.” After all, they were their little brothers! Think about it: How enamored with Wolfgang’s musical genius do you think his older sister Anna Maria was (who also happened to be a very gifted keyboard player herself)? Or, how impressed and awe struck do you think Michael Jordan’s older brother, Larry, was with his little brother’s incredible basketball talent (especially since Larry used to continuously beat Michael in one-on-one when they were younger)? Let’s just say I don’t think either Anna or Larry were lining up for autographs from their immensely talented siblings.

You see, “Familiarity Breeds Contempt.” Have you ever heard that expression before? Have you ever experienced this expression before? When we closely examine human nature, we find that there are few sayings that are truer than this one: “Familiarity Breeds Contempt.”

What does it mean exactly? It means that the more familiar we human beings become with someone or something the more likely we are to begin to take them or it for granted, abuse, or even despise the person or thing—no matter how wonderful or impressive the person or object really is. We’ve all experienced this before, haven’t we? No matter how loving and wonderful our spouse, or our parents, or siblings or friends are to us in general; give us some time to get comfortable and familiar with them and watch out! We’ll take them for granted, treat them badly, and lose our patience with them at the drop of a hat. Often it doesn’t even matter how great the other person really is.

If there was one person in the history of this world that this saying, “Familiarity Breeds Contempt.” should NEVER have been true about, you’d think it would be toward Jesus. After all, usually one of the contributing factors to our contempt of those we are most familiar with is because we know so much about them—the good traits along with the bad; their charming qualities together with their annoying habits. But Jesus—well, He was perfect!!! He not only had zero character flaws, He was God Himself! He was able to do anything, including perform amazing miracles. Yet, what do we see happen in our text?

Jesus makes another “Epiphany,” or revealing, about Himself to His hometown congregation. As we read in our Gospel reading for this morning, Jesus revealed in His sermon at His hometown synagogue that He was the promised Messiah of the Old Testament and that Isaiah’s prophetic words in His Scripture reading were actually speaking about Him! (cf. Luke 4:18-21; Isaiah 61:1-6) Instead of praising and thanking God for the privilege of having the Messiah, the Savior of the world, for a neighbor, they despised Him because in their minds He was simply “Joseph’s son,” the neighbor boy, a common carpenter!

How could these people possibly think such things? Instead of asking how this could possibly happen, perhaps we need to ask ourselves, when it comes to Jesus does “Familiarity Breeds Contempt”? Are we, perhaps, “too familiar” with Jesus?

From the words of our text it is clear that 1. Jesus was not honored in His hometown. At first, when the people had heard His sermon, they were amazed, So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth (v. 22). From Jesus’ words we can assume that they had also heard of the miracles He had performed in Capernaum, which included the healing of a nobleman’s son. However, when they stopped to consider what Jesus’ claim from His sermon meant, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (v. 21), their initial amazement and joy over the thought of the Messiah’s arrival quickly turned to doubt. In the very same verse we hear them ask the question, “Is this not Joseph’s son?” (v. 22). Matthew records that Jesus’ neighbors also said, “Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? “And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?” So they were offended at Him (Matthew 13:55-57).

Their minds would not allow them to believe that this man, Jesus, the neighbor boy, could be the Messiah. They could only consider Him to be Joseph’s son, the common son of a carpenter, not the Son of God. We are told in the Gospel of John that “even His brothers did not believe in Him” (John 7:5) during His lifetime. That is why Jesus said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country” (v. 24). In Mark’s account of this incident we are told that Jesus got even more specific, But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house” (Mark 6:4).

Before we cluck our tongues, shake our heads, and ask, “How could the people of Nazareth do such a thing? They had Jesus Himself right there growing up in their midst?” Just consider for a moment what a stumbling block it would be to be told by your neighbor, your classmate, the boy down the street who used to play with your kids—or by your own brother!—that He is the promised Messiah, the Son of God Himself. I’m glad I wasn’t there. I’m afraid I might have been one of the people in the crowd ready to push Jesus off the town cliff!

Let’s also take a moment to carefully examine our own hearts and our own relationship with Jesus. Isn’t it very much like the one Jesus had with the people of His hometown? Most of us have “grown up” with Jesus. He has met with us at least once a week for many years here at His “house.” He even meets with us in our own homes when conduct family and personal devotions and daily Bible readings. He has become very familiar to us. Is it possible that like the people of His hometown we are “too familiar” with Jesus? 2. Is He honored here in His “home,” the house of God? Or does our “Familiarity” with Jesus “Breed Contempt”?

Have we gotten so familiar with the Bible stories about Jesus that we have heard from little on that He has become just that to us—a story; a person in history that is very interesting to learn about, who gave us some great teachings, and showed us the “right way” to live our lives?

Perhaps we haven’t gone that far off and lost our perspective of Christ’s greatness that much. Maybe we still consider Him the all-powerful Son of God who has the ability to work fantastic miracles—but only back then, only while He walked this earth in human flesh, but certainly not now.

Maybe we’ve become like the people of Nazareth. We’ve grown up with Jesus. We meet and talk with Him everyday, but we just haven’t seen the miraculous from Him in our lives. We want more proof. Like the people of Nazareth will we tell Jesus, “Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here” (v. 23)? In other words, “If you’re a doctor, Jesus, prove it by healing yourself! If You’re the Messiah, as you claim to be, prove it by performing one of those amazing miracles that we’ve heard and read so much about!” These thoughts are not from hearts of faith, but of skepticism and unbelief. They come from the same hearts that faithlessly challenged Jesus on the cross, “He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him” (Matthew 27:42).

Is this us? Have we gotten so familiar with Jesus being our Friend and Savior that we have taken Him for granted and no longer stand in awe of His love and power as almighty God? Do we begin to give Him less and less of our time and devotion because, after all, He’s promised He’ll always be there, and “I’ve got things I need to do right now. Maybe I’ll go to Bible Study next week; maybe I’ll go to church next week.” Have we begun to take Him for granted so much at times that we forget about Him altogether in our everyday life? Do we turn to Him first when a problem arises? Do we thank Him immediately when we have had yet another undeserved blessing come our way? Or do we get upset and annoyed with Him the instant things aren’t going the way we feel they should be? Are we ready to walk Him to the edge of the cliff like His neighbors and just be rid of Him? God keep us from ever having such thoughts! God forgive us for when we have acted that way.

If we find ourselves becoming “too familiar” with Jesus—taking Him for granted, abusing His love and grace, and even despising His presence in our lives—then we need to take to heart the words of Jesus’ warning to the people of Nazareth. He reminded them that even two of the greatest Old Testament prophets, Elijah and Elisha, were rejected by their own countrymen, the people of Israel, so God sent them and His blessings elsewhere. The lesson of Jesus’ story is that if we reject God’s gracious visitation, whether in the form of His written words, or from the mouths of His messengers, God will simply move on and offer it to others. Jesus’ words to the people of Nazareth pointed out the fact that God offered His gracious, saving visitation to the “despised” Gentiles! This was more than the people of Nazareth could stand to hear, and they became furious to the point of trying to kill Jesus. We read about their reaction from our text, “So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose up and thrust Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff” (Luke 4:28-29).

Jesus words of warning are not meant to make us angry, but to make us sorry. They are meant to cut us to the heart and make us drop to our knees and ask Him in faith for forgiveness for all the times we have taken Him for granted, or doubted His almighty power and saving love. You are forgiven. Jesus died for your sins. You are forgiven. Yet with these words of warning He wants to remind us that by faith we can never become “too familiar” with Jesus. Through a continual, life-long, daily study of His Word He can work in our hearts a growing love for Him; a love that will not treat Him with “contempt” or disrespect. Through His Word He can work in us hearts that trust His love and promises so much that we never doubt His power, His goodness, or His protection in our lives. Through His Word Jesus can lead us to see Him as He truly is: our crucified and risen, living Savior God who has won for us the sure hope of perfect “familiarity” with Him and all the saints in heaven. May His Holy Spirit always work these kinds of loving, faithful, and appreciative hearts in us so that what was said of the people of Nazareth in the last verse of our text could never be said of us, Then passing through the midst of them, He went His way (v. 30). But rather, may it be said of us in our congregations, the same thing that was said about the people of Capernaum in the last verse of our text, “And they were astonished at His [Jesus’] teaching, for His word was with authority” (Luke 4:32).

May God keep our “familiarity” with Jesus from ever “breeding contempt.” Rather, may our “familiarity” with Jesus always deepen our connection to Him and strengthen our faith in Him! Amen.

—Pastor Luke Bernthal

Messiah Lutheran Church
Hales Corners, WI

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All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.